Book club discussion kit: Vanderbilt :the rise and fall of an American dynasty

Prologue. The Breakers: March 30, 2018

The tycoon: January 4, 1877

Van der Bilt: c. 1660

The Blatherskite and the namesake: April 2, 1882

Society as I have found it: October 22, 1883

Venetian princesses: March 26, 1883

American royalty: November 6, 1895

Failure is impossible: May 4, 1912

Down with the ship: May 1915

Standing in a cold shower, tearing up hundred-thousand-dollar bills: September 15, 1934

Living a Roman à Clef: November 21, 1934

Gloria at La Côte Basque: November 28, 1966

The last Vanderbilt: October 28, 1978, and June 17, 2019

Epilogue. Christmas Eve, 1930.