Book Journey Traveled to: New York!!!
If in the area, be sure to check out Creekside Books and Coffee
288 pages
Cover Story: Is an A+. The cover is relevant to the book and gives you a hint of what you are about to be in for.
For generations the Burdens were one of the wealthiest
families in New York, thanks to the inherited fortune of
Cornelius “The Commodore” Vanderbilt. By 1955, the
year of Wendy’s birth, the Burdens had become a clan
of overfunded, quirky and brainy, steadfastly chauvinistic,
and ultimately doomed bluebloods on the verge of financial
and moral decline-and were rarely seen not holding a drink.
In Dead End Gene Pool, Wendy invites readers to meet her
tragically flawed family, including an uncle with a fondness for
Hitler, a grandfather who believes you can never have enough
household staff, and a remarkably flatulent grandmother.
º º º º
Dipping a toe into the shallow end of this book, I entered slowly, having no background information to the Vanderbilt’s or the Burdens. The water is warm…
Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877 leaving behind a fortune of 167 million dollars. All of this was left to his only son, William who after doubling this astronomical amount of money, died 8 years later. This book, written by Wendy Burden ( the great- great -great grand daughter of Cornelious) is about growing up with a family surrounded by great wealth, and great dysfunction.
Wendy’s father had committed suicide when she was 6, and her mother who could not be burdened with children left the three children in the care of a nanny, while she traveled everywhere looking for the perfect tan.
Wendy Burden writes this memoir with a witty and humorous pen. I get a little sense of Jeanette Walls memoir of Glass Castles, but this is not as horrifying. An interesting look into a family that battles drugs and alcohol issues, a lifestyle that few of us would know – but after reading Wendy’s book and eye-popping realities of at times what I can only describe as “gag inducing”, it is remarkable that Wendy came out the other side as well as she did.
About The Author
Wendy Burden is a confirmed 
New Yorker who, to her constant
surprise, lives in Portland, Oregon.
She is the great-great-great-great
granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt,
which qualifies her to comment freely on
the downward spiral of blue blood families.
She has worked as an illustrator, a zookeeper,
and a taxidermist; and as an art director for
a pornographic magazine from which she was
fired for being too tasteful. She was also the
owner and chef of a small French restaurant,
Chez Wendy. She has yet to attend mortuary
school, but is planning on it.
Book Journey 
I’ve got this one in my TBR pile to read later this month, hopefully. I think it sounds fascinating.
It is interesting Kay. There are some fun facts to the book and few things that are shocking, and some that made me laugh too 😀
I have this one in my TBR file. I love the colorful background of the author and can’t wait to get to this book.
It is an interesting read Imogen!
This one sounds fantastic. The Vanderbilts have always fascinated me. What a family!
Vivienne I think you would like this one.
This one is already on my wish list, can’t wait to read it!
Gwen I would love to read your thoughts on this one!
A memoir with wit and indepth detail about an American family icon–the Vanderbilts. Sounds like a great choice and I love the intriguing cover art!
Isnt that great Linda – a family photo – a wonderful cover idea!
I’m reading this one for the tour also and am really excited to dive into it after reading your commentary!
Oh good Kathleen ! 🙂
Think it’s always fascinating to get a glimpse into the lives of the fabulously wealthy! Sounds intriguing!
I enjoy that too Alexia!
What a sad existence that the only thing that matters to you is a tan! Sounds disturbing yet good!
I agree Staci – I think if you read the book you will see the mo just spinning out of control as events unfold.
Oh, this one sounds really intriguing. I actually love memoirs, as long as they have humor and an anecdotal style of writing.
I’m adding this to my list.
I like that too Laurel alothough I have to admit that with Glass Houses the book was so over the top – I just had a hard time with it. An incredible story – but wow…. what that girl went through!
Love to read about dysfunctional families–makes me feel so much better about mine!
LOL Lisa
I will have to add this to my TBR list. I love memoirs and look forward to reading it. I am on the blog tour for Summer at Tiffany which is another memoir and I tell you I couldn’t be more excited about it:)
Bobbie I will look forward to your review – I havent heard of that memoir, sounds good!
This sounds like a great book -I am adding it to my wish list. Did you ever read the book about the Johnson family-ie J. and J. one of their sons goes on to murder someone-lots of dysfunctional issues.
I havent read that one Esme…. do you remember the title?
We live about an hour from the Vanderbilt’s Asheville, NC Estate, The Biltmore. We have toured the house several times. It is a life style whose scope is hard to imagine. The scale is so unbelievably grand, it is hard to imagine being a family in that setting. It is an incredible house, but you would need walkie talkies to keep track of your family and know where to meet them. I can certainly see how this would effect family closeness. A large staff is a necessity to keep the house up and you would need constant watchdogs for the children so they wouldn’t get lost, hurt, or destroy something of great value.
Pat – I would love to see the house but know by your description that while I bet it is beautiful, it would never be anything I would want to have grown up in.
Do you have pictures of the estate?
Google the Biltmore Estate, NC. They have a pretty good website. They don’t have too many interior pictures.
Try http://www.romanticasheville.com/Biltmore.htm. It came up on the Google search and had some good pictures and information.
I tried to send you a postcard from the Biltmore site. It has a picture of the library.
Thanks Pat for the link!
Thanks so much for participating in the tour, Sheila!