Dream Facades: Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV
Dream Facades: Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV
Dream Facades: Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV
Description
Description
For fans of Jia Tolentino and Amanda Montell, a probing and lively exploration of the unlikely dwellings we regard on reality TV -- and what they say about American history, modern life, and the architecture of our desires. People like reality TV. There's been a lot written about the cult of celebrity, how this "reality" angle draws us in through a mix of voyeurism and relatability. But when we look at the houses on these shows, what are we seeing? Predominantly, multi-million-dollar single-family homes in areas that forcibly removed minority groups and mimic the style of a whitewashed age. Why do we watch and covet these conservative homes, while professing to want lives unbound by heteronormative patriarchy and outside of suburban fantasia? Jack posits two main theories: that our relationships with these shows (and social media) have conflated our physical dwellings with the spaces projected onto and projected out from our screens to create a 'physical-digital hybrid home' that we see as representative of our actual home; and that what we actually covet when we covet these houses is safety and security, not the specifics of the styles being sold. Dream Facades focuses on seven reality TV shows: Selling Sunset; The Kardashians; The Real World; The Bachelor; Trading Spaces; The Real Housewives of Atlanta; and Fire Island, and their specific associated architectural style. Morley takes us through reality TV's labyrinthine properties to illuminate what makes us covet these spaces and devour these shows, and what that says about America, ourselves, and the future of design.
About the Author
About the Author
Jack Balderrama Morley is a queer, Xicanx-Anglo writer and managing editor of Dwell, a preeminent digital and physical magazine dedicated to home design. Jack's nonfiction writing has appeared in Dwell, and their fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, No Contact, Gertrude, and Soft Punk.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Little may be more American than the intersection of housing and television, and Morley offers an entertaining, informative deep dive into the reasons why."
--Booklist, starred review "We are a culture hooked on the opiate of spectacle. Jack Morley's Dream Facades shows that reality TV sets the stage for some of our most aspirational unrealities, down even to the architecture it's filmed within. Eerily well-timed."
--Geoff Manaugh, author of the New York Times-bestselling book A Burglar's Guide to the City "If you've ever wondered why your favorite Real Housewive's McMansion looks like Caesar's Palace or find yourself watching reality TV for the confusing interior decorating choices, then Jack Balderrama Morley's book will offer the clarity you seek. Written in a style that is breezy, engaging, and informative without being pedantic, this book is a must-read for any reality TV fan, or, really, anyone interested in the world around them, one room at a time."
--Megan C. Reynolds, author of Like: A History of the World's Most Hated (and Misunderstood) Word "With its simple but original insight--that from Cribs to Selling Sunset, the landmark shows in reality television have revolved around residential fantasy--this intelligent, witty, and unpretentious book explores the intersection of architectural aspiration and reality television in a way which casts each in a startlingly new light. Brilliantly stylish and irresistibly readable, Dream Facades is a searing indictment of our late capitalist present and the American fascination with cruel homes."
--Sianne Ngai, George M. Pullman Professor of English, University of Chicago, and author of Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting
--Booklist, starred review "We are a culture hooked on the opiate of spectacle. Jack Morley's Dream Facades shows that reality TV sets the stage for some of our most aspirational unrealities, down even to the architecture it's filmed within. Eerily well-timed."
--Geoff Manaugh, author of the New York Times-bestselling book A Burglar's Guide to the City "If you've ever wondered why your favorite Real Housewive's McMansion looks like Caesar's Palace or find yourself watching reality TV for the confusing interior decorating choices, then Jack Balderrama Morley's book will offer the clarity you seek. Written in a style that is breezy, engaging, and informative without being pedantic, this book is a must-read for any reality TV fan, or, really, anyone interested in the world around them, one room at a time."
--Megan C. Reynolds, author of Like: A History of the World's Most Hated (and Misunderstood) Word "With its simple but original insight--that from Cribs to Selling Sunset, the landmark shows in reality television have revolved around residential fantasy--this intelligent, witty, and unpretentious book explores the intersection of architectural aspiration and reality television in a way which casts each in a startlingly new light. Brilliantly stylish and irresistibly readable, Dream Facades is a searing indictment of our late capitalist present and the American fascination with cruel homes."
--Sianne Ngai, George M. Pullman Professor of English, University of Chicago, and author of Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Astra House
Pub date:
2026-03-03
Length:
224 pages
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