u/notactuallyreckless

TLDR: If you have any questions about Dorit's book, I bought it and have read everything Housewives/PK related and have skim read the remainder. Ask me anything.

---

Twenty nine chapters and an afterward. I thought it was relatively well balanced between Housewives related discussion and also her family background and life before Housewives. Where it really fell down for me was in two aspects. Firstly, there were absolutely no big revelations, no real hook or insights to entice readership, IMO. Was it new to read in passing that on occasions PK had had hotel stays prior to them actually officially separating? Sure. Was it surprising? Not at all. She talks about some of her RHOBH friends/colleagues in depth, but for the most part, only in the context of the past two years. There’s no real dirt on PK, there’s no real dirt on Kyle. It’s mostly just Dorit discovering who she is and wants to be and a description of the process of slow change in both her marriage and her friendships. 

The second, and more pressing issue, was the writing. On the bright side, it definitely has a distinctive voice. Less positively, and maybe this is a me problem, I found the prose incredibly frustrating. There are sections where it flowed naturally and easily, especially when recounting past events, but they were inevitably overwhelmed by the overuse of simple, short sentences (as opposed to complex), and with relentless incremental repetition. In poetry or speeches, this is effective. Across a two hundred plus page book? It feels like you’re always stopping and starting and it can be somewhat disruptive to building a narrative. So stylistically, I wasn’t enamoured. 

The content was also less than engaging to me. Outside of family history (which often turns into MORE self-reflection about how she is now) and some of the descriptions of the dissolution of her marriage and maybe the burglary, I felt like it was like a therapised pep speech to self a lot of the time. There was barely an acknowledgement of any real flaws or faults. There was a lack of specificity in many stories that deserved it. Years of Housewives went by with nary a mention of what was happening. There was an abundance of cliche and lack of momentum at times, in my opinion. 

For example, we have something like this which in and of itself is okay:

My separation stripped everything down to essentials. It clarified who I am when the noise falls away. I became less interested in maintaining narratives and more interested in maintaining integrity.
I don’t want to win arguments. I want alignment.
I don’t want public visories. I want private peace.

But on the VERY next page:

With Erika. With Kyle. With all of it, I’ve stopped trying to force permanence where there is fluctuation. 
What matters to me now is how I move.
I care deeply. That will never change. But caring no longer means absorbing. Loving no longer means overlooking. Supporting no longer means silencing myself.

It becomes tiring to read sections like this on almost every page, in my opinion. Nevertheless, there were some good passages, although less new insight than I had hoped for. If anyone has any questions about what was written (I only skimmed the non-Housewives/PK parts and then read everything else in full, but can easily look things up), I’m happy to answer any and all questions and provide quotes.

TLDR: If you have any questions about Dorit's book, I bought it and have read everything Housewives/PK related and have skim read the remainder. Ask me anything.

---

Twenty nine chapters and an afterward. I thought it was relatively well balanced between Housewives related discussion and also her family background and life before Housewives. Where it really fell down for me was in two aspects. Firstly, there were absolutely no big revelations, no real hook or insights to entice readership, IMO. Was it new to read in passing that on occasions PK had had hotel stays prior to them actually officially separating? Sure. Was it surprising? Not at all. She talks about some of her RHOBH friends/colleagues in depth, but for the most part, only in the context of the past two years. There’s no real dirt on PK, there’s no real dirt on Kyle. It’s mostly just Dorit discovering who she is and wants to be and a description of the process of slow change in both her marriage and her friendships. 

The second, and more pressing issue, was the writing. On the bright side, it definitely has a distinctive voice. Less positively, and maybe this is a me problem, I found the prose incredibly frustrating. There are sections where it flowed naturally and easily, especially when recounting past events, but they were inevitably overwhelmed by the overuse of simple, short sentences (as opposed to complex), and with relentless incremental repetition. In poetry or speeches, this is effective. Across a two hundred plus page book? It feels like you’re always stopping and starting and it can be somewhat disruptive to building a narrative. So stylistically, I wasn’t enamoured. 

The content was also less than engaging to me. Outside of family history (which often turns into MORE self-reflection about how she is now) and some of the descriptions of the dissolution of her marriage and maybe the burglary, I felt like it was like a therapised pep speech to self a lot of the time. There was barely an acknowledgement of any real flaws or faults. There was a lack of specificity in many stories that deserved it. Years of Housewives went by with nary a mention of what was happening. There was an abundance of cliche and lack of momentum at times, in my opinion. 

For example, we have something like this which in and of itself is okay:

My separation stripped everything down to essentials. It clarified who I am when the noise falls away. I became less interested in maintaining narratives and more interested in maintaining integrity.
I don’t want to win arguments. I want alignment.
I don’t want public visories. I want private peace.

But on the VERY next page:

With Erika. With Kyle. With all of it, I’ve stopped trying to force permanence where there is fluctuation. 
What matters to me now is how I move.
I care deeply. That will never change. But caring no longer means absorbing. Loving no longer means overlooking. Supporting no longer means silencing myself.

It becomes tiring to read sections like this on almost every page, in my opinion. Nevertheless, there were some good passages, although less new insight than I had hoped for. If anyone has any questions about what was written (I only skimmed the non-Housewives/PK parts and then read everything else in full, but can easily look things up), I’m happy to answer any and all questions and provide quotes.

TLDR: If you have any questions about Dorit's book, I bought it and have read everything Housewives/PK related and have skim read the remainder. Ask me anything.

---

Twenty nine chapters and an afterward. I thought it was relatively well balanced between Housewives related discussion and also her family background and life before Housewives. Where it really fell down for me was in two aspects. Firstly, there were absolutely no big revelations, no real hook or insights to entice readership, IMO. Was it new to read in passing that on occasions PK had had hotel stays prior to them actually officially separating? Sure. Was it surprising? Not at all. She talks about some of her RHOBH friends/colleagues in depth, but for the most part, only in the context of the past two years. There’s no real dirt on PK, there’s no real dirt on Kyle. It’s mostly just Dorit discovering who she is and wants to be and a description of the process of slow change in both her marriage and her friendships. 

The second, and more pressing issue, was the writing. On the bright side, it definitely has a distinctive voice. Less positively, and maybe this is a me problem, I found the prose incredibly frustrating. There are sections where it flowed naturally and easily, especially when recounting past events, but they were inevitably overwhelmed by the overuse of simple, short sentences (as opposed to complex), and with relentless incremental repetition. In poetry or speeches, this is effective. Across a two hundred plus page book? It feels like you’re always stopping and starting and it can be somewhat disruptive to building a narrative. So stylistically, I wasn’t enamoured. 

The content was also less than engaging to me. Outside of family history (which often turns into MORE self-reflection about how she is now) and some of the descriptions of the dissolution of her marriage and maybe the burglary, I felt like it was like a therapised pep speech to self a lot of the time. There was barely an acknowledgement of any real flaws or faults. There was a lack of specificity in many stories that deserved it. Years of Housewives went by with nary a mention of what was happening. There was an abundance of cliche and lack of momentum at times, in my opinion. 

For example, we have something like this which in and of itself is okay:

My separation stripped everything down to essentials. It clarified who I am when the noise falls away. I became less interested in maintaining narratives and more interested in maintaining integrity.
I don’t want to win arguments. I want alignment.
I don’t want public visories. I want private peace.

But on the VERY next page:

With Erika. With Kyle. With all of it, I’ve stopped trying to force permanence where there is fluctuation. 
What matters to me now is how I move.
I care deeply. That will never change. But caring no longer means absorbing. Loving no longer means overlooking. Supporting no longer means silencing myself.

It becomes tiring to read sections like this on almost every page, in my opinion. Nevertheless, there were some good passages, although less new insight than I had hoped for. If anyone has any questions about what was written (I only skimmed the non-Housewives/PK parts and then read everything else in full, but can easily look things up), I’m happy to answer any and all questions and provide quotes.