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CNN reporter Anderson Cooper is smart, articulate, and cute. There are also rumors he’s gay, but that shouldn’t stop you from grabbing a copy of Dispatches from the Edge, his “memoir of war, disasters, and survival.”

Let me tell you right off that this is not a book you should read if you want to relax—every chapter is a tale of one disaster after another, from Anderson’s troubled personal life (his twin brother committed suicide) to his experiences covering tragedies like the Asian tsunami of December 2005, the war in Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina which devastated most of New Orleans. As such, it would be inappropriate to say that I “enjoyed” reading the book; what I will say, though, is that it is a very good and engrossing read, because it is filled with behind-the-scenes snippets about the above newsworthy events, made even more gripping because it is combined with Anderson’s candid and heartfelt reflections.

Some parts gave me chills, like when Anderson talks about how search-and-rescue dogs are having difficulty finding dead bodies from the Asian tsunami because, well, there are just too many dead bodies buried underneath the wreckage and the dogs are confused by all the scents.

Other parts made me want to cry, like when he went to cover the famine in Somalia and described the state of one malnourished child: “Rashidu is crying but he has no tears…He looks like a tiny, wrinkled old man…When he cries, it sounds like a baby bird being smothered.”

But there are also a few light moments, like when he tries on a protective flak jacket for the first time and sees the following warning label sewn inside: “This vest does not protect against armor-piercing projectiles, rifle fire, sharp or pointed instruments.” He wears it anyway, but finds it difficult to sleep at night.

The tone employed by book is conversational, the paragraphs short and to the point, and each chapter only a few pages long. It’s easy to finish in one sitting, which brings me to my only complaint about this book—it felt too short, and I was actually a bit annoyed when I got to the last page. I hope there’s a sequel in the works.

Dispatches from the Edge makes us realize that there is more to the news we see on television. Every face has a deeper story than the one presented by the reporter, every soundbite is part of a larger picture that cannot be captured in a five-minute film clip. But it is not preachy; Anderson is not telling us to donate all our possessions to feed the poor, or to join rallies against the war in Iraq. Instead, he simply did what he does best—which is report what he saw and how he felt. How we respond is entirely up to us.

Available at Powerbooks for P585.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 9:00 am and is filed under Media (Books, CDs, DVDs, Movies). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.