Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Title: Stories I Only Tell My Friends
Author: Rob Lowe
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: April 26, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Genre: He says Autobiography, but I think it is more of a Memoir

I do not think I came away from this book with what Mr. Lowe had intended. Not to say that it is not an interesting fast read book, but where I began thinking that Rob was the 80’s and 90’s version of Forrest Gump, the right place at the right time, I ended it with the belief that he was just darn lucky to have a career at all.

He will always be Sam Seaborn to me, I have no recollection of him in any other movie or television series before or after and if you were to wonder about my age; yes, we would have attended high school at the same time.

The book begin with the explanation of a slightly off balance mother and a divorced absentee father and how from an early age he knew that being an actor was all that he ever wanted to do. Getting himself to interviews and cattle calls, moving from the east coast to the west, and befriending the Sheen/Estevez clan and the Penn brothers, it all fell into place for him.

A good portion of the book is devoted to his auditioning and fighting for the role of Sodapop Curtis in the Outsiders. Considering the amount of time and effort that was put into this portion of the book, I would say that Rob considers this his crowning glory.

Mr. Lowe has no problem going on and on and on about his wild years and gives veiled references to their names and who their famous fathers are. Only a sentence or two mentions his 1988 underage tape controversy and the book ends with his leaving West Wing, so nothing was mentioned concerning the 2008 lawsuit with former employees or his battles with homeowners and newspaper employees. Guess we will have to wait for part two – the later years, to find his take on these matters.

As I said earlier, it is by luck alone that this man had a career at all. Very few of his movies have received any sort of recognition; and other than West Wing, no television series has lasted very long, but yet, we know who this man is, we can identify his face and recognize his name. Luck I tell you, it is just luck.