Rob Lowe

If someone made up this life as a story, no one would like it -- it would be too contrived. How can so many amazing things happen to a guy so likeable?
Living down the road from the Sheens; meeting Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Lucille Ball, and others; dating Princess Stephanie of Monacco (and discovering she had a crush on him, too!); witnessing some amazing Hollywood projects; travelling on the 9/11 test flight; working with the Who's Who of Hollywood; loving acting and being show more able to break into the business to full stardom; recovering from alcoholism; and a whole lot more: its unbelievable.

Lowe tells his stories with humility, realism, and wit. He does not hide from his darker events, but he does not sensationalize them, either (in fact, he sometimes assumes you already heard about them and gives very limited information). Woven throughout his stories are some very astute observations about show business and life.

It's an enjoyable read or listen (he does well with many of the voices of his colleagues), and helpful for people who want to be actors.

My favourite jokes: Michael J. Fox's rib about the cop who raved about Back to the Future because "St. Elmo's Fire was probably sold out"
and Robert Wagner's quip made in the company of Cary Grant, Prince Rainer, and others, that Rob had "banged all of their daughters."
You have to read it. show less

An entertaining and thoughtful work about and by Rob who gives a lot of the good, bad, and ugly of his climb through the jungle of the quest to stardom. I never followed his career that closely as it was playing out. I was just aware of him and of course the big sex scandal he was involved in that today would not amount to much.

Rob takes us through his journey that he persisted with until he kind of got what he wanted. Fame of sorts that was fleeting but led him down a number of paths some show more inspiring some pitiful. His breakthrough in a couple of movies and on to his probably crowning achievement "The West Wing."

His wild days partying and womanizing up to the time when seems to have straightened thing out with his marriage to a pretty devoted and woman, very fortunate for him. I came away with a rather good impression of they guy and all he accomplished through some trying times. And this despite not having seen much of his work, and ironically that which left the biggest impression on me were his funny TV commercials that I can't even recall what he was promoting. show less

Rob Lowe is a name familiar to anyone who grew up in the 80s. He became a huge star, was a member of the ‘Brat Pack’ and graced bedroom walls everywhere. In the late 80s and 90s, his career took something of a nosedive, but since his work on The West Wing, there has been something of a resurgence. I remember all the fan-worship of Lowe, and after seeing him speaking at the Hay Festival when this book came out, I looked forward to reading it, and getting his own perspective on his show more career.

It’s an entertaining story, told in an engaging and warm voice. He describes his childhood, with a loving but turbulent homelife, and his early ambition to become an actor. His stories about his early days in the industry were my favourite parts of the book – the account of making The Outsiders, as one of a group of soon-to-be-household-names, including Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze and Emilio Estevez – was particularly interesting (his descriptions of co-stars Swayze and Cruise were affectionate and very witty).

Lowe does a good job of portraying how a young and naive young man can get caught up in the Hollywood machine and lifestyle, and how inevitably, that lifestyle led to his fall from grace in spectacular fashion in 1988, with the sex-tape scandal. He glosses over the scandal and fallout somewhat, but I can’t really blame him for that – he acknowledges it and moves on.

The book is packed with little anecdotes about some of the famous people he met (Cary Grant, Liza Minnelli amongst others, and these before he even got into acting himself), which are entertaining.

What comes through most is Lowe’s love for his wife and family, and his passion for his work. I accept that there was a fair amount left out of the book; nonetheless, it’s an entertaining and enjoyable memoir, which I liked a lot and would recommend to fans of Lowe, or anyone with an interest in film-making. show less

My wife and I started listening to this audiobook a couple months back during a road trip to see our daughter's college graduation. While it was amusing enough to keep us occupied in the car, it was hard to build up much enthusiasm to sit and listen to the end once we got home, but we finally made some time at my urging in order to get this off my currently reading list.

I have mixed feelings about Rob Lowe, because he just oozes handsome jackass in his every move and word -- and this book show more really cements that initial impression. And yet I have seen a hell of a lot of his film and television work, including his current stint on 9-1-1: Lone Star and his hilarious turn as Chris Traeger on Parks and Recreation. (Alas, neither of those shows get much attention here as the anecdotes in this 2011 book wrap up with the end of his tenure on The West Wing.)

My wife is a huge fan of The Outsiders and really appreciated the extensive behind-the-scenes information Lowe shares about making the film. I found them interesting also, along with all the other stories he shares about his career and personal life.

I'll never like Rob Lowe as a person, I suppose, but I do admire his persistence through all the crap life has thrown at him as well as all the crap of his own making. show less