Eighties heartthrob Rob Lowe (Stories I Only Tell My Friends) has concocted another tasty memoir to follow the success of his debut book. For an actor whose excessive drinking and carousing (ahem... remember his sex tape scandal) and bad-boy roles in About Last Night and St. Elmo's Fire made him notorious, Lowe's penned a memoir that's surprisingly charming.
The Rob Lowe of this book has been happily married for more than 22 years, and he's clearly crazy about his two teenage sons. The only shocking thing going on in the book is how... well... normal this famous actor seems as he coaches kids' basketball teams, goes camping with his in-laws and bawls in the corner as his cherished first child goes off to college.
But Lowe is no normal family man. That's evidenced when he's on a field trip with his son's Boy Scout troop and a soccer mom he has no recollection of reminds him that they slept together many years ago. Besides offhand references to kicking it with celebrities like Matt Damon and Amy Adams, Lowe's memoir shares juicy Hollywood stories only an insider would know. One absurd encounter with a Playboy Bunny at Hef's place (she was, uh, with a professional athlete as she struck up a conversation with Lowe) comes to mind.
Lowe praises his fellow actors and speaks graciously of his recent career success. Above all, this memoir is appealing because, despite Lowe's past addictions and notoriety, he seems like a stand-up guy you'd like to have over for a barbecue. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend