Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The World of Gloria Vanderbilt

"Gloria Vanderbilt is many things: an heiress, a painter, a muse, a designer, a model, a writer, an entrepreneur, an actor, a socialite, a survivor and an icon. She brought the Vanderbilt name out of the Gilded Age and into the Digital Age, reinventing herself over and over along the way. Hers is a story of charisma, glamour and heartbreaking loss, told here by Wendy Goodman, who had intimate access to Vanderbilt for this book. 

The images include portraits of Vanderbilt and her extraordinary homes, filled with original and influential decorating ideas...Vanderbilt's son, Anderson Cooper, contributes a foreword."

In honor of her second husband, Leopold Stokowski, check out this excerpt of Wagner's "Immolation Scene" featuring Birgit Nilsson.