Enjoyed the early parts

I really enjoyed listening to Gloria tell her story oh her childhood and marriages. It felt like we were having a conversation. She had some amazing stories and she did a great job keeping me interested for the first half of the book. The last half, both Gloria and Anderson talked more of their philosophies of life. It felt like they were at a family counseling session rambling on and on about typical insecurities etc.

Anderson really never reveals anything about his life. His sections never tell you anything personal, so that was very disappointed. I would have like to have heard about his partner and their relationship with Gloria. Also, anderson's reading was very dry and felt more like he was reading a script.

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Wow .... Inspiring

Really enjoyed this audiobook and listening to the raw emotion of Gloria ! I'm inspired to do something similar with my mother ! Thank you both for this gift !

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Very disappointing.

I struggled to keep listening to this book. In the end, I couldn't finish listening to the book.

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Wonderfully written and hope for more from both!

loved it, finished it in two days I couldn't put it down and wanted more.

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Well polished emails reveal a relationship based in self-pity and narcissism

These two famous characters are portrayed nicely in an HBO documentary, but if you Watch the show and listen to these emails together you can understand why Anderson Cooper is such a strange person in person – as opposed to TV – and why Gloria Vanderbilt also seems nice on TV, but would be comfortable stating fact that one of her sons from one of her husbands stopped talking to her, and she had no visible reaction to that – at least not on the show where it was discussed. This is an interesting idea for a book, and perhaps since I had to stop listening three quarters of the way through, perhaps I forfeit my right to submit this review. I recommend the documentary however.

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a Chinese curse: May you have an interesting life

Gloria Vanderbilt, a high-school dropout, is, nevertheless, enchantingly voluble and erudite,
introspective, thoughtful, vulnerable, incredibly loving and alive at 92 (at the time of this publication). What an interesting life she has had! Prompted by her son's questions, she recalls it here in detail and with much emotion. I was utterly fascinated from beginning to end.

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So shallow and pretentious

Would you try another book from Anderson Cooper and/or Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt ?

Possibly. Not Gloria, but Anderson.

Did Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I had a negative reaction almost immediately to the sound of Gloria's voice. The ridiculous inflection she would insert into these manufactured dramatic scenes was eye-rolling. I actually preferred the filling in of the story narrative provided by Anderson. After she dies he could use all the research he gathered for this book to actually write something meaningful.

Could you see The Rainbow Comes and Goes being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Unfortunately I could. I think I remember a TV movie from long ago with Farrah Fawcett but that might have been another poor little rich girl. Woolworth maybe?

Any additional comments?

I wanted to read the reviews to see if anyone had the same reaction as I did. I cannot believe how many people loved it. Are people really this gullible? At times I wondered if Anderson didn't have a more nefarious purpose in writing this book. Was it a back door attempt to show what his mother was really like. A couple of times he does tip toe into a serious topic like her drinking and basically deist approach to parenting, but he never really confronts her. OMG is she shallow. Anyone looking for more of a story about this woman's life will be disappointed because there isn't one. I would say she is the original mold for the Paris Hiltons' we are currently inflicted with. I'm not sorry I made it all the way through this very thin, manipulative piece. I saw Anderson at the PLA in Denver last spring and he was very interesting. I think he could write a much better book about his mother and his life that could actually deserve all this love and adoration.

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Disappointing

I had high hopes for this book. Hard for me to imagine Anderson Cooper being a bore, but such is the case with this memoir. Both he and Ms. Vanderbilt bemoan her unhappy lot endlessly and manage to say nothing of interest about any of it.

It was not a happy life, to be sure, but it needs a bit of objectivity and well, insight. They should have read Alan Cumming's memoir.

I got about 1/2 way thrrough and gave up. As I only could stomach half of it, there may be more of interest if A.C. begins to talk about himself. However, I was unable to hang in listening to MS. Vanderbilt's self-serving answers to questions she obviously welcomed.

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The Amazing Life of the Worlds Shallowest Women

Any additional comments?

You'll want to like Gloria Vanderbilt but it's impossible to feel anything but disdain for this self-consumed narcissist. Her goal in life was to be on the arm of every leading man in Hollywood, all at the expense of her kids. Born with a silver spoon but emotionally penniless, she gives a great performance as the poor little rich girl who in reality has never been happy a day in her life. Anderson is fortunate to have inherited all of his good nature from his father who tragically was in his life for just ten years.

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Stopped listening

Performed like a written dialogue between mother and son. Gloria Vanderbilt is in her 90's and has endured great heartache in attaining her experience. I could identify with many of her experiences. I can imagine the trauma she endured in realizing her mother was gay in a time when it was not accepted. I was finished listening when she declared that being gay is no different than love between a man and woman. Scripture teaches otherwise and while I understand loving her mother and son in regardless, I chose not to listen to further testimony.

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