I really wanted to like this book. The idea of an intimate correspondence between mother and son appeals to me both as a mother, and as a daughter. I often wish I knew more about my mother; that I understood more about her life and why she believes the things she does. I was looking forward to an intimate glimpse at Anderson and Gloria’s relationship, their deepest yearnings and desires, and the way they shared their innermost thoughts with one another.

Instead, what I got was a whole lot about Gloria, and very little about Anderson. At first I was interested in Gloria’s story, but her constant whining, blaming her parents for absolutely everything that went wrong in her life, and the false modesty really got to me. Seriously, how many times can I take a gorgeous woman (with pictures sprinkled throughout the book to prove it) calling herself a “fat ugly duckling” before I toss the book across the room? (The answer is - too many.)

Ultimately, I don’t think the epistolary format suited this book. The conversations seemed stilted, and Anderson often had to chime in to fill in some of the gaps in his mother’s story. Also, she was very verbose while he only got a line in here and there. And it seemed to me as though she ignored him and his comments. He’d sometimes get vulnerable and open up about something specific (often having to do with the loss of his father), and Gloria would gloss over it and go back to her poor-me tales.

Gloria herself came across as petulant, selfish, and completely unable to take responsibility for her actions even at the age of 91. Everything that went wrong in her life was always someone else’s fault: her father’s for dying, her mother’s for not loving her, her aunt’s for letting her go chaperone-free to Europe at 17, etc, etc. Ugh. So disappointing. ( )

This memoir of Gloria Vanderbilt left me with mixed feelings. It seemed like her son was interviewing his mother, prompting her with questions. There was very little about Anderson Cooper, and not much about his mother’s custody trial when she was a child, or how made her fortune, lost it through trusting the wrong people, and made it again. It was not an in-depth revelation, although I was surprised that Vanderbilt credits LSD with helping her cope with her emotional problems. I do give her credit for doing the audio book at her advanced age of 91, and for that feat alone she deserves accolades. ( )

I loved listening to this fascinating conversation between famous mother and equally famous son told in their own voices on audiobook. ( )

2021 pandemic read. Emails between Gloria Vanderbilt and her son Anderson Cooper. Interesting, a lot of history, and backstory to her life and his. ( )

Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, exchange letters and learn more about one another. A very interesting concept and fun to listen to them read the letters via audiobook. While overall the story of Gloria's childhood and life is not necessarily relatable, the idea of mother and son getting to know one another and discuss some things in writing that are tough to verbalize in conversation was really interesting. ( )