Ali Barthwell Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Ali Barthwell is an accomplished published author.

Ali has been involved in writing as her career for quite a while and in the process has established a name for herself. She has served as a writer for the television show ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’, where she received an impressive five Emmy Awards for her work. She has also received recognition and has been awarded the Writers Guild Award and the Peabody Award.

Others may know her from being a frequent recap writer for Vulture’s Bachelor Cinematic Universe. There she has been busy covering the goings-on of The Bachelor franchise as well as the more expansive world of reality television ever since 2015.

Prior to writing for television, Ali was a teacher, an actor, and served as the first Black female director at The Second City. She has also served as a co-founder of Wakandacon, which celebrates Afro-futurism in gaming, pop culture, and technology.

Ali attended and graduated from Wellesley College. She is a survivor of Leukemia and has long been a native of the city of Chicago. Today she continues to reside in Chicago, where she stays busy writing about different topics such as comedy, reality television, and modern culture. Her first debut book is Reality TV for Snobs, which was released for readers to enjoy for the first time in 2026.

Reality TV for Snobs: Everything You Need to Know About the Shows You’re Too Intellectual to Watch is a 2026 book by Ali Barthwell. If you’ve been interested in reality television or know others who are and want to share something in common with them, this book is a quick and informative way to find out more and become something of an expert.

Many people consider themselves above this genre of television, but for every person who considers themselves to be above it, there is likely another person avidly watching every episode of their favorite show (or in many cases, ‘shows’ in the plural). When reality television started, it was a bit of an outlier. But in the years since, it has grown exponentially. Now there are multiple shows running in the format.

For someone who doesn’t watch these shows, the concept of sitting down to watch them all can seem daunting and somewhat unappealing. Never fear, for Ali Barthwell is here to give you all of the details you need in an informative guide that will have you feeling well-versed in this topic in no time.

In this epic book, the author covers twenty influential reality shows that have come out over the years, delivering you a run-down of shows like the classic MTV hit ‘The Real World’ or the latest Peacock/NBC hit from over the pond ‘The Traitors’. Now you can have all the info on these shows and be able to keep up in the conversation but you don’t have to actually want them (although after reading the descriptions of some of these shows, you may find that your interest has been piqued).

Whether you’re looking for the basics of these shows, fun facts, or just some deeper analysis, this is the book for you. Maybe you have no idea what a rose ceremony is or what it’s supposed to entail. Perhaps you’ve seen clips of ‘The Traitors’ but aren’t all too clear on the structure of the game. Now you can stop seeing references to these shows online or hearing them in real life and actually have an idea of what’s being talked about!

Reality television has come a long way, and you can get a grasp of its history by getting your hands on a copy of this book. There are so many fans of reality shows that have developed over the years, and everyone has their favorite. Maybe this book will inspire you to at last sit down and view a season of ‘Survivor’ or see what the MTV alumni are up to in the competition reality show ‘The Challenge’ as they go up against each other for large sums of money. Even if this book doesn’t inspire you to watch an episode, you’ll still finish it with a greater grasp of reality TV than you did before you started.

Barthwell does more than just recap in this book. She takes 20 great shows from the past 25 years and goes into them one by one, talking about what they entail and why they matter. Every entry on a show will have breakdowns of its episodes and highlights of the season, as well as insight into what makes the show culturally significant.

The book also includes the important and iconic moments of each show, the catch phrases that are used, and the memes inspired by the show. Barthwell will also provide solid talking points and conversation starters that you can use to talk about these shows and hold up your own end of the conversation.

Reality television has really caught on and by now has become an entrenched part of pop culture. Reality TV for Snobs is the second book making up the Outsider’s Guide series, which provides easy to read quick crash courses in cultural phenomena so readers can know more about various topics. If you’ve been wanting to chat reality television with friends or coworkers but don’t know where to start, check out this book from Ali Barthwell and find out everything you ever needed to know.