Arthur T. Vanderbilt

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About Arthur T. Vanderbilt

A graduate of Wesleyan University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Arthur T. Vanderbilt II is the author of many books of history, biography, memoirs, and essays. His books have been selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Reader's Digest's "Today's Best Nonfiction", the Easton Press Series of the 100 Best Books of American History, and other book clubs, and have been serialized in newspapers and magazines, translated into foreign languages, excerpted in anthologies, and optioned for film.

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Author Updates

Titles By Arthur T. Vanderbilt

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Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt Apr 16, 2013

by Arthur T. Vanderbilt

( 1,597 )

$14.99

Vanderbilt: the very name signifies wealth. The family patriarch, "the Commodore," built up a fortune that made him the world's richest man by 1877. Yet, less than fifty years after the Commodore's death, one of his direct descendants died penniless, and no Vanderbilt was counted among the world's richest people. Fortune's Children tells the dramatic story of all the amazingly colorful spenders who dissipated such a vast inheritance.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback , Audio CD

Best-Kept Boy in the World Oct 20, 2014

by Arthur Vanderbilt

( 128 )

$9.99

"Denny, long before he surfaced in my cove, was a legend well-known to me, a myth entitled: Best-Kept Boy in the World.”—Truman Capote

Denham (Denny) Fouts, the twentieth century's most famous male prostitute, was a socialite and literary muse whose extraordinary life started off humbly in Jacksonville, Florida. But in short order he befriended (and bedded) the rich and celebrated and in the process conquered the world.

No less an august figure than the young Gore Vidal was enchanted by Denny's special charms. He twice modeled characters on Denny in his fiction, saying it was a pity that Denny never wrote a memoir. To Vidal he was “un homme fatal.” Truman Capote, who devoted a third of Answered Prayers to Denny's life story, found that “to watch him walk into a room was an experience. He was beyond being good-looking; he was the single most charming-looking person I've ever seen.” Writer Christopher Isherwood was more to the point: he called Denny “the most expensive male prostitute in the world.”

In his short life, Denny achieved a mythic status, and Best-Kept Boy in the World for the first time follows him into his rarefied world of barons and shipping tycoons, lords, princes, heirs of great fortunes, artists, and authors. Here is the story of an American original, a story with an amazing cast of unforgettable characters and extraordinary settings, the book Gore Vidal wished Denny had written.

Arthur Vanderbilt is the author of many books of history, biography, memoirs, and essays. He lives in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Other Formats: Paperback

Golden Days: Memories of a Golden Retriever Jul 12, 2014

by Arthur Vanderbilt

( 9 )

$7.99

There's no love quite like the love of a golden retriever.

Anyone who has experienced this unique, wondrous relationship, or who simply enjoys a beautiful tale of the affection between people and their very special dogs, will fall in love with Arthur Vanderbilt's unforgettable memoir of a doting retriever named Amy and the seasons of joy she shared with those around her.

First published in 1998, Willow Creek Press is proud to bring back to print this tenderly told love story that illustrates what a golden retriever can teach us about ourselves and the world we share.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

The Soul of a House: Adventures in Building an Antique Retirement Account Apr 26, 2017

by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II

( 30 )

$4.48

Antiques aren't for everyone but Arthur Vanderbilt's enthusiasm in The Soul of a House makes it seem like they absolutely should be. A nineteenth century clipper on a rough sea, a Chinese vase, a knickknacks box, a Hepplewhite, who knows what can be found in an old money American country house when it goes up for sale, curtains and all. But that is only the start: what about the thrill of the auction when an item fetches triple the purchase price? What about that rare piece that you get home only to discover it is worth millions?
For Arthur Vanderbilt, antiques are alive with history, alive with that part of a family now gone, the arm of a chair worn smooth because that is where the dog rested its head every night.
The Soul of a House is a fascinating read for those with any interest in the world of antiques as a hobby or a business.

Other Formats: Paperback

Gardening in Eden: The Joys of Planning and Tending a Garden Mar 13, 2007

by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II

( 13 )

$10.99

"Though an old man," Thomas Jefferson wrote at Monticello, "I am but a young gardener." Every gardener is.

In Gardening in Eden, we enter Arthur Vanderbilt's small enchanted world of the garden, where the old wooden trestle tables of a roadside nursery are covered in crazy quilts of spring color, where a catbird comes to eat raisins from one's hand, and a chipmunk demands a daily ration of salted cocktail nuts. We feel the oppressiveness of endless winter days, the magic of an old-fashioned snow day, the heady, healing qualities of wandering through a greenhouse on a frozen February afternoon, the restlessness of a gardener waiting for spring.

With a sense of wonder and humor on each page, Arthur Vanderbilt takes us along with him to discover that for those who wait, watch, and labor in the garden, it's all happening right outside our windows.

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

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