Dispatches from the Edge

Book excerpt: One of America’s leading reporters shares a deeply personal, extraordinarily powerful look at the most volatile crises he has witnessed around the world. A #1 New York Times Bestseller Anderson Cooper’s groundbreaking coverage on CNN has changed the way we watch the news. Few people have witnessed more scenes of chaos and conflict around the world. In this gripping, candid, and remarkably powerful memoir, he offers an unstinting, up-close view of the most harrowing crises of our time, and the profound impact they have had on his life—from the tsunami in Sri Lanka to the war in Iraq, from the starvation in Niger to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Mississippi. Striking, heartfelt, and utterly engrossing, Dispatches from the Edge is an unforgettable story from one of America’s most trusted, fearless, and pioneering reporters. Praise for Dispatches from the Edge “A smart, soulful page-turner. . . . Cooper is a storyteller with plenty of heart.” —People “From the shores of Sri Lanka to the chaos of Hurricane Katrina, Cooper weaves his experiences at CNN into a moving memoir.” —Newsweek “His vignettes from the world’s horrscapes rise above the swagger of many journalistic memoirs because Cooper writes with competence as well as feeling.” —Washington Post Book World “Anderson Cooper gets New Orleans. . . . This is an emotional, personal reckoning with what he’s seen.” —New Orleans Times-Picayune