This book took me a looong time to read, but that's because its nearly 500 pages are so saturated with information and original ideas, you will have plenty to learn and will want to fully explore and take advantage of all Charlie has to offer. You MUST be an active reader to derive any benefit from the framework he has laid out. I don't think a quick skim will do it any justice, or even be worth your time.
The whole purpose of this book is to provide you with a strong mental foundation for success in life... I call it the "inner game." Only then are you truly ready to take on the world in business or make astute investment decisions. For specific investment advice, look no further than Buffett. What you get from Munger is both harder to obtain, and more important to master. Application of investment technique should be the easy part. Key teachings I found important were:
the importance of using the multi-disciplinary approach and interrelated mental models formed from the big (often elementary but rarely used), important ideas of various disciplines
realizing your mental circle of competence, and specializing
the lollapalooza effect
avoiding the man-with-the-hammer problem, and many other psychological tendencies he discusses
his emphasis on ethical behavior (where else do you find this?)
comparison of the stock market to the pari-mutuel betting system
the idea of betting big when the odds are in your favor (Buffett's idea as well)
What I like most is that he has a no-nonsense attitude, and this quality of genuineness makes him more likeable, and easier to learn from. He has a dominant personality and seems more opinionated and less mellow than Buffett, so yes, sometimes he may come across as arrogant, but I'm sure it's hard to downplay such a great life. But anyway, he is supposed to be the teacher, so you must put your own ego aside.
You also get a nice biography at the beginning, giving you some background information about him. Of course Charlie, a self-proclaimed "biography nut," would agree that learning about the lives of other successful people is very important step to success. Since he has led a very honorable life, it would be a great thing if people try to walk in his footsteps.
My only complaint is that somebody decided to put huge boldface italicized duplicate excerpts in the middle of most pages, absolutely killing the flow of the text and slowing me down considerably. I would have tried to simply ignore them, but some of the quotes were not duplicates from the text so I read every single one. I didn't mind the extra information offered in the margins, and in fact found most of it both helpful and interesting. The caricatures were amusing. Remember Charlie is supposed to be a down-to-earth guy, so they wanted to give the book this kind of feel. Also, there was a lot of redundancy of ideas, due to the fact that ten separate speeches were compiled and the topics often overlapped, but I know the value of repetition, and if it has helped drive the key ideas home, it has served its purpose well.
Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone. It stands alone as a masterpiece. For serious investors, I think you will possess the greatest investment capabilities if this book is supplemented with readings from Buffett and Graham. The results of this powerful combination, used effectively, is certainly what Munger would call a lollapalooza effect.
