Livin' in Joe's World: Unauthorized, Uncut, and Unreal: The Memoirs of Joe Patane from the Miami Cast of MTV's The Real World [Paperback]

Joe Patane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998

Get Real!

To Joe Patane, an outgoing, industrious graduate student from Brooklyn, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Seven strangers are selected to live rent-free in a resplendent Miami Beach house and given $50,000 to start a business together. The only catch is that every minute of their lives is to be recorded for consumption by millions of MTV viewers. In Livin' in Joe's World, Joe Patane gives the first personal account of his harrowing experiences inside and outside of the famous house.

The events in his life are familiar to fans of the show, though the full stories behind them will surprise even the most avid viewers. Find out how the show wrecked havoc on Joe's relationships with his girlfriend/fiancee, family, and friends. Were scenes staged or altered? What happened with the business and Joe's engagement plans, and how does he deal with being back in the real real world? Joe fills in the details about himself that were either too revealing, too subtle, or perhaps even too real to fit into the show's conception of his generation. For the first time, a cast member provides an inside look at this "real-life soap opera," minus the cameras and creative editing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fame, babes, free rent in a multimillion dollar house on Miami Beach--who wouldn't jump at the offer? Joe Patane did, and with a memoir--whose first chapter is entitled, "What Possessed Me?"--he clearly lived to regret it. As one of the cast members of MTV's The Real World, Joe had cameras tracking his every move, microphones recording his every conversation, crewmembers brandishing waivers at his every acquaintance. Considering the circumstances--and the promises extended by the jacket copy--Livin' in Joe's World isn't quite the hatchet job one might expect. In fact, Joe himself emerges from the entire experience with a number of the usual homilies about being true to oneself, making the most out of life, daring to take risks, and so on and so on. Enough already with the moral uplift, one wants to say, and tell us some more about the Mike-Michelle-waitress shower scene. Frankly, it comes as no shock to learn that MTV producers engage in creative editing or that they manipulate events to make things more entertaining for viewers; anyone who's ever watched The Real World knows it's about as "real" as an episode of Three's Company. The true appeal of Livin' in Joe's World lies elsewhere--in learning what it felt like to become a real live lab rat spinning around in a wheel. For anyone who's a closet voyeur--and who isn't?--Livin' in Joe's World exerts the same queasy fascination as the TV show itself, and once started, it's hard to put down. As for his life post-MTV, Joe's is a nice enough world, but I wouldn't want to live there. Not even for free rent. --Mary Park

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Perennial; 1st edition (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060952776
• ISBN-13: 978-0060952778
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #880,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Although Joe whines a LOT, some good stuff for RW fans, June 19, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Livin' in Joe's World: Unauthorized, Uncut, and Unreal: The Memoirs of Joe Patane from the Miami Cast of MTV's The Real World (Paperback)

Here's a book from Miami's Joe providing some real insight into what it's like to live under the lights and cameras 24/7. The best thing about this book is that you can easily read the whole thing in a couple of hours. Unless you've watched the Miami season, you won't understand much of this. For those that watched the Miami roommates flounder in their attempt to start a business, you're likely to get the sense that there is much more that could have been written than what is provided here. As it is, the core thesis is that MTV and the production company doesn't realize what a devastating effect this experiment has on the lives of the participants. Joe whines a lot about this. In succession, Joe complains about the selection process and how the questions are too personal - although it was a self-realizing experience. Joe moans about the roommate selection, as if he expected an entrepeneurial consulting team to be chosen. Joe shows disgust at the production company for letting deadlines pass for starting the business without consequence. But, most of all Joe complains about the tapped phones, the lack of privacy, the lights that wouldn't let him sleep, the editing that made him into a character instead of the "I'm-here-to-make-a-difference" persona he wanted to project. All of it seems a little like sour grapes. He knew the score before agreeing to go - even before he sent in the audition tape. If he got something he didn't fully expect, then them the breaks! He seems most upset about the impact the show had on his family and strange relationship with his hard to stomach girlfriend Nic. Sadly, he gave the producers the ammunition to present an entertaining television show - and this book comes across little more than a statement of regret.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars He could have told MORE, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Livin' in Joe's World: Unauthorized, Uncut, and Unreal: The Memoirs of Joe Patane from the Miami Cast of MTV's The Real World (Paperback)

Living with Joe for five months was an experience to say the least. But there was SO much more that he could have written about. I think it's still a strong possibility that more books are on the way. Isn't that right, Joey P.?

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No real surprises, September 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Livin' in Joe's World: Unauthorized, Uncut, and Unreal: The Memoirs of Joe Patane from the Miami Cast of MTV's The Real World (Paperback)

While the blurb on the back promises the "real" Real World, I was left feeling strangely empty. For all the buildup, the many pages spent getting Joe into The Real World, it didn't seem like Joe spent a lot of time actually telling us about it. He seems to waver between being ticked off at how MTV screwed up his life, and being determined not to let MTV screw up his life. All perfectly understandable, but it somewhat blurs the focus of the book.

For fans of the show who want the Real Dirt, there's astonishingly little; Joe seems to have been more sensitive to his housemates' privacy than they were to his. (I got the impression this book had been gutted by several attorneys, to be totally honest.) On the other hand, it's certainly an entertaining journey--especially since it happened to someone else.

If you're a big fan of The Real World, go ahead and get this book. If you're curious how living under the camera for six weeks can change your life and your outlook, get this book. If you want to see Joe dish the dirt on MTV and the rest of his cast, skip this book.

In sum: Joe's far too nice a guy for The Real World, and this book proves it--he can't even work up bitterness after the fact.