In the 19th Century, Anderson Cooper's ancestor, Cornelius "The Commodore" Vanderbilt amassed a huge fortune in railroads, making the Vanderbilt family the richest in the United States. In this book, Cooper examines The Commodore and his various descendants, the vast majority of whom squandered the Commodore's fortune in lavish ways. Among others, the book tells of Billy "The Blatherskite" Vanderbilt, son of the Commodore and the only kid to add to the fortune; of socialite Alva Vanderbilt, whose social competition with Caroline Astor led to increasingly lavish parties, culminating in an 1883 masked ball that cost the equivalent of $6 million to throw; of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, a socialite and artist who founded the Whitney Museum of American Art; of Harold Vanderbilt, who sailed many times in the America's Cup; and of course, it tells the story of "little" Gloria Vanderbilt, denim magnate and Cooper's mother. It also touches on the people who surrounded the Vanderbilts, including European royalty, politicians, other notable socialites, and well-known literary figures, including Truman Capote and Dorothy Parker.
It's a fascinating story, and Cooper tells it well, never shying away from the less-savory characteristics of his ancestors or of showing the stark contrast between the Vanderbilt excesses and the often-dire straits of the rest of the country. I particularly enjoyed listening to the audiobook, which is read by Cooper.
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