"Stories I Only Tell My Friends" by Rob Lowe

I picked this partially autobiographical book while my sister was reading it. If she set it down, I picked it up. When she finally finished it I was able to give it my all and I chewed through it in hours. Rob Lowe is someone I have always known about but I am a little too young to have known exactly how impressive the early years of his career actually was. He was a real child star of the 80's and he rode it high into the early nineties. I think he would agree that many of the movies he starred in early on weren't box office smashes that someone of my generation would have heard of but the caliber of people he was working with is, without doubt, as high as it gets. Understandably, Lowe sort of skims over the sex tape debacle he found himself in the center of in the early nineties. Most readers of his book would have been old enough to follow the story and aftershocks as they happened. I don't know much about it but it seems evident that it greatly affected his career for nearly a decade. It seems like Lorne Michaels was his only real supporter through much of the 1990's and even in the beginning of the new millenium, Lowe had to audition for a career changing role. He has certainly revived his stardom in the past 11 years and rightly so. He is, indeed, a very good looking man and talented in both comedic and dramatic stylings. As his book moves from Lowe's early days in Ohio, through his family's move to California, through the decade of sex and alcohol, and past his stint in rehab to his happy domestic and work-related lives, we see an incredible amount of chance meetings, impressive sexual accomplishments (a princess), and tons of anecdotal moments of hilarity. Even more so, I was inspired by the manner in which Lowe approached his career and progressed through the, mostly unnavigable, Hollywood environment. To see how optimism, drive and constantly striving for perfection can affect a person route to the top was greatly appreciated. Lowe is a very capable writer. In his book he indicates that he is working on several film projects and penning some himself. I have little doubt that they will be well written. He understands how to include only what is necessary and pointedly, while still amusingly at times, delivering a story. If he writes another book I will definitely pick it up (when my sister sets it down).