Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe, 308 pages

Rob Lowe has been acting for more than 30 years, since he was a teenager. In this memoir, Lowe discusses his life from those early years starting out to becoming one of the original members of the Brat Pack to the fame and excess of the 1980s to his trip to rehab and into sobriety. Through it all, he offers up some interesting insights on the machinations of Hollywood, as well some stories about the making of movies (and the meeting of actors) we've all seen.

Some of the stories can feel a bit name-droppy, especially when he spools out the entire yarn before giving us the name of the person he's interacting with in the story, in a "gotcha" way. (For example, "and 20 years later, at the Golden Globes, I was happy to see Sarah Jessica Parker receive an award for her role on Sex and the City. She did say she wanted to do this forever.") Lowe is able to break away from this grating habit in some of his tales, and when he does, the writing and stories become infinitely more interesting. I particularly liked his lengthy discussion of the audition process for and filming of The Outsiders, in which he played Sodapop Curtis (and, unbeknownst to him until he saw the finished film, had most of his scenes cut). In this story, we're introduced to Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Ralph Macchio, and Francis Ford Coppola, and even though the temptation to drop names like breadcrumbs must have been tempting, but Lowe somehow refrains, and the story is all the better for it. Similarly, his discussion of his more recent career (starting in the 1990s with his hosting of Saturday Night Live and ending, for the book's purposes, with The West Wing) is engaging and filled with fun tidbits.

Does Lowe skate around the issues, glossing over his career scandals and awkward situations? Absolutely. This is a personal memoir after all, not an investigative biography written by a vindictive third party. Does that make it less enjoyable? Not a bit. This was a good, light read. Those with an interest in Hollywood and celebrity would probably like this.

A side note: I listened to the audiobook of this, which is read by Lowe. Generally speaking, I really enjoyed Lowe's narration, though his penchant for doing the voices of the people in his stories can be annoying. That said, the man nails Bill Clinton's voice.