Skip to main content

The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives by Brian Moylan Book Review


Reasons For Reading This Book:

In May I was in desperate need of a good book shopping trip. I was in Massachusetts for work and found a used book superstore in the area. I took a trip out there in hopes of finding a few books on my list, but also wanted to browse and find other books that interested me. While browsing the entertainment section I found The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives by Brian Moylan. Something I have not talked much about on my blog is my love of TV. I watch all types of TV, but one genre I watch a lot of is realty TV. The Real Housewives franchise is one I watch a lot of. I have seen the title of this book on different reality and housewives social media accounts but I never gave much thought to reading it until I saw it on the shelf. I picked the copy up and instantly started reading it when I got back to my hotel.

Content of the Book:

Brian Moylan is the writer of Vulture’s legendary Real Housewives recaps. Brian Moylan chronicals the history of reality TV and the creation of The Real Housewives. He writes a deep dive into all things Housewives, marriages, divorces, finances, arrests, iconic scenes, production, contracts, and so much more. This is a book for all reality TV lovers.

What I Liked About This Book:

As someone who did not start watching The Real Housewives from its inception, I very much appreciated the history and background of the show, cast, production, and Bravo. I personally gained respect for all those involved in creating such an iconic franchise. The inclusion of quotes and descriptions of memorable scenes added to the whole picture and plot of the book. The author stayed true to his reporter/journalism background by referencing blog posts and TV appearances to backup most of the claims in the book. Other references came from memoirs from those within the franchise. Brian's choice to include personal stories from his involvement in the franchise aided in feeling a personal connection for fans. What I mean by this, is as a viewer/fan you watch because you feel some sort of connection and Brian's choice to include his interactions and personal experiences with The Housewives made the book more personable for readers and fans. I enjoyed the smaller sections of rankings and tips. All true Housewives fans have their favorite Housewife, tagline, quote, scene, and business venture. The inclusion of the tips section supported one of the main points of the book which is that there are women who's goal is to get on the show. I am all for humor in a book. One of the reasons I watch The Housewives is for the rediculous quotes and situations. There was some good humor throughout the book. As a fan who is always looking to get as much detail as possible, I liked that Brain's goal was to do the same. Throughout his time working on the book he was always looking for answers to all the questions that us fans want answered. As someone who loves learning new things, I was pleased to read about different studies and research conducted on reality TV. The inclusion of this chapter and supporting material rounded out the book for me and provided a purpose and meaning for why people are fans of reality TV and The Housewives. 

What I Disliked About This Book:

Even though I mentioned that I was a fan of the history of reality TV, as a much younger viewer of the show I did not know most of the earlier shows referenced in the history portion of the book. When I say this I am referring to early reality shows not just on Bravo but also Soap Operas. With that being said I was still able to grasp the main points of the history section of the book. At times the book did feel a little confusing and not completely organized. Some thoughts were speratic and seemed to come out of no where. Something else I did not like about the book was how long the chapters were. I rarely got through a single chapter in 30 minutes. There were smaller sections within each chapter but the way they were split did not really make sense. One chapter of this book that really confused me was the chapter on fans and Facebook groups. As someone who only follows The Housewives news on Instagram, this is the first time I learned about the Facebook groups. I also do not really understand how Facebook groups work. There were so many names and dates being thrown around that I just so confused. I tried to think about a way for Brian to make this section less confusing but I think he did the best he could. 

Would I Recommend This Book?

Without a doubt yes! With that being said I would only recommend it to the niche audience/fans of Bravo and The Housewives. I personally think that only fans would truly understand and appreciate this book.

Check out my book reviews for 2022!!


Check out my book reviews for 2021!!


Check out my book reviews for 2020!!

Check out my book reviews for 2019!!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule After my first semester of college I have developed a cleaning routine that I have been able to keep up with. You can read my previous blog post about What I Learned In My First Semester of College . Over the past few months I have experimented and I am confident in the routine that I have created.  Personalize When it comes to personalizing the schedule you could add or take out the different chores. For example I also wash my retainers weekly and monthly my roommate and I decorate the marker board on the outside of our door. We also only clean our mirrors when needed since we have found that they do not seem to become too dirty regularly. Something that I would make sure you sanitize every week would be the surfaces that you are constantly touching. That means light switches, door handles, and your desk. By doing this I managed to avoid getting sick when my roommate and other floor mates go sick. Another task that you could add to y

Bullet Journal Fitness and Workout Spread Ideas

If you want to purchase some of these spreads you can buy the digital bundle from my Etsy shop: Simply Paperless .  I had created six different bullet journal fitness and workout trackers/spreads. These spreads were made in my digital bullet journal using the GoodNotes App.   I highly recommend to use a stylus when using GoodNotes as a digital bullet journal. For this project I used the Adonit Dash 3 Stylus , which I highly recommend. I also recommend the Bargain Depot Stylus 2 Pack  from Amazon. Daily Workout Plan This first spread can be used to plan out what exercises you plan to workout each day of the week. I would recommend this spread for those who are just starting to workout. I did not created the workout that is used as the example for the content of this spread. The workout is from Pintrest Workout Plan .  Workout Tracker This next tracker is in the format of a monthly calendar. In order to track the different workouts accomplished throughout

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Book Review

Reasons For Reading This Book: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus was Jackie's choice for the month of October. Jackie is the host of The Readheads Podcast Book Club. This is a monthly podcast book club that I have been apart of since it was established in 2020. I love getting to hear the thoughts of the hosts each month.  Content of the Book: Elizabeth Zott is a chemist but is much more than meets the eye. She is not only beautiful but also extremely smart, confident, strong, and not afraid to beat to her own drum. Elizabeth is one of the only female chemists working at Hastings Research Institute. She is viewed as different by everyone there. It's there that she meet Nobel-Prize nominated chemist Calvin Evans. Calvin who falls in love with Elizabeth is described as a loner, grudge holder, and extremely brilliant. Fast forward a few years and Elizabeth is now a single-mother working as the host of the most watched cooking show, Supper at Six . With Elizabeth's ways of