Business Adventures - John Brooks

[loganc]

I read "Once in Golconda" and it was very good - Gayner mentioned it an interview.  Brooks is a fantastic writer and I will be reading Business Adventures in the near future.  I can understand being skeptical around the Buffett/Gates hype, but I am pretty sold on Brooks.

[Kraven]

I am apparently in the minority on this one, but I didn't like this book.  I liked Go Go Years from him much better.  I thought each piece here was long and boring.  If they had been cut in half they still would have been long and boring. 

[Liberty]

I didn't like Go Go Years too much. Don't care for the writing and what he decides to focus on... The events themselves sound very interesting, though.

 

I shouldn't have ordered three books by Brooks at the same time...

[Kraven]

I didn't like To Go Years too much. Don't care for the writing and what he decides to focus on... The events themselves sound very interesting, though.

 

I shouldn't have ordered three books by Brooks at the same time...

 

I just liked it better, but think he's generally boring and long winded.  He reminds me of writers from the 19th century when people had nothing to do other than read a book that was 3 times longer than it should be and was a combination of story, travel guide, etc. In Business Adventures, the Edsel chapter almost killed me.  About 60 pages and nothing happens.  Here's the synopsis - it was a crappy car and they didn't research it properly or roll it out properly. 

[Liberty]

I didn't like To Go Years too much. Don't care for the writing and what he decides to focus on... The events themselves sound very interesting, though.

 

I shouldn't have ordered three books by Brooks at the same time...

 

I just liked it better, but think he's generally boring and long winded.  He reminds me of writers from the 19th century when people had nothing to do other than read a book that was 3 times longer than it should be and was a combination of story, travel guide, etc. In Business Adventures, the Edsel chapter almost killed me.  About 60 pages and nothing happens.  Here's the synopsis - it was a crappy car and they didn't research it properly or roll it out properly.

 

He just seemed to go on and on about uninteresting stuff, giving almost full dry biographies for random people tangentially involved in the action, and he tells you about a lot of things rather than showing them to you via dialogue or action (Michael Lewis can quickly let you know a lot about someone just by showing you the way they talk and describing them in action). Maybe it's just the writing showing its age... Business writing had to start somewhere.

[rpadebet]

I didn't like To Go Years too much. Don't care for the writing and what he decides to focus on... The events themselves sound very interesting, though.

 

I shouldn't have ordered three books by Brooks at the same time...

 

I just liked it better, but think he's generally boring and long winded.  He reminds me of writers from the 19th century when people had nothing to do other than read a book that was 3 times longer than it should be and was a combination of story, travel guide, etc. In Business Adventures, the Edsel chapter almost killed me.  About 60 pages and nothing happens.  Here's the synopsis - it was a crappy car and they didn't research it properly or roll it out properly.

 

I kind of liked the Edsel story. It was interesting to go inside an organization and find out how they came up with the design and roll out strategy in those days. Market research done systematically and tying it to design of a product was a pretty new thing in those days....so it was interesting to me how they figured those things out. This story kind of has parallels to how MSFT did some of its Windows design and launches..

 

The story most boring to me was Mr. Lilienthal's.  "A pseudo socialist big govt guy moves to private sector,makes money and thinks private sector isn't that bad". What was the point?

 

Piggly Wiggly was good. I was rooting for the guy...I just wish he had won against the exchanges. His ideas in retail were pretty interesting as well. WMT should do something like his last idea now, if they wish to compete against AMZN going forward.

[CorpRaider]

I didn't really like this one either.  The insider trading story was pretty amusing. 

[Gamecock-YT]

I am apparently in the minority on this one, but I didn't like this book.  I liked Go Go Years from him much better.  I thought each piece here was long and boring.  If they had been cut in half they still would have been long and boring.

 

ditto. I quit halfway through the 100 page article towards the end. The Edsel and Piggly Wiggly were pretty interesting but probably could've been edited down to something more tangible.

[abitofvalue]

I didn't like To Go Years too much. Don't care for the writing and what he decides to focus on... The events themselves sound very interesting, though.

 

I shouldn't have ordered three books by Brooks at the same time...

 

I just liked it better, but think he's generally boring and long winded.  He reminds me of writers from the 19th century when people had nothing to do other than read a book that was 3 times longer than it should be and was a combination of story, travel guide, etc. In Business Adventures, the Edsel chapter almost killed me.  About 60 pages and nothing happens.  Here's the synopsis - it was a crappy car and they didn't research it properly or roll it out properly.

 

Lol - I got this book for Christmas and read the Edsel chapter last night.  You are absolutely right - man oh man was it a tough slog. Had I not discovered this thread today and seen some of the other good reviews (and that its recommended by Buffett / Gates), I was ready to just leave the rest of the book unfinished after finishing that chapter.  Guess I will give it another couple of chapters and see if it gets better.

 

[Guest JoelS]

I agree with the above sentiments.. Tough slog. The income tax chapter is also difficult, but informative. I think it does get better though, and is worth finishing.