Separated@Birth by Bordier & Futerman ****

On November 19, 1987 twin girls were born in South Korea. They had no idea they were twins until Christmas 2012. This fantastic story is told in Separated @ Birth by Bordier and Futerman with help from Lisa Pulitzer, writer of memoirs and biographies. The story of these two young women is an introduction to the 21st century for those of us who were born before the 1980s.

A little background is in order here. Anais Bordier was adopted by a successful family in Paris. As the story opens, she is preparing her graduate fashion show at Central Saint Martins in London. Samantha Futerman was adopted by a successful family in the New Jersey. As the story opens, she is attending the premier of 21 & Over, as one of the stars. Clearly, these are two young ladies who have won the genetic and adoption lottery.

So how does this happen in the 21st century? Facebook, Twitter, IMDB, Instagram, YouTube, and Skye. From a chance viewing on YouTube, they learn so much about each other, that they are pretty convinced that they are twins, even before they first talk to each other.

They tell their story in like modern day Valley Girls with their over-the-top optimism, self-obsession, and all-caps AMAZING. Everything has personal meaning.

The wallpaper in the room was patterned with landmarks of London. How funny is that? Of the thousands of hotels in Korea, we stay at the one with London-themed wallpaper.

Are you wondering what they are doing in Korea? Remember these are the lottery winners. Over the short course of the book, they meet in Korea, Los Angeles, London and Paris.

Stop for a moment. What would be the first thing you might do if you just discovered you had a twin?

Samantha's agent thinks that the TV talk show circuit is the way to go. But Samantha isn't going to waste this on old media. She immediately puts together a production team and selects KickStarter to fund the project. For the entire globe trotting, adventure, the twin are shadowed by the movie crew, and, of course, social media.

This publicity brings in twin researcher Dr Nancy Segal from CSU Fullerton, and, I'm guessing here, ghost writer Lisa Pulitzer.

If you're interested in how fun it can be to be young and affluent in the 21st century, read this.