Warren Buffet is a rich midwesterner who has been obsessed with money from a young age. He grew up in Omaha and spent some time in Washington D.C. when his dad was a congressman. In both places he was working to earn money and have that money compound through investments. He then created his own fund to invest other people's money. He followed the conservative investing principals of Ben Graham (and even talked himself into Columbia Business School so that he could learn from Graham himself.) He was most eager to work for himself, and liked to take large stakes in companies. One company he bought was a New Bedford textile company, Berkshire Hathaway. He initially did not want to buy it, but he felt wronged and eventually took over the company. He would later say that it was one of his worst mistakes. However, that company would become the holding company for many other organizations.
The book portrays Buffet as a "country boy" who does not mind hob-knobbing with elites, yet is reluctant to venture out of his comfort zone. (He'd prefer to eat a hamburger and fried rather than Asian food while in Asia.) He knows what he is good at and sticks to that. He seems overly obsessed with money. However, he also wants to make sure his children can live comfortable but do not get undue benefit from their winning the "ovarian lottery". He realizes he was able to make a fortune due to being in the right place and working hard. However, he is in favor of inheritance taxes and other similar programs to share the wealth. People should be able to work on things that they are good at, but shouldn't have a life of idleness simply because of their birth. (He seems to be unable to stop working, in spite of "retiring" a few times.)
A teenage girl lives with her family in Oregon. One day they go on a car trip in snowy conditions. Her parents die immediately. Her brother dies in the hospital. She is alive, but barely. If I Stay is narrated from the girls perspective. She "sees" what is going on. She can wander around in the hospital to see the people that are working there and those that come to visit. She gradually unfolds her history. She comes from an artistic family. Her dad was a punk drummer before becoming a school teacher. She, however, "rebelled" against punk and became an accomplished cellist. She managed to fall for a punk boyfriend. They seemed nothing alike. However, they shared a common love of music. The boyfriend went through great effort to be able to see her in the hospital. (He even involved a famous musician to try to district people.) Eventually, a friendly nurse showed up and let him in. He finally convinced her that it was worth it to keep on living. The book does a good job of providing the traditional coming of age love story from a very different angle.
