I Like Books

Before reading this book the most I've actively watched Anderson Cooper would be during the NYE countdown in Times Square. I'm sure I've seen his news broadcasts before but have never taken to heart the depth of it all. Which is what this book is all about. It's a memoir but at the same time much more than that. It connects life and death, both personally and at a global level for Cooper. At times I wished Cooper would have spent more time talking about his family as I found his past to be quite interesting but nevertheless the inside look at his experiences in Iraq, Sri Lanka and down in New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina covered in 2005 were all very insightful. During parts of the book I felt like Cooper was holding back how he really felt on certain topics and subjects and I wanted to urge him to continue because what he had to say was important. What Cooper sees and hears isn't always what is chosen to be broadcast on TV and of course most of the time there is just too much information tat don't make it on to the television screen simply because it's not "headline material".

One of my favorite parts of the book was the ending, the epilogue and how Cooper set it up, down in Mexico observing Dia de los Muertos where it is their culture to celebrate death. Something to think about.

I'm not surprised to learn that Cooper went on to write a few more books going further in depth about Katrina. The way he wrote about it in "Dispatches" you knew he had more to say and not enough room to say it all.

Either way, thanks a bunch to @Brandondruch for giving me the recommendation to check the book out.

(Major bonus points as I got the book used via Swap.com and received an old library copy. Library books are my favorite!)