From Wall Street to Main Street, John Brooks, longtime contributor to the New Yorker, brings to life in vivid fashion twelve classic and timeless tales of corporate ..
Jul 15, 2014.. Business Adventures_ Twelve Cla - John Brooks.mobi 667.04 KB.. Business Adventures is truly financial journalism at its liveliest and best.
Feb 23, 2015.. Business Adventures Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street John Brooks.
This business classic written by longtime New Yorker contributor John Brooks is an insightful and engaging look into corporate and financ...
Business Adventures has 1365 ratings and 115 reviews. John Brooks narrates 12 different stories related to Wall Street and business between 1960 and1970.
Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales From the World of Wall Streetby John Brooks (Open Road Media, $16.95)First published in 1969 and reissued this ..
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Brooks died in 1993, and his books have been half-forgotten. I'm very pleased to see this title rereleased in digital format, and I hope all his works are appear soon as eBooks. This book casts a wide net over the USAmerican business and investing scene, always with with and insight. There's a lot to be learned here, as Brooks examines the three-day stock market mini-crash of 1962, how Ford lost a bundle on the Edsel, how GE broke the anti-trust laws, how Xerox became very wealthy (later, Xerox became very broke, but that was after this article) . . . all great stuff. Rereading these after forty years, I'm impressed with Brooks ability to get to the bottom of things, especially when there is no "bottom". Why did the New York Stock exchange lose over 5% one day in 1962, then rally suddenly? No one really knows, but Brooks examines the chaos of that day, and dissects the explanations offered after the fact — while noting that BEFORE the fact, none of the explainers had a clue what was about to happen. Interspersed are comments from THE first book ever written on stock markets, "Confusion of Confusions", by Josseph Penso de la Vega (no product link; apparently Amazon doesn't want to use its reviews to sell books other than the one being reviewed anymore). Brooks demonstrates how little has changed over the centuries. And so it goes through the rest of the essays. Facts and insight, presented with wit, charm, and grace. Highly recommended. I had heard, as I think everyone else has, that Business Adventures was a favorite book of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. I read the ebook, and I understand a print version will be forthcoming in September. This book makes me feel as though I'm sitting at the knee of my grandfather, listening to wise recollections. A writer of articles in the 1950's and 1960, many for the New Yorker, the author intelligently and thoughtfully steps through 12 events, one per chapter. At first I thought perhaps I was particularly dense and wasn't getting the message. What held these stories together? Eventually, I realized that the author is not driving home a point, selling anything, or giving advice. His observations leave room for the reader to consider events, their connections, their parallels to today, the importance of character, and the question of morality in business. It was refreshing not to be told what to think. I enjoyed the stories of Ford's Edsel, Piggly Wiggly, Xerox, Goodrich vs Latex. The chapter on the federal income tax is particularly relevant, given the wide-spread debate about taxes and modern conversations about the 1%. John Brooks' perspective is firmly rooted in the past, when the book was written, and provides readers opportunity for a sense of omniscience since we can consider ramifications the author himself could not be aware of, at that time. Times may change. People do not. Here is a new edition of a book first published in 1969 and, until recently, out-of-print. It consists of 12 "stories" written by John Brooks (1920-1993) that first appeared in The New Yorker. It is one of Warren Buffett's two favorite books, the other being Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor. About 20 years ago, Buffett gave his copy of it to Bill Gates who mentioned that in a Wall Street Journal (July 11, 2014). Now another lemming stampede is underway. Contrary to what many people apparently believe, however, the significance of this book has much less to do with either Buffett or Gates than it does with the value of Brooks' insights and how well he presents them. In my opinion, why Buffett and Gates think so highly of this book is of far greater importance than the fact they do so. I had read each of the essays as they appeared in the magazine and then re-read them recently after obtaining a copy of the new paperbound edition. As I did so, I was again reminded of an incident that occurred years ago when one of Albert Einstein's colleagues at Princeton playfully chided him for asking the same questions every year on his final examinations. "Quite true. Each year, the answers are different." Most of the historical material in Business Adventures is dated. How could it not be after 45 years? However, like Einstein's questions, the issues that Brooks discusses remain - if anything - more relevant today than they were in 1969. It is worth noting that the average length of the essays is about 37 pages. Brooks probes with surgical skill as he focuses on major crises in "the world of Wall Street" and what valuable lessons can be learned from each situation. Apparently Buffett and Gates took those lessons to heart.Read more ›
