Love Life by Rob Lowe
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
When I was pursuing my library app trying to find my next read/listen, I wanted something lighter than my last few picks…
Something I didn’t have to use my brain much for, was entertaining, could give me a few laughs and not make me cry/scared/angry/confused/frustrated.
So when this book popped up in my library’s “available” category I thought “Perfect!”
Here is the summary:
“On the heels of his New York Times bestselling Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe is back with an entertaining collection that “invites readers into his world with easy charm and disarming frankness” ( Kirkus Reviews).
After the incredible response to his acclaimed bestseller, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe was convinced to mine his experiences for even more stories. The result is Love Life, a memoir about men and women, actors and producers, art and commerce, fathers and sons, movies and TV, addiction and recovery, sex and love. Among the adventures he describes in these pages are:
· His visit, as a young man, to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion, where the naïve actor made a surprising discovery in the hot tub.
· The time, as a boy growing up in Malibu, he discovered a vibrator belonging to his best friend’s mother.
· What it’s like to be the star and producer of a flop TV show.
· How an actor prepares, for Californification, Parks and Recreation, and numerous other roles.
· His hilarious account of coaching a kid’s basketball team dominated by helicopter parents.
· How his great, great, great, great, great grandfather may have inspired everything from his love of The West Wing to his taste in classic American architecture.
· His first visit to college, with his son, who is going to receive the education his father never got.
· The time a major movie star stole his girlfriend.
Linked by common themes and his philosophical perspective on love—and life—Lowe’s writing “is loaded with showbiz anecdotes, self-deprecating tales, and has a general sweetness” ( New York Post).”
I don’t know if I really liked this book or not.
I mean it totally fulfilled the requirements I placed upon it…which wasn’t much…so that was good.
(Even though there were a couple times I did tear up when he was talking about his kids or sharing stories about his recovery.)
I generally like autobiographies…a peek into someone else’s life and thought processes and experiences can be fascinating.
And while Rob Lowe DEFINITELY has things to talk about, I am not quite sure he is the best storyteller…or the most genuine.
He would come across very down to earth, vulnerable and humble for a bit…
and then all of a sudden his words seem very cliche, fake and arrogant.
There were plenty times I couldn’t tell if he was acting or if he was being for real.
So….I don’t know.
I guess my final opinion is I kinda liked it, kinda didn’t.
It was a good brain break though and listening to him read it was cool.
(Not as cool as Michelle Obama but I mean…duh. 🤣)