Initially, I really had one motive for reading Rob Lowe’s autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends*. I wanted to read the juicy stories from the 80s back when he was in St. Elmo’s Fire, one of my favorite movies. This book has plenty of insight into that time in his life but it has so much more than that.
Rob Lowe writes with such intelligence, insight and detail that is so unexpected from “that hot guy in St. Elmo’s Fire”. I had no idea that the stories of how Rob grew up, starting from about age 4, would be so engaging and have me hanging on every word. Every detailed story that would unfold kept me anticipating the next.
Rob wanted to be an actor since he was a small child and he describes the events of his life as a kid in Ohio who moves to California and gets to live his dream. His life story is both fantasy-like and stunningly ordinary. One of my favorite tales is his description of his first meeting with a few kids after arriving in California: stumbling upon Chris Penn “directing” a Vietnam movie with his brother Sean, best friend Charlie (yes, Sheen), and Charlie’s brother Emilio (yes, Estevez).
In telling each step of the moments in a life so regular yet infamous, you get a unique look at Hollywood and the stars we all know. Rob perfectly conveys the intensity and life changing process of auditioning (and then shooting) his first movie role, The Outsiders. He has a knack for describing his fellow actors so wonderfully and with such admiration that you feel like you know Tom Cruise as well as he does!
With each triumph in the book you jump for joy, with each fall you are rooting for him to rise. He has so successfully told the stories of his life thus far, that he now feels like an old friend. This old friend has had many ups and downs and you only want to see him soar!
For an extraordinary life story told with such finesse, realness, comedy, insight, love, and optimism, pick up Stories I Only Tell My Friends*. This book does not disappoint: you will get those inside stories from the 80s PLUS a lot more than you ever bargained for. Rob Lowe, you are a remarkable writer.
