Not All Diamonds and Rosé

November 8, 2021
Journalist Quinn debuts with a tell-all oral history of the Real Housewives franchise that’s as sweeping as it is scandalous. Pulling from more than 175 interviews with Housewives, “Bravolebrities,” producers, and network executives, Quinn takes readers from Orange County—where the show took off in 2006—to Housewife cities New York; Atlanta; New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; Beverly Hills; Miami; Potomac, Md.; and Dallas, as the show’s cast and crew dish on behind-the-scenes drama about everything from rivalries between the women to affairs, faked cancer, and firings. Musing on the show’s title, former network executive Lauren Zalaznick explains that while its cheekiness was “a play on Desperate Housewives and The OC,”its on-screen characters “worked hard every day.” Though executive producer Andy Cohen confesses he was “ready to kill the show,” due to bumps in production the first season, he adoringly recalls how the Real Housewives’ ability to capture the fascination of his friends (and millions of others) changed the trajectory of his life. In addition to pages of snarky banter between Housewives, the book concludes with a delightful “Tagline Catalog” of unforgettable quotes from the shows—such as Lynne Curtin’s classic adage, “It’s not about how much money you have, it’s about how good you look spending it.” Fans will drink this up as quickly as the Housewives would a glass of champagne.