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1.2k reviews for:
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
Katherine Howe, Anderson Cooper
3.67 AVERAGE
1.2k reviews for:
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
Katherine Howe, Anderson Cooper
3.67 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
informative
fast-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
sad
slow-paced
This was a book one of my patients had been reading & I thought it sounded like a fun history jaunt back into America's messy wealthy family past. The commodore starts it all, focused on money and more money as his legacy. With nearly a dozen children and multiple marriages, it was the usual struggle of "does father love me?" vs "what am I inheriting?" But money runs out as leisure pursuits waste everything. One of the more unusual twists in the family was Alva's divorce and feminist turn after literally beating her daughter into submission & shipping her off to England to marry a broke but landed aristocratic man (although this led to both Churchill and Princess Diana's existence).
A chapter is spent focused on Truman Capote and his workings of the Swans, one being Gloria Vanderbilt. This kind of felt superfluous and unrelated to the family directly but it's still a large part of Gloria's life therefore the end of the line for the Vanderbilt family as far as heirs go.
Anderson Cooper does not consider himself a Vanderbilt because the artifice of the family has gone, squandered and fought over. I had started the early chapters wondering if these heaps ofoney had led him to have an easy in at universities and jobs...but it sounds like he actually had to get work to pay for the last 40 years of his mother's compulsive redecorating and care. The overall moral of the family's story seems to be that money never led them to happiness, only wanting for love...of their parent, of their spouse, and even from themselves. Multiple suicides and pressures of society come up throughout the book and show the cracks of what wealth could never cover completely.
A chapter is spent focused on Truman Capote and his workings of the Swans, one being Gloria Vanderbilt. This kind of felt superfluous and unrelated to the family directly but it's still a large part of Gloria's life therefore the end of the line for the Vanderbilt family as far as heirs go.
Anderson Cooper does not consider himself a Vanderbilt because the artifice of the family has gone, squandered and fought over. I had started the early chapters wondering if these heaps ofoney had led him to have an easy in at universities and jobs...but it sounds like he actually had to get work to pay for the last 40 years of his mother's compulsive redecorating and care. The overall moral of the family's story seems to be that money never led them to happiness, only wanting for love...of their parent, of their spouse, and even from themselves. Multiple suicides and pressures of society come up throughout the book and show the cracks of what wealth could never cover completely.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Classism
informative
slow-paced
I started this audiobook shortly after visiting the Vanderbilt mansions in Newport & I found it so fascinating! I think this book is best read if you live near or are planning to visit NYC or Newport to get a more immersive experience.
Very informative book, gives you a great window into upper class society in the late 19th & early 20th century. I enjoyed the first 3/4 more than the end, which felt a little rushed. The sailboat race description…. Went on for FAR too long lol
Very informative book, gives you a great window into upper class society in the late 19th & early 20th century. I enjoyed the first 3/4 more than the end, which felt a little rushed. The sailboat race description…. Went on for FAR too long lol
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
✨audiobooked✨
I really liked this book but I don’t know if I could’ve read it normally. Sometimes the focus on describing how everything looked dragged on and the jumping around in the generations of the Vanderbilt family made me struggle a bit to stay engaged and also just follow the story line when there really wasn’t a singular one. I get that the jumping had to happen but I think it could’ve happened more smoothly. Anderson cooper’s voice is really nice and I’d recommend it to veteran audio bookers.
I really liked this book but I don’t know if I could’ve read it normally. Sometimes the focus on describing how everything looked dragged on and the jumping around in the generations of the Vanderbilt family made me struggle a bit to stay engaged and also just follow the story line when there really wasn’t a singular one. I get that the jumping had to happen but I think it could’ve happened more smoothly. Anderson cooper’s voice is really nice and I’d recommend it to veteran audio bookers.