Dispatches From The Edge: A Memoir Of War, Disasters, And Survival (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
It is expected now for any member of the political beltway or those who report on it (and other daily news events) to grace the shelves of our local bookstores (or the front page of our eBook apps) with a tell-all/biography/memoir. Most are pushed on them by overzealous managers and agents trying desperately to cash in on their popularity with various demographics, but every now and again one journal will come to fruition from a much more real and meaningful purpose.Dispatches From The Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster, and Survival is a touching remembrance from CNN superstar Anderson Cooper. Covering portions of his childhood and the darker moments of his youth, it also details heart-wrenching details of his reporting on Hurricane Katrina and the wars in the Middle East. Filled with honest and frank recollections from not only the front lines of some of our most recent calamities, Cooper also pushes his investigations internally to find out what drives him to consistently drop himself into some of the worst places on Earth.The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the random similarities I didn’t expect to share with Anderson Cooper. His father passed away when he was ten years old, mine when I was five. It had a dramatic effect on each of our lives. He mentions his inability to fully process the emotional impact of that event, and the later suicide of his older brother, as key reasons for his apparent addiction to placing himself in the literal and psychological cross-hairs of the worst spots in the world.Some of the most interesting parts, including those about his personal life, are when Cooper reveals many of the things he saw that never made the news, things deemed unworthy of CNN coverage. One scene talks about when he was in the Middle East passing out over 200 gallons of water to locals with the help of our armed forces. No one died that day, no IEDs went off, so no one ever heard about it. Cooper sadly admits the old adage that still holds sway over all news coverage, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Another story mentions gruesome and horrific details about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The utter lawlessness committed not only by the locals taking advantage of the chaos, but law enforcement personnel who devolved just as much into primitive gangs of roving warlords. Some of those stories were snuffed out early on because it was deemed too dangerous in risking a possible backlash against all authority, which very well could have happened, but it doesn’t make the reality of it any easier to swallow.Cooper also eloquently covers his tenuous balancing act between being an unbiased reporter and an opinionated celebrity. Once he made it out the other end of some incredibly dangerous job hunting tactics, landing in the spotlight of CNN forever altered his ability to reach millions of people and also his struggle to keep his sanity. He now was given access to people and events ranging from awe-inspiring to nightmare-inducing. With great skill and strain he has always come from those places knowing he had to wrap those images into a coherent story meant to inform, educate and enhance the world discussion. The Achilles heel for any reporter is to somehow deliver that information without bias and political overtones, which Cooper has managed to do time and time again, making him one of the most respected in the business.In the last couple of years, Cooper has begun to step out of the middle ground and reposition himself as a true fact finder in a much more aggressive sense. Under the moniker, “Keeping Them Honest”, Cooper began bringing on politicians and other notable news makers when he felt something they were preaching about was demonstrably false. No longer fulfilled by calmly reporting the facts to his audience, Cooper decided to drive the falsehoods out into the light during live interviews. The only down side is if he brings on someone from the right side of the political spectrum and corrects them, Cooper becomes labeled a liberal activist, and if the guest is more left leaning, Cooper becomes labeled a political tool for the right. It seems like a no-win situation for him, but he is taking it in stride, sticking to what he believes is meaningful for people to know and that is what keeps him cemented as one of the best in the industry. Dispatches tries to ride that thin line as well, pointing out the inequities in the reporting that most of the country saw, while not coming down as an outright attack on the media as a whole.
Why do people write memoirs?Because they want to understand the life they lead by looking back at the life they led.Why do people read memoirs?More or less the same reason, but just reversed. Isn’t it rather fashionable to read about someone else’s life, learn what you can and quote it next time in casual conversation in order to pass oneself as learned?Sure we can.At times we do and even get a kick out of it equally, especially when someone takes notice of it and marvels at your apt usage of it and at the significance of such a tidbit. Admittedly, what drew me in to buy & read the book is the author himself; a prominent anchorman and news personality on CNN and hosts his own show, AC360. And even if he went by another name, who wouldn’t take notice of him; of his piercing stare, his clear and crisp commentaries and equally creative repartee with his guests. Not to mention his distinguished looks; all grey-haired and smart looking. Yes, Anderson Cooper is well liked.When I found this hardbound 1st edition at a Book Sale branch in Makati, I liked it all the more because I didn’t have to order it from Amazon as Powerbooks don’t have it and it only cost me only P70, which is roughly $1.56 just to get to know him.Born into a family of wealth and opportunity, Anderson is the son of famous fashion designer, Gloria Vanderbilt. But he traded all that to live his life, to pursue and discover his calling, wherever it may take him. The book touches on his reminiscing about his father, of his own identity crisis after he died and the chasm that threatened to pull his family apart that claimed his brother’s life as well, for he took his own life by jumping off their condo balcony, just minutes after speaking to his mother.There are no words for situations like these but somehow Anderson has managed to weave all of this family history and drama into the dream that ever more gets strengthened and tested whenever he travels to other countries like Sarajevo, Nigeria, Iraq, Indonesia and more recently in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck the city in 2005.Finishing the book tonight and reading his entries about missing his father, I can’t help but think of my own; how my Dad’s own passing changed me and continues to do so and affect me in profound ways that I could not have predicted.They always say that life is for the living and that the good of men (as well as the bad) are often interred with their bones. And knowing that it is said often; might we not rock the foundation just a little bit and remember properly those who died? That what they left behind propels us to look inward and decide for ourselves what and how much can we leave behind, when it is time to do so?I may not be a parent yet. But when the time comes, I would want to do the same for my child, be they be a son or a daughter.That as a child, you live your life in accordance with what you parents have taught you, what your values dictate. And in so doing, you honor their life and memory by giving and living your life; giving it the best show that you can give. So far the best shots that I have given have resulted and manifested in creative endeavours like the release of my first album, dedicated to Dad and also embarked on the writing of my first book which I am dedicating to Mom who has strongly carried on for us and whom we equally feed and give our own strength back to whenever needed.Although 3 years after Dad’s passing, I may not be a crack shot just yet, I can at least say that I’ve managed to aim dead center and increase my chances of getting a bullseye.Target up.Ready. Aim. Fire.Bullseye.……Next Round please.
What do You think about Dispatches From The Edge: A Memoir Of War, Disasters, And Survival (2006)?
Although I didn't love the delivery, with the narrative seemingly bouncing all over the place as Cooper tried to weave his personal heartbreaks into a traumatic year of reporting, there was a lot of interesting material and observations, some of it quite critical. I like his reporting. There were times I wondered if he knew exactly what he wanted to do with this book, or if he was winging it. Still, I stayed with it. I felt he was honest, but there were lingering feelings that he was holding back too. In the end I thought this was pretty good, though I still prefer a more straightforward presentation.
—Jim
Riveting What a fascinating story Anderson has to tell. From the nostalgic moments spent with his dad as a child, the devastating events in his life, his initiatives to report on the tragedies around the world and in the US, as well as the fearless way he created his own opportunities to make his way into journalism when it seemed that his chances were low. I appreciated the honesty and melancholic overtone of the writing when recounting the deaths of two very important people in his life, because I could relate to his sadness and the difficulties coping with such heartbreaking emotional matters. Overall, great book even though its a bit short for my taste, but as a fan now I have a little more understanding of where Anderson is coming from as a person and not just as one of my favorite Anchor man.
—Liz Echavarria
Anderson Cooper is a journalist and writes like one. Dispatches from the Edge is bare bones, not a word wasted or a tangent followed. He lost his father and brother as a child, thus he grew obsessed with finding extreme feeling, which led him to take risks as a newsman. This is not to say the book lacks emotion; Anderson describes his grief, his obsessions, and his mistakes with the same quick precision that he uses to describe Katrina's devistation. I was impressed by how much feeling, how much detail, he could show in each concise sentence. The result is a quick read, which is disappointing. I would love for him to write about a broader range of things; he described this one part of his life so well I wanted to know more. Particularly since this book is so short--don't believe the page count, there's loads of blank spaces and a large typesize to pad it. What's on the page is great, gripping, moving, and well-written. But this was a book, not a news report; trailing off a little, adding in another subject, would not have weakened it.-Elizabeth ReuterAuthor, The Demon of Renaissance Drive
—Elizabeth Reuter
