A review by melissafirman
Love Life by Rob Lowe
3.0
If I need to spend five hours in a car with anyone, Rob Lowe will do very nicely, thank you. I mean, I can certainly think of worse people to road trip with, y’know what I mean?
Now, celebrity memoirs by people who don’t even need their name on the book cover are usually not my thing. But if you’re a child of the ’80s as I am, you might find Love Life irresistible.
Because, well, it is. Almost all of it, that is. In my view, the first chapter had way too much name-dropping, too much talk about Malibu parties from back in the day, and too much … well, just too much. (The comparison of the Dick Van Patten clan to the Kennedy family seemed over the top, making this feel no different than any other celebrity memoir.)
However, this quickly becomes the entertaining audio I was anticipating for my drive across Pennsylvania.
Rob Lowe filled my car with long-ago tales of debauchery, a tearjerker about sending his son off to college, and a female co-star who had a difficult time kissing him. (Note to Rob: if you ever find yourself in such a predicament again, I’ll be happy to help you out.)
Those of us of a certain age know all about Rob Lowe’s past. And what makes this book work is that Rob Lowe knows that we know. He doesn’t hide from it; instead he self-deprecatingly transforms what he’s learned from decades of Hollywood experience into something resembling – OMG, this makes me sound like I’m ready for the fucking home – fatherly advice.
“I think it was Alfred Hitchcock who said 90 percent of successful movie-making is in the casting. The same is true in life. Who you are exposed to, who you choose to surround yourself with, is a unique variable in all of our experiences and it is hugely important in making us who we are. Seek out interesting characters, tough adversaries and strong mentors and your life can be rich, textured, highly entertaining and successful, like a Best Picture winner. Surround yourself with dullards, people of vanilla safety and unextraordinary ease, and you may find your life going straight to DVD.”
A little cheesy? Absolutely, without a doubt. But again, somehow, it works.
Rob Lowe is an entertainer. He’s spent his entire life doing exactly that. In that regard, Love Life does not disappoint.
Now, celebrity memoirs by people who don’t even need their name on the book cover are usually not my thing. But if you’re a child of the ’80s as I am, you might find Love Life irresistible.
Because, well, it is. Almost all of it, that is. In my view, the first chapter had way too much name-dropping, too much talk about Malibu parties from back in the day, and too much … well, just too much. (The comparison of the Dick Van Patten clan to the Kennedy family seemed over the top, making this feel no different than any other celebrity memoir.)
However, this quickly becomes the entertaining audio I was anticipating for my drive across Pennsylvania.
Rob Lowe filled my car with long-ago tales of debauchery, a tearjerker about sending his son off to college, and a female co-star who had a difficult time kissing him. (Note to Rob: if you ever find yourself in such a predicament again, I’ll be happy to help you out.)
Those of us of a certain age know all about Rob Lowe’s past. And what makes this book work is that Rob Lowe knows that we know. He doesn’t hide from it; instead he self-deprecatingly transforms what he’s learned from decades of Hollywood experience into something resembling – OMG, this makes me sound like I’m ready for the fucking home – fatherly advice.
“I think it was Alfred Hitchcock who said 90 percent of successful movie-making is in the casting. The same is true in life. Who you are exposed to, who you choose to surround yourself with, is a unique variable in all of our experiences and it is hugely important in making us who we are. Seek out interesting characters, tough adversaries and strong mentors and your life can be rich, textured, highly entertaining and successful, like a Best Picture winner. Surround yourself with dullards, people of vanilla safety and unextraordinary ease, and you may find your life going straight to DVD.”
A little cheesy? Absolutely, without a doubt. But again, somehow, it works.
Rob Lowe is an entertainer. He’s spent his entire life doing exactly that. In that regard, Love Life does not disappoint.