From the Bookshelf of Bound Together…

The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss

Anderson Cooper,

Gloria Vanderbilt

Start date: August 17, 2019

Finish date: August 31, 2019

Discussion: Hear...Hear...Lead by Karen

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Sep 27, 2019 Angela M rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

An ongoing e-mail conversation between a mother and her son to get to know each other better when she’s in her early 90’s, is the basis for this book and as you might suspect it’s an intimate look, and certainly interesting. In this case made much more interesting because the mother is the famed Gloria Vanderbilt and the son, Anderson Cooper, a recognized anchor and reporter for CNN. It’s mostly Gloria’s story, and as I listened to the audiobook, it many times felt like Anderson was interviewing An ongoing e-mail conversation between a mother and her son to get to know each other better when she’s in her early 90’s, is the basis for this book and as you might suspect it’s an intimate look, and certainly interesting. In this case made much more interesting because the mother is the famed Gloria Vanderbilt and the son, Anderson Cooper, a recognized anchor and reporter for CNN. It’s mostly Gloria’s story, and as I listened to the audiobook, it many times felt like Anderson was interviewing her, yet there were so many poignant moments when they each talked about how they felt about each other, their regrets and so much more. I have to admit I wanted to know more about Anderson. I’m an avid viewer of his nightly hour on CNN. He's a skilled interviewer and I’m always touched by the sensitivity he shows to families of survivors of mass shootings and those affected by natural disasters when he is reporting on the scene. I especially remember when he reported from Sandy Hook and from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

I’m of the age when I was a young girl, I just had to have those Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. I knew the Vanderbilts were a family of prestige and wealth, but I really knew nothing about her life. What a sad mixed up life she had as a child, moving around and then a public custody battle for her when she was ten years old between her mother and her aunt. She talks about her bad first marriage, her multiple marriages, the famous people in her life, the varied things she does - actress, designer, artist. Her privileged, well to do life wasn’t always a happy one. I was moved to hear them speak of the effect on both of them of the loss of Gloria’s husband and Anderson’s father and then her son and Anderson’s brother to suicide.

Their exchanges felt so honest when he talks about when he came out to her, about their religious beliefs and how they feel about each other. What a gift these correspondences were to each other. Gloria Vanderbilt passed away this year and I still remember the loving tribute that Anderson Cooper gave about his mother when he returned to the air after her funeral. Definitely recommended and the audio is the way to go with this one. Hearing them read their own parts of the book make its so much more meaningful.

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Sep 06, 2019 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it

Shelves: lor-2019, 5000-2019

Like many other young women, i owned a few pairs of Vanderbilt jeans, they were the first in brand that were a must have. Remember too, my grandmother talking about the poor, little rich girl and how it must be so horrible for her, having to choose between her mother and grandmother. I didn't, however, know that Anderson Cooper as part of the Vanderbilt's, until after Gloria's death. I had seen him on TV and liked his reporting.

This though is all I knew, no details about their lives, and truth ...more

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May 05, 2016 ☮Karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, overdrive, nonfiction, read-in-2016

4.5 stars.
Years ago my husband and I read and enjoyed the book Little Gloria... Happy at Last about the child Gloria Vanderbilt and the famous custody battle between her neglectful mother and her Aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. My husband's interest goes way back, you see, as his Grandmother Jenny claimed that they were descended from Cornelius Vanderbilt (they were, actually, but not THAT Cornelius--that was quite a common name in the 1700s it turns out. She also said they came fro ...more

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Oct 31, 2017 Susan rated it really liked it

I absolutely loved reading, The Rainbow Comes and Goes. This is one of those books you want to spread the word. I didn't know the history of Gloria Vanderbilt. I didn't buy the book to learn the gossip of Gloria Vanderbilt. I thought I would learn a different way to communicate with my Mom. Some of us don't know how to connect with our loved ones. There are secrets that are kept. I thought it would give me some insight how to relate.

The last chapter of the book I absolutely loved it. It brought ...more

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Jun 26, 2016 Pat rated it liked it

Pretty good review of the life of The Poor Little Rich Girl, Gloria Vanderbilt and her relationship with her son Anderson Cooper. Oh my, the damage done to children by their aloof parents that carries on generations after generations - so SAD! And, no amount of $$$$$ can make up for parental love! Gloria's relationship with Anderson must have been enhanced by the writing of this book in which he elicits more of her past with ???? I was left with one unanswered ? - where are her eldest sons, Stan ...more

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