Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir

Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir
Dead End Gene Pool A Memoir
Author: Wendy Burden
In the tradition of Sean Wilsey's Oh The Glory of It All and Augusten Burrough's Running With Scissors, the great-great-great granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt gives readers a grand tour of the world of wealth and WASPish peculiarity, in her irreverent and darkly humorous memoir. — For generations the Burdens were one of...  more »
ISBN-13: 9781592405268
ISBN-10: 1592405266
Publication Date: 4/1/2010
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 14

3.2 stars, based on 14 ratings
Publisher: Gotham
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

donnatella avatar reviewed Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book was funny! Wendy Burden tells about her childhood growing up the great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Her stories run everywhere from an obsession with Wednesday Addams, her discovery that a member of her grandparents' staff was actually Santa Claus, and her younger brother's insistence that he was the reincarnation of their father. Burden has a sense of humor about growing up in a family with too much money, which made this book a lot of fun to read.
groendog avatar reviewed Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Fun read Little Rich Girl stuff but a bit kinkier. She is a Vanderbilt. So is Anderson Cooper but he writes better. Still, it makes you laugh and isn't heavy.
mickeycat avatar reviewed Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a bit like the train wreck you can't take your eyes off. It certainly demonstrates that even extreme wealth cannot make everything better. On some pages, it is fascinating (like active monkeys at the zoo) - the rich really do live differently. But the book shows a striking dichotomy of life that The author lived. When with her uber-rich paternal grandparents, she had access to the life of luxury, but when she was with her mother at home - they often lived (in later years) in near squalor. The thread that runs through both sides of the family is alcoholism (and other substance abuse). Like other reviewers, I wish more family photos had been included. It is a great fast read when you need something truly different to shake things up.
Read All 5 Book Reviews of "Dead End Gene Pool A Memoir"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir on + 13 more book reviews
I liked it, but at times found it annoying to hear about how rich they were - again. Interesting glimpse into her life.
reviewed Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir on + 22 more book reviews
I thoroughly enjoyed this book - a very interesting family. So dysfunctional with all that money.


Genres: