Dispatches from the Edge

Anderson Cooper, a newsman of immense probity and insight, shares his tremendous experiences with a concise sincerity that cuts through all the fluff we are regularly subjected to. In a time when society has become so desensitized to human suffering and tragedy, Anderson Cooper's perspicacity is not only refreshing but necessary. He shares with us his own personal suffering and how it has shaped the man he is today. How in dealing with his own heartache he is compelled to help humanity by reporting on theirs with a sympathetic sagacity that is increasingly rare. "Dispatches from the Edge" is as moving and heart-wrenching as it is stark and articulate. The intensity of the author's experiences comes through with clarity and his innate gift for journalism brings the impartial truth home in a book that is as troubling to read as it is difficult to put down. I applaud his personal courage in sharing so much of his private self and I am grateful for his earnest and necessary journalistic endeavours that continually impress and inform with their relevance.

Excellent book, will make you think about how the world can be and never notice it. The bearing of human suffering once again shows us how fragile our lives can be. This book will make you look at your life and be thankful. Anderson Cooper has opened many doors in this book to places the average person wouldn't walk through." Excellent read".

Thank you Anderson, maybe more people will see that even thoughts that have been hidden in our heads for 15 years can be put into a book that REALLY works.
Great read, great book - everyone I know will be getting this book!

This book is a short easy read. Anderson has not yet developed into the top rate storyteller and writer that his father was, but it was a good first effort. If you have watched watched any of his appearances on talk shows or read his Details articles there is nothing new here. Its really just a collection of his key talking points.

I enjoyed the book, Anderson's description is concise and personal... You feel like you're Anderson Cooper for a brief moment as he guides you through Africa, Sri Lanka, U.S., etc... At points in the book, you become desensitized by the human suffering... Sometimes you need to be extra focused since he jumps back and forth in time and place... Overall a good read.

This book digs deep into the inner emotions of humans. Cooper allows his cuts and scars to be hashed open to allow the reader to share the experience and emotion from some of the world barest and most real moments. The devastation, horror, and supreme kindness that Cooper describes at times seems unreal and fantastic, but each and every word of this book is factual and true. An amazingly well written memoir that gives the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the life of foreign correspondant, showing the other 95% of situation that cannot be captured on camera. Cooper shares his own personal family experiences and relates them to world tragedies from the past twenty years, starting with Burma, and paving his path through Sarajevo, Rwanda, Iraq, and New Orleans. With so much devastation it is hard to believe this book could be so uplifting, but it is. It is a book of motion, when things get rough all you can do is keep moving, keep going, keep surviving. This is how Anderson Cooper survived the tricky game called Life.

I usually take 2 to 3 months to read a book. I read it in 2 days as I could not put it down. A very interesting look into both the events and the author. I have a new repect for the man.

Being a fan of Anderson Cooper's work on CNN, I just had to read this book. It is an interesting insight into the man behind the news reports. This book left me wanting to read more about the places he has been and his adventures as he chased down stories.

Being over seas and seeing proverty and destruction firsthand, and then coming home to no one caring. Events become old news, and lives become forgotten. I am glad that someone has tried to put that feeling into a book. He has tried to explain to the person who views it all on TV what it really feels like and how that feeling effects a person.

This is one excellent memoir about goes on in the world!.. It shows us that even all the stuff thats hapening on the news about all the pour countrys and how people die and how the governement isn't always on the ball can happen to us!.. it's scary :| ...

"... there was a crystal core, a diamond nothing that nothing could get at or scratch..." That was an excert from this book. But after reading, I feel that this book did touch me deep down there. Through his writing, Mr. Cooper has dug deep into the roots of his mind to the place where he had been trying desperately to barricade. I'm sure we all think we know the hardships that reporters face day in and day out trying to get a story out to the world, but what about the things inside? This book deals with the way that Anderson Cooper sees the world, and how it changed his.

Anderson Cooper takes us to a variety of places around the world and then tells us about the insights he gains about the events happening there and in his own life. The questions Cooper poses about why these events occur and his role in telling the story are a fantastic window into the world of journalists and the dilemnas they face. I was expecting, as the teaser suggests, that Anderson Cooper had reached an epiphany of sorts through his world travel and exposure to disasters and conflict. I was a little dissapponted that this is not present in the book but it did not put me off at all. I'll be interested in what comes next from this talented yet tortured man.

We always see celebrities as lucky people, who have it all! Anderson could easily have been seen that way by a lot of people, especially with his background. It is however, quite surprising to see how this person has struggled with his own sufferings and has found his own way of coping.
Anderson has described the worst in life, the way he sees it. From war to poverty to hurricanes, he has captures the essence of human suffering in this moving memoir.
He does flit from the past to the present a lot, and this sometimes is difficult to keep up with.
An eyeopener which does leave one with a sense of despair at the end, knowing whatever is being done is not enough for the victims of these disasters.

I had absolutely no idea how far I would be transported when I picked up this book! It was phenomenally written. The way the story went from his experiences with is work and his travels, to his personal experiences with his family fit perfectly. As I read the story, I felt as if I was at that exact moment in time, experiencing what was happening; what Anderson was seeing. But at the same time, I could remember where I was and what I was doing. A very compelling story. A must read!

What a fasinating story of one man's struggle to find his place in the world. The news stories that he covers are some of the biggest of our time and yet it's the personal story that grips you.

This book was so great! If you are thinking about reading it ....just get it! Trust me you will not be able to put it down!

I've been a fan of Mr. Cooper's for years. To me, his manner of broadcasting touches those who watch. He doesn't speak down to his veiwers but to them. In a world full of cynical, jaded personalities that try to force news upon us, Anderson is a breath of fresh air. His book Distpatches from the Edge shook me to my jaded cynical core. It is written in real life, there are no fancy words, no artificial thoughts...just his blood and feelings on the page for us to share in. I have told numerous people about this book, raving about the fact that they needed to read it and they agreed.

The world needs more reporters like Anderson Cooper to share the real life stories that are often glossed over in primetime media. Thank you Anderson Cooper, may your success continue as does your dedication to yourself.

This is probably one of the most amaxing books i have ever read. It was inspiring and i respect the fact that he didnt whine about his life and talk about how dificult it was but instead talked about what he did to live his life to the fullest. I would suggest this book to anyone.

This book is amazing, couldnt put it down...GET THIS BOOK!!

I love the honesty of this book. He could spew out some garbage and throw around how important he thinks he is but all I read was based in humility, honesty and even some disgust at what we, as a society, have become. I also enjoyed how frank he is about his hunger for news, his inability to express emotion and what keeps him motivated. I thought the writing style was effective at keeping my attention and I loved how it was all broken into mini-sections - it really tied in all he wanted to say beautifully. He did manage to avoid topics pertaining to his love life and his unfortunate turn as the host of that horrible show "the Mole." I do wish this book had been longer.