Anderson Cooper - Dispatches From The Edge

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MrsSpringsteen

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Comes out Tuesday, I will be getting it for sure.

Here's the synopsis from bn.com-they have an excerpt from it in the new Vanity Fair, not to mention the gorgeous cover.

I also checked that site for his booksignings, so far all they have listed is NYC and Louisiana :( I really wanted to go to one, one look into those eyes and I would melt into a puddle of goo :wink:

"FROM THE PUBLISHER
Few people have witnessed more scenes of chaos and conflict around the world than Anderson Cooper, whose groundbreaking coverage on CNN has changed the way we watch the news. In this gripping, candid, and remarkably powerful memoir, he offers an unstinting, up-close view of the most harrowing crises of our time, and the profound impact they have had on his life.

After growing up on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Cooper felt a magnetic pull toward the unknown, an attraction to the far corners of the earth. If he could keep moving, and keep exploring, he felt he could stay one step ahead of his past, including the fame surrounding his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, and the tragic early deaths of his father and older brother. As a reporter, the frenetic pace of filing dispatches from war-torn countries, and the danger that came with it, helped him avoid having to look too closely at the pain and loss that was right in front of him.

But recently, during the course of one extraordinary, tumultuous year, it became impossible for him to continue to separate his work from his life, his family's troubled history from the suffering people he met all over the world. From the tsunami in Sri Lanka to the war in Iraq to the starvation in Niger and ultimately to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Mississippi, Cooper gives us a firsthand glimpse of the devastation that takes place, both physically and emotionally, when the normal order of things is violently ruptured on such a massive scale. Cooper had been in his share of life-threatening situations before -- ducking fire on the streets of war-torn Sarejevo, traveling on his own to famine-stricken Somalia, witnessing firsthand the genocide in Rwanda -- but he had never seen human misery quite like this. Writing with vivid memories of his childhood and early career as a roving correspondent, Cooper reveals for the first time how deeply affected he has been by the wars, disasters, and tragedies he has witnessed, and why he continues to be drawn to some of the most perilous places on earth.

Striking, heartfelt, and utterly engrossing, Dispatches from the Edge is an unforgettable memoir that takes us behind the scenes of the cataclysmic events of our age and allows us to see them through the eyes of one of America's most trusted, fearless, and pioneering reporters."
 
For you dandy

20060502acvf.jpg
 
Did you see the pic of him and his mother in that VF issue?

She looks incredible for her age. Absolutely amazing.
 
dandy said:
dammit, i'm trying to cut back on buying more books. this isn't helping. :mad:

anderson cooper :drool:


dandy...I have the same problem....Tolkien-bound, but considering I also have a large library of assorted worldly books but limited shelf space...{although I could probably squeeze it in between My FBI and Code Names}.....just have to wait and see. :|
 
MrsSpringsteen said:

Few people have witnessed more scenes of chaos and conflict around the world than Anderson Cooper, whose groundbreaking coverage on CNN has changed the way we watch the news.

Big up to schadenfraude!!!


Okay, maybe that's too cynical.
Or not. :wink:
 
As an aspiring journalist, Anderson Cooper does his job exactly the way I'd want to do it: right at the front lines of all the big stories. He asks tough questions, does a hell of a lot of legwork to make sure of his story, and he's been pretty objective from what I've seen.

I want to be a print journalist, and most TV journalists make me ill to my stomach to see the screed they try to pass off as news, but I have infinite respect for Mr. Cooper. If I turn out to be half the newsman that he is, I'll have done quite well in my mind.

Simply put, Anderson Cooper is one of, if not the best television journalist out there right now.
 
Ahh an Anderson love fest! I was in the airport when VF came out and saw his lovely mug staring back at me. It's a great excerpt. I think I will be getting the book.

I agree with the above, I think he is the best TV journalist right now.
 
anitram said:
Did you see the pic of him and his mother in that VF issue?

She looks incredible for her age. Absolutely amazing.

I agree, he looked damn fine in that picture too :wink:

I admire his honesty, sensitivity, and dedication. The looks and sexiness are just the cherry on top.
 
DaveC said:
most TV journalists make me ill to my stomach to see the screed they try to pass off as news

You've said a mouthful, and I work in it...heh.

Melon
 
Interesting life for Anderson Cooper. He suffered great pain and heartache at young ages during his life at the same time as being born into a life of privilege. Then to enter the world journalism.

I first came across Anderson Cooper when he hosted the first two seasons of the reality show, The Mole. It was a cerebral reality show, and his demeanor suited it perfectly. I had no idea he was a journalist while watching the show. My favourite memory of the series was when a couple of contestants had to squash grapes with their bare feet. They had to pour the wine afterwards without spilling it. During this challenge, Anderson was drinking wine while watching. The contestants had a hard time pouring the wine without spilling it so Anderson being a bit tipsy claimed he could do it, nope, he was horrible. The funny thing was throughout the whole season, Anderson's demeanor was so quiet yet after some glasses of wine he was all giddy and giggly.

I remember when he first popped up on CNN a few years ago reporting and man, was he nervous. Eventually, he started sitting at a desk and then got his show, and he was still nervous, I didn't think he would last but after a while he relaxed in his environment and came into his own. Of course, his reports from Katrina and refusal to accept soft political answers made him a household name.

I think I will get this book, his interview with Oprah was enlightening.
 
lol, I remember The Mole

I got the book yesterday, hopefully I can read most of it over the weekend

from the 360 blog

"After many long months and many long hours of writing, my book "Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival" is in stores today. It's a very strange feeling.

In many ways, I've been writing this book in my head for the past 15 years, ever since I became a reporter. But it wasn't until Hurricane Katrina that I actually started putting it together on paper.

In those dark, difficult days in New Orleans, I started to worry that when the floodwaters receded, and the convention center was cleaned up, people would move on and forget what had happened.

I know we all like to say, "Oh, we could never forget such a tragedy." But the truth is tragedies are forgotten all the time. The media moves on, and so do people's lives.

I suppose that's just the way it is, but I didn't want the heroism, the heartbreak, the compassion, the negligence to just be forgotten, so I started writing about what I was seeing behind the scenes, the kinds of moments and conversations that never make it on television.

I first started working as a reporter soon after graduating from college. I couldn't get an entry level job at ABC News, so I came up with my own plan. I figured if no one would give me a chance, I'd have to take a chance.

With a fake press pass made by a friend and a borrowed video camera, I left the United States to report on wars around the world. In retrospect, it was a foolhardy thing to do, but I was young and didn't feel like I had any other options.

Since those early years, I've visited a lot of countries in conflict, and have seen people lose their lives because of the color of their skin, the ideas in their heads, or simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I've worked in Somalia, South Africa, Haiti and Rwanda, and in all these countries, in all these conflicts, I've been awed by what humans are capable of doing to one another -- acts of terrible barbarism and brutality, yes, but also acts of kindness and courage.

In the far reaches of the world, you see what truly lurks in the inner reaches of the human heart, and those lessons were something I wanted to write about.

When I was a child, my father wrote a book about growing up in Mississippi. I remember when I was about eight years old and couldn't sleep, I'd go into his study late at night as he was typing his book and curl up in his lap. Laying my head against his chest, I could always fall asleep listening to the sound of the typewriter and the steady beat of his heart.

Writing my own book has been a very difficult process for me. As I said earlier, it feels strange to suddenly have it enter the marketplace, because it is in many ways a very personal book. It's not only about the tragedies I've covered as a journalist; it's also about the losses in my own life that propelled me to go overseas in the first place.

I will be on the Oprah show today. This will be the first time I will talk about the book in any detail in a large public forum. I don't really know what people will make of it. I do think that loss is a bond all of us share and one many people can relate to. If you choose to read the book, I'd love to hear from you. "

excerpts here

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/22/cooper.book.excerpt/index.html
 
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I caught Anderson Cooper on Oprah yesterday. I totally respect him as a journalist, especially in a time of giggly twits who try to put themselves in the story. But I really became a fan because he was so down-to-earth and self-effacing. There is not one pretentious bone in this man's body. He takes his work seriously, but not himself. And the clips of him at around 25/26 years old on Channel One were adorable.

I'm definitely going to buy his book.
 
Golightly Grrl said:
But I really became a fan because he was so down-to-earth and self-effacing. There is not one pretentious bone in this man's body. He takes his work seriously, but not himself

That's exactly it, that is so extremely attractive and appealing in a person.

When he did those reports from Niger I couldn't even watch-what they showed and the way he talked about it broke my heart. I believe he writes about that in the book.
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
This may be exactly what I've been waiting to use my Barnes & Noble girftcards from my birthday for. :hmm:

I pre ordered the book from Barnes & Noble and got a
We regret to inform you that our supplier has changed the release date on the pre-ordered merchandise listed below. We expect to ship the item(s) soon and will send you an email when it is ready to leave our warehouse.
message.........

I don't know what that is all about:shrug:

MrsSpringsteen got it, so it is released..........I want to read the book........
 
for those of you who have it ... tell me, does Anderson talk about any significant others in his life?

he talks about his father's death and brother's suicide, i'm sure, but there must be at least a passing mention of some kind of relationship.

or is that too personal?

we all know what i'm getting at.

i think Anderson is a fine reporter and the best thing on CNN. but how would you feel if your husband/wife/partner/significan other wrote a biography (at the age of 38, no less) and DIDN'T mention you?
 
he's a cutie, but he's not my type -- too skinny. love the eyes and hair.

still, i wish he'd show more spine and just confirm what everyone already knows. i'm just irritated by the de-gaying of public figures, like what happened when Susan Sontag died.
 
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