The Rainbow Comes and Goes

“We're all prophets when we have the benefit of looking backwards.” This is a quote I heard in an audio drama podcast (called 1865) a few weeks ago, and it's just stuck with me since. It's kind of a rephrasing of the title of this book “The rainbow comes and goes.” There are bright days and there are dark days, and sometimes we just have to accept that in order to keep going.

I didn't know much about Anderson Cooper (other than he's a hot silver fox on the news) or his mother Gloria Vanderbilt before reading this. It's structure is based off of emails the two shared over the course of year in order to understand each other more. Throughout the book Anderson Cooper asks questions, Gloria Vanderbilt responds, and if necessary Cooper provides context for the response before following up or asking a new question. It's a structure that I think could get stale if I read it from cover-to-cover in a few days, but this was a book I read over an extended period of time. Whenever I needed a break from schoolwork, I'd read through a couple Q&A sections before picking my work back up.

Overall, I think the insights and experiences shared were interesting, but I do wish that Cooper and Vanderbilt would have acknowledged the extent to which their familial social capital and privilege allowed them to do what they each did with their lives. They lead abnormal lives, not everybody goes out to dinner parties with the who's who of Elite Society on the regular. Obviously, if you're reading an autobiography/memoir of two celebrities, I guess that's sort of an implicit element of the story but I would have appreciated the explicit nod to the extraordinary elements of their lives.

More about Gloria than Anderson. Also, Anderson is very much the interviewer, he's fairly direct and usually makes declarative sentences. He sound like he's reading from index cards or a teleprompter.

Loved this book, and especially with the authors reading it themselves, it was very intimate. ask if they were sharing their memories and thoughts directly with you.

3.5 stars

I wouldn't have given this book a second glance if it wasn't for my mother. She always reads the books that I recommend/like (and she usually loathes them because they are much to sad for her taste) so I figured that I could read a book of her choosing. It took me a while to get into it but once I did, I looked forward to hearing Anderson's and Gloria's thoughts on love, life, and everything in between. It was actually quite beautiful.

My favourite lines were:
“Although I tend to be hard on myself and don't often feel I am qualified to give advice, there is one thing I do believe in above all else: love.

Love. Is. All.

Despite all that had happened to me, or perhaps because of it, of this I am certain. Can one ever love too much? Trust too much? Not in my book. Love and trust are my truths. They rarely fail, except when I don't listen to my instincts.” Gloria Vanderbilt in a letter to her 17-year-old self

You took all those words right out of my mouth, Ms. Vanderbilt. #truth

I finally finished this book after reading it for two months. I ended up listening to most of this book on audiobook because of my eye surgery recovery but that was perfect because it is read by Anderson and Gloria themselves.

This book was an amazing foray into Anderson but also Gloria's life. This book is told back and forth between Anderson and his mother in the form of emails. While it is back and forth between the two it it still feels very much like you are reading a novel. I loved reading about various aspects of both of their lives and I loved how personal this book felt. This book was truly about a mother and a son and their relationship.

Too tired to write a review tonight. I really enjoyed this book. Enough that I am going to look up others by these authors. Thank goodness for book club..I would NOT have chosen this myself.