More Sam than Billy

Lowe, Rob. Stories I Only Tell My Friends. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2011.

How do you know Rob Lowe? Is it as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing? Billy Hicks in St. Elmo's Fire? Not at all? Whether you associate his name with the excesses of the 80s Brat Pack or the highest tiers of primetime drama, Lowe's memoir will probably still surprise you.

I was drawn to the book through an excerpt in Vanity Fair. Otherwise, I doubt I would have known it existed. I'm sure the book promoter would be glad to know that worked. I liked the mix of insider Hollywood and emotional honesty in the excerpt, which dealt with the casting and filming of The Outsiders, and I'm pleased to report that it extends to the full book.

If Lowe weren't so famous, the book would feel like one big name-drop. It seems that he dated, drank with, or worked for just about every actor of the last half-century. He even watched his TV movie with Cary Grant in Grant's bedroom! Because he's both famous and surprisingly humble, it's not annoying. Instead, the reader gets both tabloidy gossip (secret tryst with Princess Stephanie of Monaco!) and a window into a life that's much more complicated than tabloids would indicate.

Despite the rough patches that might stick in people's minds, the real Rob Lowe turns out to be a politically minded A-student who took a long time to figure out how to live a life he could love. When he does--surprise again--it actually made me tear up a bit. For a "celebrity memoir," I'd say that's high praise.

Rating: **1/2