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, 36 divorces, 14 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)

©2021 Brian Moylan, Zachary Wagman, and Meghan Houser (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

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.

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!

The Real Tea of the Real Housewives

I loved every delicious word of this book! I knew Brian had contributed to Erika Jayne’s memoir, Pretty Mess, and who knows how many others he helped ghostwrite (I heard Carol’s book, but who knows…) so I knew this was going to be GOOD.

(Meanwhile, am I officially feuding with Radziwill now?? I AM a Countess Lu stan… soooo… “Ratzville!”)

Once again, Brian Moylan exceeds expectation. It’s no wonder Bravo worked so hard to sabotage this book, because they knew he had the insider info you’re not going to get anywhere else.

Too bad for Bravo Brian is so well-loved and respected in the Bravoverse….

I know once they had called everyone and told them not to talk to me, I would have thrown my hands up and given up, but not Brian! He pressed forward, and my need for the REAL tea has been satisfied.

I knew those “history of reality tv” episodes Andy did on E! were super whitewashed and this is thanks to Brian who has proven there is so. much. more. to the story, and I am here LIVING FOR IT.

Thank you, Brian!! I loved loved LOVEDDDDD having this read to me in your voice!!

Loved it.

I loved it. It was all things Bravo. If you are a fan of the houswives then this is a must!

Loved it!

I was sad when it was over! Normally I'd be ready for a book to be over but this was so interesting I just wasn't ready!

Fun Read

This book was a quick fun read for any of us real housewives devotees. Great

Preachy irony and mispronunciations

First, the author/narrator has an awful voice, as he should have read more slowly so that he could better pronounce “complicated” words.

During a “lecture” on how different casts approach diversity, he mentions that Asian cast members have been added to Dallas and Beverly Hills and “diversity should not be the seasoning to add at the end of the dish... The new dish should be ‘a stir-fry’.”