The Rainbow Comes and Goes

April 11, 2016
Vanderbilt and her son, Cooper, relate the touching story of how an epistolary exchange created new emotional intimacy between them. After fashion designer and society icon Vanderbilt, now 92, became seriously ill in 2015, Cooper, a globe-trotting journalist, questioned their closeness and realized much had gone unsaid between them. He sets about rectifying that by opening an email exchange that proves illuminating and healing. Vanderbilt's early years were rife with tragedy, and her father died before she was two years old; in parallel, Cooper's father died when Cooper was 10. Vanderbilt writes of having no one to talk to about the turmoil around her childhood and adolescence, leading to countless regrettable turns such as dropping out at 17 to marry a decades-older man, and it never occurred to her to share or explain to her sons what she endured. Cooper recalls feeling loved by his mother, but also feeling that he barely knew her. As Cooper delves into their respective pasts, he starts to understand that, following the deaths of his father and older brother, he also took big risks motivated by the out-of-control circumstances surrounding him. Through greater openness, Cooper and Vanderbilt achieve a new closeness, demonstrating in this intimate and lively read that it's never too late to have a rich relationship with family.

Starred review from July 25, 2016
Prominent CNN anchor and 60 Minutes correspondent Cooper and his mother, Vanderbilt, a famous designer, artist, and cultural icon who has contended with the ups and downs of the spotlight for over nine decades, provide a heartfelt dialogue in their new title, which is timed to coincide with an HBO documentary film. Cooper and Vanderbilt perform the audio edition in a highly conversational format, though they each draw on their own backgrounds in how they play the parts. As a high-powered television journalist reaching midlife, Cooper asks his questions with focus and drive that viewers have come to expect from him on the air, while the more contemplative and artistic Vanderbilt presents her content largely in a spoken form of letter writing from a bygone era. They demonstrate some of their most revealing traits and perspectives through the “agree to disagree” exchanges of the narrative, such as their ideas about whether everything in life happens for a reason. Listeners steeped in pop culture history probably represent the most obvious target audience; the palpable expressions of grace and tenderness will also hold appeal for a larger audience of parents and adult children coming to terms with the past. A Harper hardcover.