Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Have a Favorite Business Book You’ve Never Read

There are a lot of good business books out there, but there is a book which is one of the favorites of both Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, and you’ve probably never read it. It’s called Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks. Let Bill Gates (and supporting cast) tell you why it’s such a great book himself:

There’s a good reason you’ve probably never read this book. Trying to find a copy is difficult, and even if you could, you would have to pay a small fortune to get it. First prints of Business Adventures sell for more than $2000 each, which is simply out of the price range most people are willing to pay for a book. Even later versions usually require a four-figure investment. The book went out of print in the 1970’s when the publisher went out of business.

Soon, that will no longer be the case. The book will be reprinted later this year at a much more reasonable price. If you want to read it right now, you can get a copy on Amazon. The book was released on September 9, 2014, so there should be plenty available.

Warren Buffett actually gave Bill Gates a copy of Business Adventures because he thought Gates would enjoy it as much as he had. Gates describes the book as “phenomenal” and “the best business book I’ve ever read.” If you love Michael Lewis such as Liar’s Poker, Moneyball and Flash Boys, then you’ll love this book as well. Brooks writing style is credited as being the inspiration for many of the books Michael Lewis wrote. As noted in the video, “John Brooks was really the Michael Lewis of his day.”

For those interested in getting a taste of the book at no cost, you can download a free chapter of the book here. The chapter is titled “Xerox Xerox Xerox Xerox” and it was originally published in the The New Yorker on April 1, 1967. As Bill Gate writes, “It demonstrates all the strengths that made Brooks such a special writer: his intellect, his ability to see the big picture, and his sense of humor. I hope you’ll check it out.”