Black Knight White Knight

by Gloria Vanderbilt

The author traces her rollercoaster journey in search of her emotional center, beginning with her marriage, at seventeen, to a smalltime Hollywood playboy

Genres: Autobiography, Memoir, Nonfiction

478 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Gloria Laura Vanderbilt was an American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite. She was a member of the Vanderbilt family of New York and the mother of CNN television anchor Anderson Cooper. Wikipedia

Gloria Laura Vanderbilt was the author of four memoirs and two novels. She contributed to various publications, including The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Elle, and has received two honorary Doctorates of Fine Arts. She lived in New York City.

Reviews

[Ann Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just read the more recent The Rainbow Comes and Goes (2016) by Vanderbilt's son Anderson Cooper, it was interesting to learn more details of her life from 1941 until her divorce from her second husband, Leopold Stokowski in 1955. It is also interesting to see differences in the way she remembered some facts between descriptions of incidents and relationships in her discussions with Cooper in 2016 versus closer to the actual time period when this book was written in 1987. At ninety-one, memory and emotions possibly played a part in this, as it does with all of us. I was surprised that this was a page-turner, unusual for me in a biography. But the many influential and famous individuals she was close to at the time provided a good read for a lover of history.

[MaryannC Victorian Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuation of Gloria's life as a teen to adulthood. Her romances and trials.

[Silvio111 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may have given up too soon after only 100 pages but I could not bear any more of her adolescent drama or her relatives' mismanagement of her youth.
I am told that she evolves in future pages but perhaps sometime in the future I will attempt to finish this book.

I do love her jeans for women. She was a genius designer and Anderson speaks well of her so I suppose she deserves my patience.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a life she has had.

[Manny Villa]

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[Rose Ahrens · Rating 1 out of 5]

did not get past first few chapters. did not care for her style of writing

[Yvonne O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book picks-up after the infamous custody battle over Gloria Vanderbilt. We see Gloria come of age before WWII and date famous people like Howard Hughes before marrying Paul Dicecco. She soon realizes he is a monster, but must meet Leopold Stokowski, her "white knight" before she can leave Pat. Although she spends a decade with Leopold and has 2 sons with him, she is miserable in this marriage and is ignored with her dreams equally ignored. She finally finds the strength to save herself as the story ends.

This book is a testimony to why famous people should use ghost-writers. She has such an exciting past, but instead of any interesting stories, we are forced to wade-through the boring and mundane descriptions of being bored or unhappy in a life most people would never even be able to dream of having. We all dream about what it is like to be rich and famous. This book doesn't satisfy and doesn't make Gloria a sympathetic character either.

[Elsbeth Kwant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nearly written in stream of consciousness style - the story of a poor little rich girl.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

skimmed parts of it. Kept thinking I would skim to the end but never did. Glad I didn't. She was very open with her feelings.