Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden

For anyone who thought extreme wealth was the answer to the good life- read this and feel awesome about your strapped check book and loving family.
For anyone who has a teen who thinks you are a bad parent because you have a curfew, they have to do chores, you didn't buy them the latest ____, this might be a reality check.
The author, Wendy Burden, is the great, great,blah blah blah granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbuilt, whose eventual heir married a Burden, also of extreme wealth. As the title implies, this ancestry does not seem to ensure a prosperous and happy life. Suicide, alcoholism, neglect, drug abuse, yikes! All there. No one is unscathed, but the author seems to have a sense of humor that has allowed survival in a family with a worse than average guarantee. Her mother is a complete void, although at least still occasionally present between tanning trips to the islands, marrying an arms dealer and being a drunk. Dad committed suicide. Grandparents, enormously, gratuitously wealthy are also alcoholics and eccentric, if not insane. This book can be very funny, in a sad sort of way, and certainly proves the "wealth does not bring happiness" adage. I don't think a good choice for kids, but for your older teens, perhaps.....but probably not. And if you're a mother, you can feel like an Academy of Motherhood award nominee after reading. If you are a Dad, all you have to do to improve on Mr. Burden's performance is to not kill yourself. Pretty low standards.