Review: Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure

Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bachelor Nation

Well, this was okay, I mean I just was expecting so much more. I admit it. I wanted the trash, the dirt, the inside scoop. Instead Amy Kaufman took a much higher road. Was it because she didn’t have it? I mean, she mentions all the interviews she requested but didn’t get. Or, was it simply that she can’t betray too much because, let’s face it, she will lose whatever status she has worked so hard to regain since the Bachelor machine kicked her out.

I still gave it 3 stars - I almost went with 2.5 but I couldn’t do it. That’s because it is well written and she takes an honest approach. She outlines the whole history of how “The Bachelor” came about, including other related dating shows, their hosts and creators, I mean back to “The Dating Game”. I was bored and wanted to get to the juicy stuff. Now she did outline If you watch the show “Unreal” (and you should!) the comparisons are amazing. She describes the real life situation, I could see the characters in the show dancing before my eyes. So fun!

Unless you are so far gone into the fantasy of the show, most of what Kaufman reveals you could already have guessed. The casting, the editing, manipulation by producers, none of that was new information. We all know that a villain is created each season. Contestants are starved, plied with alcohol, bored out of their minds and open to suggestions from producers, who are trying to create dramatic TV. Kaufman also has her own agenda, which seems to be needing to get back into the Bachelor’s good graces, so the tell-all seems a little fake, or maybe light is a better word. She is their biggest fan, hosts Bachelor viewing parties and attends Bachelor events. Their is this second voice that comes through, almost as if she is writing with ABC as the reader. I get it, this is her livelihood and she enjoyed it and wants it back. I don’t really understand why she was blackballed in the first place. Many writers don’t portray it in the best light and I agree with her that it doesn’t affect viewership.

Interspersed between the chapters there are testimonials from famous people “confessing”how much they love watching The Bachelor. Each chapter reads the same as they state one cheesy reason after another as to their guilty pleasure.

It was an easy read, and if you are a fan you are going to want to read it. Just don’t expect too many “behind the scenes” details. Now that I think about it it reads like the show with empty promises when they say “after the break, the most dramatic (fill in the blank) ever”. After the break, ya, not so much. So the book keeps promising the goods but doesn’t deliver. Kaufman does relate her personal experiences with the show and does provide a comprehensive background and structure. To be fair, there are some details. Just not what I was hoping for.

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