This is a good book for the die hard soap fan to read. The writing did feel a little repetitive at times but it was interesting seeing how the show came to be.

I started watching Ryan's Hope when it first premiered and so I was excited to get a copy of this book. It has been years since the show was on the air but the actors and storytelling came right back to me. There are some repetitive parts of the book but I think it will be enjoyed by those of us who loved Ryan's Hope as well as being informative and entertaining to new fans.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This well-researched book is great fun to read, especially for fans of the show. Copious interviews with the cast shed light on the behind the scenes delights, decisions and disagreements that made Ryan's Hope the ground-breaking daytime drama it was. Photos, which are certain to appear in the final product, will enhance enjoyment greatly as well as jog some memories. Even for those who didn't watch the show, the book stands as a thorough examination of the soap opera genre.

I was a massive fan of Ryan's Hope from the 1st episode in 1975. Over the years, my viewing ebbed and flowed, but I was devastated when it was canceled in early 1989. Ryan's Hope was unique because it was the only soap at the time that was set in a big city. I was so excited when I discovered that Tom Lisanti had written this book. Reading RYan's Hope brought back all those memories and storylines I'd forgotten. This book is a must-have for all soap fans.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Kensington Books for an advance copy on the history of a soap opera that in many ways was ahead of its time and had been unfairly forgotten, except by its loyal cadre of fans.

Critics and and advertisers have referred to the last twenty or so years of television as the Golden Age. As if shows before 1999 were forgettable relics that one would need rabbit ear antennas to enjoy, and once watched were easily forgotten. This of course is wrong. Each decade since the advent of a television in every home has had shows that were considered the best, and in many ways hold up to this day. Star Trek, Twilight Zone, were classics, and still repeat on numerous streaming services and late night channels, along with films and remakes. The seventies were an amazing time, in sitcoms, procedurals and especially drama. Though one of the best shows of the era was always looked at as a less then show, because it was considered a soap opera. Soap Operas get a short shrift from almost everyone actors, networks, people who don't watch them as shows for housewives. However many soap operas dealt with subjects that other shows in prime time could not, for every return from the dead of an actor, real world events, actions and personal problems were dealt with daily, with a sensitivity that was rare. Ryan's Hope was one of these soap operas. Still mourned by fans, the show has never really received its due for the greatness of the work. Until now. Ryan's Hope: An Oral History of Daytime's Groundbreaking Soap by writer and historian Tom Lisanti is a look at this groundbreaking show whose drama behind the scenes sometimes rivaled what was on the screen.

Created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, Ryan's Hope was one of the first soap operas to be set in a real city, this one New York. The Ryan family were the characters most of he stories revolved around and unlike many were not rich and powerful citizens, but working people, with real problems, and real issues. Casting for the show drew on the rich cast of New York professionals, from Broadway, off-Broadway and other places with a few known actors to sell the idea. The show had a realism from lighting to costuming to dialogue and ideas that again was rare, of a family that loved each other no matter how bad things got, or went haywire. Storylines included alcoholism and addiction, abortion, the death of children, the effects of crime and many dealing with the vindication for the rights of woman. The show however was not without its problems. Interference and notes from the network, ABC lead to confusion, cost cutting and many actors being replaced, alienating long time viewers. ABC also wished for more bigger storylines, a sort of General Hospital-ing of a show that was more about family.

I knew of Ryan's Hope more through osmosis, than regular watching. Though on sick days and rainy summer days I would watch, along with my Mom who still misses the show to this day. Reading the book I can see why my mother was drawn to it. A show about an Irish family trying to get by, who loved each other. The book is very well written with many interviews that even for one unfamiliar with the show are well explained and interesting. This is not an episode guide more a making of the show, so some key storylines might be mentioned briefly or omitted. Lisanti does a very good job filling in blanks, which in a show that is over 40 years old, there are a lot of blanks, or a lot of different truths. There is much about the friction between the network and the creators, which shows that Hollywood hasn't changed that much. But there is much more from the creators and actors about how wonderful a show it was to work on.

Recommended for fans of the show and for people who enjoy reading good behind the scenes stories of how projects are both created and messed with. A very well-written history, and I can't wait to buy a copy for my Mom, I know that she will be thrilled.

I was incredibly excited to read this look on Ryan's Hope, one of the best soap operas in daytime history. Soap operas are often mocked in pop culture, but Lisanti shows what/why Ryan's Hope stood out among the other shows: it was set in New York City, not a made-up small town in the MidWest; the Ryans were Roman Catholics and Irish; how the Old World values of Maeve and Johnny Ryan clashed with the seventies values of their children. I wish Lisanti had gone into more depth about the emotional storylines during the show's heyday (the deaths of little Edmund and Mary Ryan Fenelli) and more about the cast members who have died (including two who was interviewed for the book Roscoe Born and Michael Levin) and I wish the ARC had pictures of the cast members through the years. Still this is a great look at how Ryan's Hope came on the air, battling with the networks, and then had a rebirth thanks to SOAPNET and YouTube. Bake some soda bread and Irish Breakfast tea, and enjoy this book!

I would give this book five stars for the nostalgia but three stars for the repetitive writing, so I’m rating it four stars. I enjoyed reminiscing and learning what when on behind the scenes. The majority of the book was interview responses from cast and crew and it seemed like the same things were said over and over. I hope the sentence structure and word order are fixed before publication. I also hope that pictures will be included. I found that lack to hurt the book in this format.

This book includes various interviews with former stars of the popular daytime drama, Ryan's Hope. The cast members, writers, producers, and others involved with the show give honest opinions on the good and the bad about bosses, co-stars, and storylines through the years.

I watched the show the first few years when it originally aired, and also some of the episodes when they were shown again on SoapNet. I didn't see many of the episodes from the last couple of years of the show, so I wasn't familiar with everything being talked about. However, I still enjoyed the information from behind the scenes of this classic soap. I really appreciated the insights from some of the actors I had admired from that show such as Ron Hale, Ilene Kristen, and Malcolm Groome.

The description of the book references photos. My advance review copy didn't include them, but they would have been great to see to bring back memories of the show and also as a refresher on some of the characters. A list of everyone who was interviewed that included their character or their role with the show at the front would have been really helpful. As it was, I was doing a lot of online searches to refamiliarize myself with some of the people. This slowed down some of my reading, but I still liked reading this unique look at a beloved television show.

I received an advance copy of this ebook from NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Citadel. My review is voluntary and unbiased.