Resources for an Inside Perspective on Private Equity

I got a PM from a user and after writing up a fairly extensive response, I thought it would be a shame to waste so much time for the benefit of just one person when many others may have the same question... so see below.

...I'm currently trying to interview for PE, and it's really helpful to think through your answers since I'm in an industry that's not as sponsors/debt heavy.

As a side, do you have any good reading recommendations, not necessarily just to prepare for interviews, but an "inside" view of working as a PE professional?...

Hmmm... can't say there is any good reading materials to understand what its like working in PE as an associate (that I know of). I worked in an industry group that got quite a bit of sponsor deal flow, so I knew exactly what my job was like working with sponsors and my experience in private equity was remarkably similar, which is something I didn't have an appreciation for until I got there.

What is more important (I think) is understanding what its like inside the business of Private Equity, rather than inside the life of an associate. My view is that you'll always do better in interviews (and on the job and in life) by not preparing for the actual interview, but actually learning, understanding and introspectively thinking about the fundamentals.

For general knowledge, I really like a few resources:
(1) Bain Consulting Report on Private Equity: they publish it every year and its pretty much a state of the union report and to some degree an outlook going forward. What I really liked about this report was that as a PE investor you're constantly trying to differentiate yourself vs. your peers in developing a thesis around an asset and the Bain report identifies a lot of the challenges these guys are facing Today, which is helpful in understanding how they can best be thoughtful to mitigate those challenges in order to differentiate themselves as an investor. When I would attend meetings with partners at these PE firms, it was amazing how similar their views of the world were and how they all considered their lives to be difficult for all the same reasons.
(2) Tuck Center for Private Equity Notes on Leveraged Buyouts: if you haven't worked on many PE deals, this is a must read. It has some very solid fundamentals of why and how a leveraged buyout works. Keep in mind, the commonly cited characteristics of an LBO basically means that a company falls into the universe of not ridiculous to consider. It doesn't mean it's actionable, it doesn't mean you have a unique angle that differentiates you from all the other smart people considering this investment. That part of the equation you get from (a) experience, (b) your investment/business acumen, (c) understanding the resources available at your firm and what it brings to the table.
(3) I'd skim Josh Lerner's white paper on Reverse Leveraged Buyouts. I'd avoid the quantitative analysis since this is pure academic bullshit, and focus on the qualitative commentary around why his findings make sense.
(4) Alchemy of the LBO: good little write up in McKinsey quarterly about LBOs in the Chemical industry and why its been the darling of PE investors.

To get an idea for the life of a PE associate, I suggest you network with PE associates and ask specific questions rather than broad bullshit questions like how much time do you spend working on new deals vs. portcos, whats the investment committee process like etc. Everyone asks those questions and they're fuckin lame and stupid. I think its more informative to ask what their work/responsibilities on portfolio companies actually consists of, how a new deal flows through the group and their role in that process, how they try to add value to the group's activities, etc...