Of Permanent Value — The Story of Warren Buffett

The Most Complete Buffett Record Ever Assembled

Andrew Kilpatrick, a Birmingham News journalist and Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, set out to write the most thorough account of Warren Buffett’s life ever assembled—and by sheer volume of research, he succeeded. Of Permanent Value runs to well over 700 pages and has been revised and expanded across multiple editions since it first appeared in 1994, making it a continuously updated chronicle rather than a fixed historical snapshot. The book covers Buffett’s childhood in Depression-era Omaha, his early fascination with numbers and business, his studies under Benjamin Graham at Columbia, the formation of his investment partnerships, and the decades-long transformation of Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling New England textile manufacturer into one of the world’s most valuable companies. Kilpatrick leaves few stones unturned: the book is dense with specific financial figures, anecdotes from people who knew Buffett at various stages of his life, and granular detail about Berkshire’s subsidiary companies and investment positions. For readers who want to know everything, this is the place to look.

A Reference Work More Than a Narrative Biography

The book’s defining characteristic—its exhaustive comprehensiveness—is also what limits its appeal as a reading experience. Kilpatrick organizes his material thematically and chronologically in a way that privileges accumulation of information over storytelling momentum. Chapters pile detail upon detail without always connecting events to broader patterns or consequences, and the sheer density of facts can make it difficult to maintain a sense of where the narrative is going. Readers who approach Of Permanent Value looking for the propulsive narrative of, say, Alice Schroeder’s The Snowball will be disappointed. But readers who use it the way a scholar uses a reference text—dipping in by topic, cross-referencing years, using the index to track specific investments or relationships—will find it invaluable. The multiple updated editions are a genuine asset, because Buffett’s story is ongoing, and most biographies become frozen artifacts the moment they go to press.

Admiring but Informative

Kilpatrick makes no pretense of objectivity. He is clearly a Buffett admirer, and the book’s tone is consistently celebratory. This is worth flagging for readers expecting rigorous critical analysis of Buffett’s record or character. Mistakes, controversies, and business decisions that did not work out tend to receive cursory treatment compared to the extended praise given to successes. Yet within those limits, the book delivers remarkable value. The sheer quantity of primary material—quotes, financial data, and firsthand accounts—means readers can form their own judgments even when Kilpatrick declines to offer criticism. As the most detailed single-volume Buffett reference available, Of Permanent Value earns a place on the shelf of anyone seriously engaged with the Berkshire story, even if other books serve better as introductions.

Our rating: 3.8/5 — The definitive encyclopedic reference on Warren Buffett, best approached as a research resource rather than a narrative to read straight through.