“The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss”

If I could wave my magic wand and pick a new friend directly from the air, it would be Anderson Cooper. I have never met him but I know he is fabulous and I would love to have him over to my apartment to eat grilled salmon and drinks lots of wine. He was born into a legendary American family, went to Dalton and then Princeton, struggled with dyslexia and later served as an intern for the CIA before becoming one of the most dashing broadcasting personalities ever. One of the things I like best about Anderson is that I know he is a practical person, and not a zany person. His mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, is, on the other hand, is a little zany and whimsical. The artist, author, actress, socialite and heiress floats from decade to decade on a timeless cloud. She is the fairy queen to his devoted foot soldier and together they have written a lovely book about their intertwined lives. They hoped the book would bring them closer together, and bring in the reader too, and “The Rainbow Comes and Goes” does just that. Together they have suffered some painful tragedy (the loss of a father/husband during heart surgery and then the loss of a brother/son to suicide) but throughout their lives they have supported and protected each other in an effort to stay afloat. In the early days of their shared grief, all they could do was go to the movies and eat popcorn together. That was enough. You can tell from this book that they are very different people: Anderson clearly liked to clean drawers and Gloria clearly likes to fill those drawers with all sorts of crazy odds and ends. But together they make their mother-son relationship work in the way that all families do, through patience, forgiveness and sincere appreciation for one and other. Since it is unlikely that Anderson will ever come to my apartment, I will just have to live vicariously through “The Rainbow Comes and goes,” and the wonderful tale within its pages. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.