The Housewives

The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives

By: Brian Moylan

Narrated by: Brian Moylan

From Brian Moylan, the writer of Vulture’s legendary Real Housewives recaps, a table-flipping, finger-pointing, halter-topping VIP journey through reality TV’s greatest saga…

In the spring of 2006, a new kind of show premiered on Bravo: The Real Housewives of Orange County. Its stars were tanned, taut, and bedazzled; their homes were echoey California villas; and their drama was gossip-fueled, wine-drenched, and absolutely exquisite. Fifteen seasons on, RHOC is an institution, along with The Real Housewives of New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, Miami, Potomac, and more. Over the years these ladies have done a lot more than lunch, launching thirty-one books, a cocktail line, two jail sentences, a couple supermodel daughters, Andy Cohen’s talk show career, thirty-six divorces, fourteen albums, a White House party crash, and approximately one million memes.

Brian Moylan has been there through it all, in front of the screen and behind the scenes. The writer of Vulture’s beloved series recaps, he’s here to tell us the full story, from the inside scoop on every classic throwdown to the questions we’ve always wanted to know, like—what are the housewives really like off-camera? (The same.) How much money do they make? (Lots.) He has a lot to say about the legacy and fandom of a franchise that’s near and dear to his heart, and inextricable from pop culture today.

A must-have for any fan of real drama and fake [redacted], The Housewives is the definitive companion to an American TV treasure.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"In THE HOUSEWIVES, entertainment journalist and self-proclaimed Real Housewives anthropologist Moylan provides a complete history of the franchise, which thanks to interviews both on and off the record with members of the production team as well as current and former housewives is both painstakingly thorough and incredibly juicy...In the words of former Housewife Bethenny Frankel, Moylan truly “mentions it all.” -- Booklist, starred review

He mentioned it all and made it nice.

As a lifelong Housewives fan I was unsure how much I would actually learn from this book, especially once I learned Bravo had tried to stop any Housewives from contributing, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Loved it!

If you are a housewives fan, a bravo fan, or a reality tv fan you'll thoroughly enjoy this listen!

Fun book but terrible narration

Obviously I’m a huge housewives fan (why else would I read this book). I learned lots of new fun facts. Unfortunately I was constantly cringing when Moylan kept mispronouncing Bravolebrities’ names- c’mon man haven’t you watched these shows you’re writing about?! Also he just isn’t someone who should be narrating books.

Wanted to love it

I’m a total sucker & will buy just about any book housewives related or housewife written. I know who Brian Moylan is & I’ll be honest I expected better. I learned a few things but SLOW DOWN I had to adjust the speed bk 2 notches to understand the run on sentence this felt like.
Still happy I read it but I wish they’d have some else read this audio bk. I’d probably enjoyed it more if I read it old school.

All Housewives, All the Time

Brian Moylan’s exhaustive (exhausting?) overview of The Housewives franchise is not without its merits.
Including an in-depth look at the history of reality tv and of the Bravo channel itself, I think this book might best be enjoyed by those who are VERY familiar with all iterations of the franchise. I only watch three of the cities, so certain anecdotes didn’t land for me.
Moylan is a fine narrator, even if his similes can be a bit belabored.