Audiobook Review: Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture

Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop CultureMost Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture by Andy Cohen
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Narrator: Andy Cohen
Release Date: May 8, 2012
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

From a young age, Andy Cohen knew one thing: He loved television. Not in the way that most kids do, but in an irrepressible, all-consuming, I-want-to-climb-inside-the-tube kind of way. And climb inside he did. Now presiding over Bravo’s reality TV empire, he started out as an overly talkative pop culture obsessive, devoted to Charlie’s Angels and All My Children and to his mother, who received daily letters from Andy at summer camp, usually reminding her to tape the soaps. In retrospect, it’s hard to believe that everyone didn’t know that Andy was gay; still, he remained in the closet until college. Finally out, he embarked on making a career out of his passion for television.

The journey begins with Andy interviewing his all-time idol Susan Lucci for his college newspaper and ends with him in a job where he has a hand in creating today’s celebrity icons. In the witty, no-holds-barred style of his show Watch What Happens Live, Andy tells tales of absurd mishaps during his ten years at CBS News, hilarious encounters with the heroes and heroines of his youth, and the real stories behind The Real Housewives. Dishy, funny, and full of heart, the New York Times bestseller, Most Talkative, provides a one-of-a-kind glimpse into the world of television, from a fan who grew up watching the screen and is now inside it, both making shows and hosting his own.

Andy Cohen is Bravo’s executive vice president of Development and Talent and the executive producer of several shows on Bravo, in addition to hosting Watch What Happens Live and Love Connection.

Most Talkative is Andy’s life story from his childhood growing up in St. Louis up through 2012 when this book was published. Hi primary focus is his professional life. He includes some funny celebrity anecdotes from when he worked at CBS. For instance, he’s a Susan Lucci super fan and his encounters with her over the years are amusing. He’s also a huge Oprah fan and has had a few, shall we say, interesting encounters with her. One of them didn’t go so well and he’s not afraid to be truthful and take the blame.

To be honest, I chose this book because my secret shame is that I have recently become obsessed with The Real Housewives of Orange County, the first installment of The Real Housewives franchise that Andy produces. Unfortunately, although he does write about the origin of the series, he doesn’t go into any juicy details about the individual housewives on RHOC. He does have some tidbits about some of the other housewives shows. And he does write in depth about how the death of Taylor Armstrong’s husband was handled on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Fans of that show will appreciate that I’m sure.

Even though I didn’t get the dirt I was looking for, I definitely enjoyed this audiobook. Andy reads it himself and if you’ve ever watched him on TV, you know that he is high energy and engaging. He’s the same way reading this book.

He has written two more books since Most Talkative was published: The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look at a Shallow Year and Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries. I plan on listening to those as well just in case they have the behind the scenes info I’m looking for. I’ll keep you posted!

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