Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival (2006)

Dispatches From the Edge by Anderson Cooper is his memoir of his early days of reporting from the war zones and disaster areas of the world as he built his journalism career. He also writes of his feelings about both his father’s death and his brothers’ suicide. Being the son of Gloria Vanderbilt is acknowledged but not really delved into.

Cooper comes across very much as he does on TV, earnest, honest and quite guarded. His writing seemed to be careful not to reveal too much about himself which I suspect is something he has adhered to his whole life. Both growing up as the son of a very famous woman, and in the career that he has chosen, he seems more comfortable talking about events rather than himself. And while the book was interesting, I don’t feel as if he revealed much about the man behind the image. Two tragedies in particular, the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina helped to catapult Cooper’s career and eventually led to his becoming the anchor on his own CNN show.

I found Dispatches From the Edge to be an informative and intelligent book written by an empathetic complicated person who was able to build upon his ground-breaking coverage of world events to become the media star that he is today. ( )

This book was an interesting enough examination of the various disasters that Anderson Cooper has reported on. He talks briefly of his childhood and what it was like growing up with the Vanderbilts, but then dives into his journalistic career and what it was like reporting in warzones.

He makes a point to discuss how we're far more apt to report on the mundane than true disasters, but doesn't truly examine why that fact is.

It was a well-written book, but nothing especially shocking unless one isn't really watching the news. I liked Cooper's writing style, and found it very engaging for the most part. It's a decent book, just not anything terribly special. ( )

Book on CD read by the author

This is Cooper’s memoir of how he came to be a senior anchor for CNN. The chapters are divided according to various memorable assignments covering war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, famine in Niger, a tsunami in Sri Lanka, and culminating with his coverage of Hurricane Katrina and that storm’s effects on New Orleans and the gulf coast area of Mississippi. Throughout he recalls his early childhood, as one tender or distressing scene brings back memories of his family.

He’s a talented journalist and one thing that makes him so is his ability to distance himself from what he is reporting. And yet, it’s clear that he is deeply affected by what he witnesses.

I think this may be especially evident when listening to his audio performance, and I think that added to the experience for me. Having Cooper read his own memoir really made it feel as if I were listening to him relate stories from his life while sitting in my own living room.

He’s a trained television journalist, so his delivery is clean and moves along at a good pace. However, I was struck by how frequently he swallows syllables at the end of a word. I expected a crisper diction, I guess.

The text includes photos from his childhood and the memorable assignments covered in this book. ( )

Anderson Cooper is an excellent storyteller and writer. Dispatches from the Edge is a very readable book that combines Cooper's personal story with his coverage of several significant world events. I really enjoyed this book, and will probably re-read it in the future. ( )

I'm a huge fan of Anderson, watch his show every night or as close as possible. I had read it previously but I couldn't remember it, so technically this is a re-reading. It's still good, however, it could have been a lot better. ( )