There was a price to be paid for a culture that idolised the relentless pursuit of self.
Premise in a Nutshell
A predominantly chronological collection of stories from Rob Lowe’s life. The focus is very much his drive towards acting, from a much younger age than I had realised, but also touches on his relationships with his parents and his alcoholism.
Thoughts
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. The style and set up of this memoir was a little repetitive (start chapter with slightly abstract image, mention people by first name only to reveal which now incredibly famous person they are towards the end). In the content itself there is a decided sense that he is glossing over some of the more troubled parts of his history. Tthe circumstances around his (mostly forgotten) sex tape are significantly light on content. So too is the description of the impact on those around him of his descent into alcoholism. As a huge West Wing fan the details of those days also feel somewhat redacted, given the well-known issues surrounding his ultimate exit. That said I did really enjoy, especially the first half.
I found Lowe to be much more articulate than I anticipated and he successfully created an almost nostalgic character flavour to the book. His school days and early career felt by far the strongest part of his narrative and were an interesting mix of both reflective and slightly gossipy insider view of Hollywood in the early 80s. I particularly enjoyed his references and descriptions of Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze. The fact that on audio he does a pretty decent set of impressions of most of the famous people he references is an added bonus of listening to this on audio.
I enjoyed some of his explanations of how TV and Hollywood worked and they have remained with me. In the latter part of the book he flips this insight onto experiences of going through rehab, rebuilding his life with his now wife and his ongoing political views. In these parts he is open, honest and at times annoyingly earnest and whilst I am sure the change in focus has for him been a healthy and helpful thing it was not as compelling to hear about as the first half of the book was.
An enjoyable read in a genre I don’t usually spend time with.