Bloomberg reporter Katherine Burton's first book, Hedge Hunters: Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning, is based on interviews with eighteen of the top hedge fund managers in the world: Michael Steinhardt, Boone Pickens, Jim Chanos and, my personal favorite, Dan Loeb, just to name a few.

The emphasis on the legends may be the book's weakness. All of the managers interviewed are running huge sums of money for institutional investors, and none of these could be characterized as mom-'n'-pop stock-pickin' shops. These firms employ armies of analysts and, with some exceptions, the profiles are repetitive: They look to hire smart people with interesting backgrounds who think independently, etc., etc.

Many of the profiles seem to blend together, and only the interviews with Mr. Chanos and Mr. Loeb could be characterized as truly memorable or insightful. Would-be hedgehogs beware: there is little practical advice here. This is, happily, not a how-to book, and focuses more on the minds and backgrounds of some of the top money managers in the world.

If you idolize guys like Loeb and Chanos, this is probably a book you'll want to pick up. But the vast majority of investors would do just as well skipping this one.

Book review: Hedge Hunters, by Katherine Burton originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Oct 2007 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.