The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives

Brian Moylan

May 2021 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Brian Moylan

About this audiobook

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

Ratings and reviews

Narrated by the author, Brian Moylan who himself is a TRH superfan, The Housewives provides inside access to the backstory of the franchise’s creation, who really runs the show and tells us what is true and not true about what has happened throughout the shows’ history. In between most chapters, Brian also provides fun facts or lists such as: How to Write Your Own Tagline or The Sexiest Men of the Real Housewives Universe or the important one for non-TRH watchers: Five Essential Episodes for Those Who Have Never Watched Real Housewives. Overall, this was very well researched, funny and satiated my eagerness to know more about my #1 guilty pleasure. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Most chapters feel like I'm just listening to him read stats off the Housewives Wikipedia page. Boring.

great book for the hw fan

About the author

Brian Moylan is a Real Housewives anthropologist and writer for Vulture, The New York Times, The Guardian, and elsewhere.