The problem: How do you have examples that are simple enough for those learning the refactoring tricks and techniques to quickly grok and be able to work on, and not overly complicated by the kinds of "real-world complexities" that do regularly appear in "real-world code."

I had the same "this isn't realistic!" complaint when studying the book, but the examples nonetheless helped me see, practice, and adopt the techniques so that I could immediately apply them to the complex production examples I needed to improve. YMMV... but as a former skeptic, "trust the process." Walk that path an work those examples for 5 days, then see how you feel. I was already pretty skilled, including in complex refactorings, and it still leveled me up.