The Andy Cohen Diaries

April 20, 2015
Cohen (Most Talkative), host and executive producer of Bravo's Watch What Happens Live and executive producer of the drama-laden Real Housewives franchise, walks readers through a year of his life via this mildly entertaining diary. Those expecting insight into the inner workings of cable network programming will be deeply disappointed, as Cohen offers next to nothing in terms of boardroom drama or casting decisions, but readers familiar with his charming and occasionally catty persona will likely find themselves drawn in as he recounts fighting a terrible urge to go to the bathroom while on-air, searching for a meaningful canine companion, and handling countless celebrity interactions with aplomb and a striking amount of humilityâhe's probably harder on himself than he is on his guests. Those expecting lightning bolts of bad taste will get their fillâhe's kept a jar of Lady Gaga's urineâand there's plenty of celebrity dishing (Donnie Wahlberg has no problem using public restrooms, Madonna flies commercial), but his sheer delight is endearing as he recounts meeting Fred Schneider of the B-52s, watching the St. Louis Cardinals with his parents, and indulging his unabashed love for his dog, Wacha. Still, it's tough for Cohen to keep the narrative from falling into a rote cycle of lunches, late-night massages, and brief recaps of often uneventful shows ("The live show was 50 Cent and Jerry Ferrera. A caller asked how much cash each of them had and 50 pulled out ten grand in hundreds from his back pocket"), making for a book best read in small doses.

December 1, 2014
Cable TV's dishiest guy at his dishy best.Depending on whom you ask, the brainchild behind Bravo's Real Housewives franchise and Watch What Happens Live-as well as the network's former head of development-is either a parody of a talk show host or a true TV original. Those kinds of against-the-grain personalities generally elicit a loyal fan base, and Cohen (Most Talkative: Stories From the Front Lines of Pop Culture, 2012) is no exception. In the crowded late-night landscape, his ratings remain solid, and he always lines up quality guests to do "shotskis" in his studio. His second book is a straight-up diary that his fans will relish and detractors will ignore. However, part of what makes Cohen so appealing on the page is his humility. He's well-aware of his position as a TV anomaly and often displays a gee-whiz attitude about his brushes with fame. In discussing a particularly star-filled week on WWHL, he admits, "For Cher I was excited but with Oprah I was nervous, actually shaking for an hour before the show." But everything isn't campy and fabulous: The author's story of his encounter with Conan O'Brien, in which the veteran host talked the newbie over some bumps, is almost touching, and his love for his dog is sweet and relatable. Cohen spends a lot of time discussing Housewives, so if you are not a fan of that particular franchise, parts of the narrative will drag. But not to worry: You're never more than a page or two away from some dish about Lady Gaga, Emma Stone, David Letterman and a host of other celebrities. The flamboyant talk show host delivers an entirely expected book: a glitzy, glamorous, goofy look at 365 days of a charmed showbiz life.

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