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Damn Right!: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger [Hardcover]

Janet Lowe
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Oct 16 2000
Praise for Damn Right!
From the author of the bestselling WARREN BUFFETT SPEAKS. . .
"Charlie Munger, whose reputation is deep and wide, based on an extraordinary record of brilliantly successful business strategies, sees things that others don't. There is a method to his mastery and, through this book, we get a chance to learn about this rare individual." -MICHAEL EISNER, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company
"Janet Lowe uncovers the iconoclastic genius and subtle charm behind Charlie Munger's curmudgeonly facade in this richly woven portrait of our era's heir to Ben Franklin. With a biographer's detachment, an historian's thoroughness, and a financial writer's common sense, Lowe produces a riveting account of the family, personal, and business life of the idiosyncratically complex and endlessly fascinating figure." -LAWRENCE CUNNINGHAM, Cardozo Law School, Author of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
"For years, Berkshire Hathaway shareholders and investors worldwide (me included) have struggled to learn more about Warren Buffett's cerebral sidekick. Now we can rest and enjoy reading Janet Lowe's book about this rare intellectual jewel called Charlie Munger." -ROBERT G. HAGSTROM, Author of The Warren Buffett Way
"Charlie has lived by the creed that one should live a life that doesn't need explaining. But his life should be explained. In a city where heroism is too often confused with celebrity, Charlie is a true hero and mentor. He lives the life lessons that he has studiously extracted from other true heroes and mentors, from Ben Franklin to Ben Graham. This book illuminates those life lessons." -RONALD L. OLSON, Munger, Tolles & Olson llp
"Janet Lowe's unprecedented access to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett has resulted in a first-class book that investors, academics, and CEOs will find entertaining and highly useful."-TIMOTHY P. VICK, Money Manager and Author of How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

HWhen Warren Buffett's partner, fellow Nebraskan and Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman Charles T. Munger (now 76 years old) was a young boy, his hero was the independent Robinson Crusoe. As he grew older, he strove (and still strives) to emulate the creative thinker Benjamin Franklin, whom Munger admires most for his commitment to social causes and philanthropy. (Munger is one of the pioneering supporters of Planned Parenthood.) Lowe, who spent three intensive years learning about Munger's life and work, had the full cooperation of his subject for this biography and access to his vast network of admiring and devoted business associates, his family and his lifelong friends. She does a superb job of re-creating Munger's development from a respectable lawyer to a savvy investor, providing intricate details about the incisive thinking behind his business deals, which she weaves into a captivating narrative. The droll, brilliant, focused and intensely private Munger conducts his business the way he lives his life: he invests his time and his money in people of strong moral character and businesses that are intrinsically sound. He is not averse to risk, because he calculates it carefully, and, most crucially, when he makes a commitment, he does so for the long term. Agent, Alice Fried Martell.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

She's Bullish on the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Money talks - in an astonishing number of languages. Janet Lowe' s books on business and finance have been translated into 17 tongues, including Thai, Hebrew, Slovenian and three different kinds of Chinese.

President of the San Diego Press Club, former financial editor of the San Diego Tribune and the author of 16 books, Lowe' s writing focuses on the leaders of specific industries. Her latest work, "Damn Right! Behind the Scenes With Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger," gives further evidence of Lowe' s expertise on money-related success.

The very rich, she observes, seem to have one particular thing in common.

"The people that I have written about all earned their own wealth. They are not inheritors. They did not fall by it accidentally," she said. "It came about as the result of having a particular talent that they recognized very early in their lives, and they concentrated on it."

She says that Warren Buffett was fascinated by investing even as a child, that Oprah Winfrey began working in radio and television while still in high school, that Ted Turner, although a "wild child," was always someone who saw big ideas and took big risks.

Lowe challenges the stereotype of the wealthy as dishonest and ruthless. Money talks - but it talks straight.

"People usually do not rise to this level unless they' re very smart, good communicators, and ethical," she explained. "You may not agree with the philosophy of a Warren Buffett or a Jack Welch (the head of General Electric) and with what they do or how they feel, but they are honest and true to themselves and they follow an ethical course. They'll tell you that if you' re not a straight shooter and an honest dealer, people will see that and not work with you."

The San Diego Union-Tribune Online (By Sarah Sabalos LaSpaluto, October 29, 2000

"Janet Lowe's extensive access to Charlie Munger, his family, friends and business partners has ensured a perceptive look at the man and his business methods." (Lloyd's List, 9th December 2000)

"This is a well-written, fascinating, cautionary tale which examines the seductive nature of power, and people's willingness to believe in these latter-day icons." (International Wealth Management, October 2000)

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
"My CLOSEST AFFILIATION WITH CHARLIE MUNGER is a strange one," said Katharine Graham, retired publisher of the Washington Post. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Buffett's Lesser Known Sidekick Jun 13 2001
By Ian
Format:Hardcover
Janet Lowe has done a reasonable job of chronicling the life of Charlie Munger.

For people who have read a considerable amount about Warren Buffett and Berkshire, a lot of what is included in this book would already be known.

I found that there was too much space devoted to Munger's family at the expense of Munger himself. The book is sub-titled: "Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger" not: "Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger's Family", which is what it risked turning into (especially in the first half or so of the book). Munger might have a wonderful family but no-one is buying the book to read about them.

Munger is obviously known primarily as an extraordinarily successful investor and as such it is a little disappointing that Lowe did not probe deeper into the underlying thought behind some of the major investment decisions that Munger has been involved with during his career, especially given that Munger made himself accessible to the author for the purposes of this book. I was not looking for a Robert Hagstrom type analysis, but some more detailed textual information would have been appropriate. If you want an example of what I'm talking about read Roger Lowenstein's excellent biography Buffett (The Making of an American Capitalist).

I also found it disappointing that Lowe re-published in one of the appendices a talk that Munger gave in 1996 which Andy Kilpatrick had already included in his 1998 edition of Of Permanent Value, perhaps Lowe could have found something previously unpublished for this book.

For the record Page 254 states that See's Candy was purchased for $2m (it should read $25 million), page 255 states that the Buffalo Evening News was purchased for $2.5 million (it should read $32.5 million).

Overall the book is worth having a look at but if you're a seasoned Buffett/Berkshire follower do not expect to learn a lot in addition to what you already know.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Will this book disappointe you? Damn Right! Dec 8 2001
Format:Hardcover
In recent years books about Buffet & Co. started to spring like mushrooms. Publishing books about Berkshire Hathaway's incredible success story is rapidly turning into a lucrative industry. 'Damn Right!' is just another one.
If you expect to learn more about Charlie Muger, Buffet's mysterious sidekick, then you will be very disappointed. Ms. Lowe talks in great detail about Munger's aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, and their dogs but doesn't say much about him. The author seems to be more interested in Munger's life style and his family than in his approach to business and investing.
Ms. Lowe repeats the story of Berkshire Hathaway in a most superficial way. There are much better books on this topic (see Robert Hagstrom's 'The Warren Buffet Way'). I gave it three stars only because there are some bright spots, such as Appendix D and few interesting facts about the man and his way of thinking.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Top-shelf Subject, Second Tier writing/editing! Sep 11 2001
Format:Hardcover
Being an avid reader and curious mind, I anxiously awaited the release of this book. Overall, I was impressed and have re-read several parts of the book since completing the original review. Munger is a fascinating individual, a modern day polymath. Inasmuch as this is the case, the book could have been more, which is no fault of the subject. What I understand to have been a tight publishing schedule really shows. In many instances, I was frustrated at the typos and awkward grammer. This is a great irony in contrast to Munger himself, who most assuredly would find these types of errors to be unacceptable were he the author. From this perspective I was dissappointed.

However, after reading the book, I found myself recalling passages and thinking of Munger, and asking myself critical questions of myself. The most impressive general attribute of Mr. Munger is that he has led his life by his standard, which I feel would be considered quite high by the general public.

For anyone searching for an exemplary citizen, businessman, family man and human being in a this modern world, Charlie Munger should be considered. The book doesn't offer a three-step plan for those looking for a quick fix or 5-minute investment strategy. But the foundations of an ultra-successful life are within the book jacket of this biography.

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Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!
Charlie Munger's life story is a version of the classic American Dream: a hard-working young man builds a billion-dollar fortune through hard work and honest business deals, all... Read more
Published on Jun 22 2004 by Rolf Dobelli
1.0 out of 5 stars Mistaken Facts
Exept for the chapter "Doing Good at Good Samaritan Hospital" I only scanned this book rapidly but I hope that Mr Munger's recollections of his dazzling successes in the... Read more
Published on April 18 2004 by whkern@earthlink.nt
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Background on the Buffett-Munger Team
While there's too much genealogy of the Mungers from the 1600's on, the book does give a thorough grounding in what makes Charles Munger tick. Read more
Published on Feb 23 2003 by 2many2read
4.0 out of 5 stars Priceless
I read a lot of both fiction and non-fiction, and I've read a great deal about Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway. Read more
Published on Jan 21 2003
2.0 out of 5 stars If you have read any book on buffett then dont read this
Overall the book is ok, probably a good fast read for someone who wants background information on munger. Unfortunately the book is nothing more than background information source. Read more
Published on Jun 27 2002 by Rituraj Kanudia
4.0 out of 5 stars Typos galore!
On the whole, a very good book and entertaining. Janet Lowe writes well and gives us a look into Charlie as a biography, which is what was intended. Read more
Published on Jun 11 2001 by Doug Jantz
1.0 out of 5 stars Damn Right
This book was a disappointment. I expected to gain insight into the way Charlie Munger thinks. Instead I got biographical and familial minutiae. Read more
Published on May 30 2001 by Christopher Gable
3.0 out of 5 stars Great subject, disappointing effort
You can't go wrong by choosing to write about Charlie Munger. The unprecedented access Ms. Lowe had to Munger and his family/associates sets the table for an amazing study of a... Read more
Published on May 28 2001 by Raleigh Nachnani
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
Splendid research and writing as usual from Janet Lowe gives sharp glimpses of Charlie Munger. A foreword from Warren Buffett, Munger's alter business ego, and an endorsement from... Read more
Published on April 21 2001
4.0 out of 5 stars Lollapalooza !
A book about an exceptional human being who strives for humilty, honesty and self-improvement. Janet Lowe describes a man who is consistently striving to improve his mind and... Read more
Published on Feb 19 2001 by D. Apostolico
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