Rob Lowe book

Stories I only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography

I like Rob Lowe.  Wouldn't call myself a big fan, but in general I like him.  His movie About Last Night with Demi Moore is one of my all time favorites.  I was surprised to see that movie was twenty five years ago (showing my age) but I think it still holds up today.  Put it on your rental list if you haven't seen it.

Back to the book.  I liked it alot. Lowe doesn't pull punches or sugar coat the warts on his pretty boy face. He talks of his drug and alcohol abuse and his coming and staying clean for 20+ years.  His mother was kinda wacky.  He moved from the midwest to sunny California where people like Charlie Sheen and Sean Penn were neighbors and schoolmates.

It's interesting hearing the details of the multi-layered tryouts for one of his first movies The Outsiders.  He becomes friends with many future big stars like Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillion, Ralph Macchio, Diane Lane and Tom Cruise.  He also talks of his shock when most of his good sized part ended on the cutting room floor and he didn't find out until the screening.

He talks of his many affairs.  He went from a goofy nerd at school to bedding some of the most popular actresses working.  You can tell he is happily married (for more than twenty years) and I guess she was looking over his shoulder while writing the book.  The briefly talks of his wild times and the many groupies he was with and touches on his sex tape with the Atlanta girls back in the 80's.

One thing that surprised me was how he became so popular over the years.  Looking at his filmography out of 57 movies he has starred in I would only rate 4-5 as average or better and About Last Night the only one as very good.  I liked him in the first couple years of the tv series the West Wing before I got tired of the show and quit watching. Was never a Wayne's World or Austin Powers fan.

Alot of name dropping where he meets several big celebrities before they hit it big.  It's a fun read.  If you like him or movies from that era at all I recommend it.