TV producer Cohen, an Emmy winner for Top Chef, is the host of Watch What Happens: Live. As Bravo's executive vice president of original programming and development, he oversees production of The Real Housewives franchise, The Millionaire Matchmaker, and other series. In this lively memoir, he begins by telling us more than we need to know about his pop culture-obsessed childhood in St. Louis. In high school, where he was voted most talkative, he was popular, but "no one knew I was gay." A full chapter is devoted to the "terror" of coming out to his parents and Boston College roommate. A 1989 sophomore high school class project prompted him to interview his idol, Susan Lucci, a plus when he applied for a CBS internship. Beginning at CBS This Morning, he was on his way. When he arrived at Bravo, he found the ideal venue for mingling with top talents. Riding the wave of reality programming as it began to dominate TV, he now asks, "Had I helped kill soaps?" There's enough about his lifelong obsession with Susan Lucci that can distract. Others will be amused by Cohen's ramblings about how his wicked wit and "lighthearted cultural commentary" brought him media attacks and embarrassing headlines. Still, many will appreciate his straightforward honesty in delivering an insider's POV about reality TV with intimate and outrageous glimpses of housewives and celebrities, offscreen and on. (May 8) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Bravo network executive who green-lighted the Real Housewives franchise shares backstage insights into reality TV. In this uneven memoir/gossip fest, Cohen attempts to strike a balance between the story of his upbringing in a close-knit Jewish family and dishing on the antics of "Bravolebrities." In the former, he often succeeds, portraying his parents as warmly and humorously as you would expect from someone who implored his mom to send him updates on All My Children while he was away at camp. Cohen's youthful obsession with soap maven Susan Lucci further highlights his eventual lionizing of the Real Housewives, and he sprinkles his awkward encounters with his diva idol throughout the text. He also effectively captures the fear of coming out in the 1980s, a time when homophobic jokes and AIDS misinformation were rampant. Cohen is candid, but he will try many readers' patience with his devotion of several pages to the most mundane details of the Housewives' fame-mongering: e.g., tweets from their dogs, transcripts of interviews gone awry and defenses of their shallowness that ring--surprise!--hollow. In one tortured instance, he reveals how the Bravo team recut all episodes of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills after a participant's husband committed suicide, then claims that what they presented on TV was "real life." The disclosure that the film crew shoots 85 hours of footage for every hour aired gives the lie to the claim that reality TV is any such thing. By the time that Cohen's father tells him, "I just can't get over that people speak to each other this way, in public places," most readers will agree and likely stop reading. Anyone except the most devoted Housewives fans will wish that Cohen were less talkative.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Cohen is an executive for Bravo Network and host of Watch What Happens: Live, a position that made him the first openly gay late-night talk show host. In his first book, he tells amusing stories of his childhood and his passion for television, his interview of Susan Lucci in college and their subsequent meetings, three disastrous run-ins with Oprah, dancing for the B-52s, and keeping Diana Ross and Joan Collins happy when he worked for CBS. Cohen also writes about how he became a talk show host and dishes many juicy tidbits about the Real Housewives casts. VERDICT Cohen's lighthearted, funny memoir is highly recommended for his fans and others who appreciate humorous celebrity biographies and memoirs. Consider also for readers who enjoyed Ellen DeGeneres's Seriously...I'm Kidding and Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). [See Prepub Alert, 12/12/11.]-Sally Bryant, Pepperdine Univ. Lib., Malibu, CA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

If you don't know Andy Cohen, you don't watch Bravo TV. And if you don't watch Bravo, you don't watch any of the Top Chef or Real Housewives shows. And who doesn't watch those? So you know Cohen as the wrangler on Real Housewife reunion shows. (Remember when Teresa Giudice picked him up by his lapels and threw him back in his chair? Good times.) But he is also the executive vice president of development and talent at Bravo. And, before that, he was a producer at CBS Morning News, and before that, he was a gay kid dishing with his mom about each day's episode of All My Children. The stories from all these incarnations are what make this giggle-out-loud autobiography so much fun. Just like on the teevee, Andy comes across as a guy who likes who he is, likes what he's doing, and is happy to take fans along for the ride. He offers a warm portrait of growing up in St. Louis, where his struggle with his sexuality ends in a relatively easy coming-out. His mother, Evelyn, a character in her own right, had been asking her husband for years what he'd say when Andy told them he was gay. (As it turned out, he said Jesus, and then told Andy that he loved him.) To paraphrase the subtitle, Cohen is the front line of pop culture, even if, frankly, his stories here could have been a little dishier. (Andy, please, why was Alex fired from The Real Housewives of New York City?) But there are laughs on every page, and even if Andy did almost single-handedly kill the soaps, he giveth as well as taketh away. Good-bye Erica Kane; hello Bethenny Frankel.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist