Customer Reviews

Fortune's Children

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Meet Cornelius Vanderbilt, a.k.a. the Commodore. In a time when there were only 12 millionaires in America, he was worth $50 million. By the time he died, it was double. He was a ruthless miser who owned a monopoly over New York City. When he died, he passed it all down to a son who increased the fortune dramatically. When the son died, well, the grandkids spent it.

Donate pennies to charities; build mansions with the rest. This is how the remaining Vanderbilts lived for nearly a century. Would you have believed that 5th Avenue was a residential area? You should, they OWNED it. Richer than any other family in the world, the Vanderbilts had no one to compete against except themselves, constantly building larger mansions, country houses, and yachts. Their picture galleries could fill the Louvre. Their libraries could make any bookworm (and his grandkids) happy until their death. The dollar amounts that appear in every page in this book will make you rethink the real value of $1 million.

But aside from that, they have a story that's extraordinarily well written. Including details only a family member could, Arthur T. Vanderbilt II fashions a history that would make any bank jealous. Included (and to much relief) are pages of pictures and a family tree, both of which I referred back to often. His research is greater than any other I've seen, with a bibliography and notes spanning 80 pages. Quotes smother the pages and give a more than adequate description to every person, house, and ball relative to the family. An incredible story it is, containing 150 years. I commend Mr. Vanderbilt (the author) for taking the challenge, and more importantly, doing it with style.

"Fortune's Children" is an enormously fun read. Arthur Vanderbilt relates how his ancestors accumulated and then depleted an almost unimaginable fortune. In the process they created a lot of majestic homes and even more miserable people.

It all starts with the Commodore, a poorly-educated miser with a mean-streak and a wild side. It ends with the battle over baby Gloria, whose genes prepared her for the jeans that brought the family a fresh infusion of cash. In between, a variety of Vanderbilt spendthrifts and misanthropes. There's George, who built the largest private home ever constructed in the US -- Biltmore Estate. By the time he was done, he was out of money, and his heirs couldn't afford to live there. There's Consuelo, bullied into marrying a Duke by a mother with royal-mania. And there's Reggie, a gin-soaked playboy whose greatest accomplishment was looking good in a tux. Oh, the humanity.

The author spends a little too much time on the supporting cast, including Ward McAllister and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish. They're interesting but take the focus away from the main characters. He also fails to flesh-out a number of family members, including Alfred, who inherited the bulk of the fortune but had the misfortune of booking passage on the Lusitania.

Photos and a family-tree help you keep straight who's who, and all in all, this portrait of the people who personified the best and worst of "The Gilded Age" is most worthwhile. And, more proof that money can buy comfort, but not happiness.

Fortune's Children was a good read for anyone interested in how the rich lived in the late 1800's. The author detailed the main characters very well as well as the over the top, outlandish homes that these characters resided in. It is truly a nice look into that era and what it all meant to be a Vanderbilt. Reading this book has piqued my interest in other books about the first rich family of America. Once I began reading this book I had trouble putting it down.

The many impressions this book left me with, are almost overshadowed by the wonder that no one turned it into a mini series. Everything the Tv/Movie audience of today craves is here: Rags to Riches, Business back stabbing that makes JR Ewening look like mother Theresa, Mistress' divorce, goldigging women, History of steam ships and Railroads, The back drop of NY City, Political Weasles, Amusing stories, Sex , Extravagance beyond belief, The family tragedies( Alfred V> went down with Lusitania, Heroically), decline and financial ruin, Battles over the estates by rich heirs played out in public, and even the often unhappy state of people who have more money than anyone. The story of Consuelo being sold to an English 'lord' to acquire a title, while mommy locks her up to keep her from the man she loved. AND ITS ALL TRUE ! Truth is stranger, and better than fiction. Most people will enjoy this book, for many reasons. There is much to be learned in the lessons of the Vanderbilt family, all begun with the birth of 'The Commodore' 18 years after the birth of America. I only wish the author had added a chapter on how he felt about his ancestors, and their accomplishments/failures. Not only is the book worth the price, I've bought three copies because over the years I keep forgetting who borrowed it. And everyone I've recommended it to, has thanked me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I bought it at Frederick William Vanderbilt's home on the Hudson River while on vacation, and managed to finish it before leaving northern New York. It is very difficult to put down because it is a study of people, all from the same family, yet the only connecting trait of the whole bunch is the name Vanderbilt. Arthur Vanderbilt truthfully portrays the great business acumen of the early generations of Vanderbilts, as well as the mistakes, gaffes, and scandals of the later ones. The downward spiral of the family is impressively told in an engaging and simple read. For anyone interested in American history and the people that made it, this is certainly a good choice.

What can I say? This book is truly fabulous. Even if you are not interested in the Vanderbilt family, you must read this book! It just shows how truth is stranger than fiction. The cast of characters in this book includes: Cornelius Vanderbilt, his son William Henry, the famous Alva Vanderbilt (who practically sells her daughter to an broke English lord for marriage) to Gloria Vanderbilt as a little child getting fought over. These are just some of the interesting people you will meeet in this book. I would give it ten stars, if I could!

Since the book was written by a Vanderbilt, I dubiously expected a sanitized version and was delightfully surpised to find the author was brutally honest about the characters covered. This book was engrossing. I could not put it down. The portion about the Gloria Vanderbilt custody case was particularly engaging - what a piece of work the maternal grandmother was. But the book as a whole was a gem - I devoured every page and was sad to see it end.
I do agree with the previous reviewer who said a genealogical tree would have helped to refer to when reading about the characters and keeping track of how they were all related to each other, especially since the family was so fecund and so many of the men had similiar names. I think it also interesting the author does not mention precisely which branch of the family he is descended from. So perhaps he is trying to maintain some of his own identity. But all in all, this excellent read has whetted my desire to read more about the Vanderbilts, as well as other East Coast aristocratic families.

The book profiles the Vanderbilt heirs. The first chapter, obligatorily of the Commodore, is a tale often told, most recently in The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, which led me to this 1989 book. The following chapters describe children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a few great-great-grandchildren. The female scions, who are essentially disinherited, are dropped right away, as are the Commodore's son Cornelius and his progeny. There are a few tales of some high profile disinheritances.

The writing takes the reader into the society of Gilded Age with its lavish houses and parties. The descriptions of other major players such as Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Fish, the Lehr's and Ward McAllister are interesting, but I'd rather have had the space devoted to more on the Vanderbilts.

One chapter is devoted to Alva (a Vanderbilt for only 20 years) who brought this socially shunned family into society by building the most lavish homes and throwing the most lavish parties. Her sad mother-daughter story appears in several places throughout the book. For more on this relationship I recommend:Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age (P.S.)

The sub-title implies that the Vanderbilt wealth is gone, as does the discussion at the end. This is not entirely proved since not all Vanderbilts are covered, and not all who are covered are followed up on. The Biltmore, while not a residence, and is now shrunk to 8,000 acres, is still in the contol of Vanderbilt heirs. There are some females, such as Gertrude, who joined their inheritances (modest in Vanderbilt terms) through marriage creating new assets that probably continue to produce great wealth today. The Commodore's plan to keep the wealth together in the male (named) line clearly did not pan out. The Commodore could have never envisioned Doris Duke The Richest Girl in the World: The Extravagant Life and Fast Times of Doris Duke, another outsider to Society, who kept the Duke tobacco and energy fortune together through equally turbulent times.

The book is a good read. The writer, Arthur T. Vanderbilt, makes it flow. He never discloses his place in the family tree. I checked the internet and still have no clue. I did find that in 2008, this book had been optioned for a movie.

I really enjoyed this book...I have read it from front to back numerous times, and always chuckle through out the reading of it.It is so well written,not like some boring history book, but more like a comical novel.It was easy reading,and it is hard to put down, once you start.I read it each time I'm heading to Newport, Rhode Island.It helps me appreciate the Vanderbilt Palaces more,knowing the personal family stories that took place behind the Gilded Gates.It reads more like a storyline from The TV shows Dynasty and Dallas.Again, this book is great reading.

This books grabs you from the time you read the first page. Not one living Vanderbilt is a millionair. The book starts with how the first dollar was made down to the almost penniless family it is now. Not only do you see the greed between the families, but also the struggle for social power. If you are interested in any kind of biography, this is the one for you.