In addition to his magazine work, he published a handful of books, only some of which are still in print. In terms of its longevity, Business Adventures stands alongside Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, the 1949 book that Warren says is the best book on investing that he has ever read.īrooks grew up in New Jersey during the Depression, attended Princeton University (where he roomed with future Secretary of State George Shultz), and, after serving in World War II, turned to journalism with dreams of becoming a novelist. Brooks’s deeper insights about business are just as relevant today as they were back then. It’s certainly true that many of the particulars of business have changed. After all, in 1966, when Brooks profiled Xerox, the company’s top-of-the-line copier weighed 650 pounds, cost $27,500, required a full-time operator, and came with a fire extinguisher because of its tendency to overheat. (And Warren, if you’re reading this, I still have your copy.)Ī skeptic might wonder how this out-of-print collection of New Yorker articles from the 1960s could have anything to say about business today. John Brooks is still my favorite business writer. Today, more than two decades after Warren lent it to me-and more than four decades after it was first published- Business Adventures remains the best business book I’ve ever read. “I’ll send you my copy.” I was intrigued: I had never heard of or John Brooks. He didn’t miss a beat: “It’s Business Adventures, by John Brooks,” he said. Not long after I first met Warren Buffett back in 1991, I asked him to recommend his favorite book about business.

Business adventures