Growing up, Anderson Cooper really didn’t know much about his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, and, oh boy, does she have a lot to tell. Wow, such an amazing life she led.  At the age of 91, Gloria begins a year-long, back-and-forth conversation via email with her son, Anderson Cooper, a conversation unlike any they’ve had before. We find out so much about both of them and, in turn, ourselves.

Gloria candidly describes her fascinating, yet difficult, life. Although born with a silver spoon in her … [Read more...] about The Rainbow Comes and Goes

Come gather around the campfire. I want to tell you the story of two families, a tragedy, friendship, and redemption.
"Where the reservation boundary invisibly bisected a stand of deep brush, Landreaux waited. He had kept track of the buck all summer, waiting to take it, fat, until just after the corn was harvested. Landreaux had a perfect shot. He took it with fluid confidence. When the buck popped away he realized he’d hit something else. Only when he walked forth to investigate and looked … [Read more...] about Larose

Have you noticed how many books these days are really a bunch of riffs on life? You know, a collection of blogs or short articles with titles such as “When I Meditate” or “I Can’t Get That Penis out of My Mind.” Stuff like that. (You for sure want to know which book has that penis title in it.) I like the idea of writing a book this way. Seems a hell of a lot easier than actually stringing together a coherent, thematically interesting book from page 1 to 300. I’m pretty sure this will be the … [Read more...] about Would Everybody Please Stop?

This is a wonderful and thrilling story of how one man always had a dream of going to Antartica.  As a child who was bullied everyday on the bus by his schoolmates, Andrew found refuge in the hundreds of copies of National Geographic magazines he read as a child. Within the pages of the magazine he imagines himself traveling the world and dreams of working for the magazine one day.  Excommunicated from the Mormon Church and disowned by his family for being gay, Andrew eventually gets his dream … [Read more...] about The Black Penguin

All of us have watched Lesley interview famous people on "60 Minutes."  She's good at that.  But wait till you hear her take on being a grandmother.  Like other moms, she felt guilty over not being there as much as she would have liked for her own daughter.  But Lesley is all in on the grandmother track.  She even shares scientific information about the powerful impact grand parenting has on both the grandchildren and grandparents themselves. … [Read more...] about Becoming Grandma

Kirk is over a hundred and he and Anne have been married for over 60 years!  How did they make a Hollywood marriage work that long?  There's lots to learn about not just marriage but any relationship from Kirk and Anne.  A delightful read with beautiful, moving, and heartfelt letters from both of them. … [Read more...] about Kirk and Anne