The Snowball

“If the replication of any great achievement first requires knowledge of how it was done, then The Snowball, the most detailed glimpse inside Warren Buffett and his world that we likely will ever get, should become a Bible for capitalists.”
—Washington Post

""[Schroeder] has sought to describe Buffett's psychological landscape as clearly as his financial one. For the reader, the results are pretty terrific ...[I]n describing how Buffett's mind works, and why it is so well suited to his chosen career, Schroeder is particularly good... Schroeder's brave book offers a close-up of [Buffett's] cellulite, but more fairly, in the context of a genuinely delightful character... History's most legendary investor  was not a cartoon character but a real live human being. And still, somehow, deeply admirable."
—MICHAEL LEWIS, The New Republic

“The mandatory book to read in these treacherous times of financial crisis.…A thoughtful and intimate biography of the globe’s wisest investor.”
—Forbes

“Will mesmerize anyone interested in who Mr. Buffett is or how he got that way. The Snowball tells a fascinating story.”
—New York Times

“In The Snowball, novice biographer Alice Schroeder gives us one of the most detailed, candid life stories ever published…It is almost impossible to stop reading.” 
—Christian Science Monitor

"Anyone who has been watching events unfold in recent months–which would be everyone–can now appreciate the wisdom of Buffett....The most authoritative portrait of one of the most important American investors of our time.” 
—Los Angeles Times

“Even people who don't care a whit about business will be intrigued by this portrait… Schroeder, a former insurance-industry analyst, spent years interviewing Buffett, and the result is a side of the Oracle of Omaha that has rarely been seen.”
—Time Magazine

"Schroeder... has a meat-and-potatoes style that matches the homespun wisdom of her subject...Now more than ever, Buffett's emphasis on fundamentals seems like genius. It's the perfect moment for a great book on an immensely inspiring capitalist."
—People, four stars

"Top-notch biographies demand thorough research and crisp, finely honed writing. Schroeder exhibits both.... It's hard to imagine a more complete account of Buffett's life had he written it himself."
—Buffalo News

“A penetrating and personal look at the Oracle of Omaha…An astute, and at times riveting, read–especially now.”
—BusinessWeek

“Schroeder…is well equipped to elucidate Buffett’s deals…[and] Buffett’s life abounds with good stories.”
—New Yorker

“In this startlingly frank account of Buffett’s life, Schroeder, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley–and hand picked by Buffett to be his biographer–strips away the mystery that has long cloaked the word’s richest man to reveal a life and fortune erected around lucid and inspired business vision and unimaginable personal complexity.” 
—Publishers Weekly 

“This massive–and highly readable–text (produced with Buffett’s full cooperation) is an unvarnished and well-paced biography that is essential for all public and academic business collections.”
—Library Journal

“For students of the Oracle of Omaha, or even those looking for a little reassurance during the crisis, Schroeder's book is a fascinating study of America's most successful investor.”
—New York Post

“… Alice Schroeder’s accumulation of detail, her vivid, artless descriptions of people and places, and the resulting narrative fluidity make this a compelling book. It has the bouncing vitality of an early Sinclair Lewis novel.” 
—Times Literary Supplement

"How Warren Buffett became Warren Buffett turns out to be a fascinating story, at least as told by Alice Schroeder."
—SUE M. HALPERN, The New York Review of Books

“If you've looked at your 401(k) statement and started to fear that everyone in financial markets is either greedy, predatory or incompetent, do yourself a favor. Take $35 out of the mattress and buy a copy of Alice Schroeder's The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. At a time like this, it's a real comfort: Buffet is living proof there's at least one wholly rational person managing money…an excellent and highly enjoyable look at the business titan.”
—Houston Chronicle

“Ms. Schroeder does a good job of pulling…volunteered disclosures out of Mr. Buffett but her real contribution is her own investment expertise which enables her to make the convoluted financing schemes over the last 50 years understandable to lay readers and truly instructive to the business information junkie.”
—Washington Times

“This is a fast-paced, precisely drawn profile of a man who, despite his high visibility in the financial world, isn’t someone we’ve known much about… We do now.” 
—Kansas City Star

"Riveting and encyclopedic.... The overall power of the story carries “The Snowball” forward. There is much to be learned from it.”
—wsj.com

The Snowball delivers on the promise every biography makes but few can dish up: careful readers leave feeling as though a secret has been shared -- several, really -- and that the answer to an important question is within reach. When the book was released early in 2008, The Los Angeles Times said, 'The Snowball is likely to remain the most authoritative portrait of one of the most important American investors of our time.' We agree.” 
—January Magazine 

"You will learn a lot about one of the nation's most compelling and important men from reading “The Snowball.”
—Boston Globe