'Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty' by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe

Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe (2.5)

One of standard recommendation in writing is ‘show, don’t tell’. I found this book had an inordinate amount of telling. I skipped large paragraphs describing a ball (furniture, flowers, wall hangings, food and list of attendees), as I did not find the best way to show opulence to be long lists of items. Mr. Cooper gives a history of his family by highlighting specific people in the tree. He had a lot to choose from and it was not clear why he chose some over others or the detail some family members warranted (the chapter detailing the America’s Cup was interesting to me as someone who sails, not quite sure what its point was). This was a good partner to my last book as ‘The Age of Innocence’ was mentioned several times. While I found a few things interesting, overall, I was disappointed in the flow and writing.