Love Life
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3.8 • 149 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
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).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Actor Rob Lowe's (Stories I Only Tell My Friends) second memoir deals largely in his more recent past, using the personal essay as a form to reflect on a variety of topics most, notably his television work and life as a husband and father. He provides insight into his acting process, how he held his own in a scene with Dame Maggie Smith, captured the essence of JFK for Killing Kennedy and conceived the character he played in Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra. He also breaks down some of his post-West Wing failures like NBC's The Lyon's Den plagued by production, writing, and actress problems and CBS's Dr. Vegas, where Lowe found himself ruing his insistence on casting troubled actor Tom Sizemore. When he does travel back to earlier years he seems less invested, but paints a vivid picture of 1970's Malibu, "a bastion of laissez-faire, self-centered, malignant disregard," recalls a visit to the Playboy Mansion at age 19, and being on set for Alec Baldwin's classic speech in Glengarry Glen Ross, "one of the largest beat-downs an actor has ever delivered." On parenting, Lowe shares several amusing anecdotes, the best of which involves a camping trip and a Bigfoot costume, and he reflects on the mix of pride and sadness of sending his son off to college. Lowe's second effort is an interesting insider's perspective on what works in Hollywood and what seems to be irredeemably broken and his advice on life and relationships is well-conceived and intelligent.
Customer Reviews
Unfortunate offering.
No offense to the author, but overall this is a disappointment. Stories I Only Tell My Friends was wonderful, Love Life, not so much. All said, Rob is definitely a man who loves life - and that - unto itself makes this purchase less painful.
Not what I expected after his Stories book
Philosophical, broad, rambling. The jolt of the mimosa at the end was a quick peak and fleeting return to substance and meaning. I'm confused now. Is ego a major factor in the writing of this book or did he have something to say that just didn't connect with me? Maybe it's me. I'm happy for Rob that he loves his life.
Mediocre follow up
The first book was much better. This book spends a lot of time recounting stories with his kids, agents, etc. the first book was gripping, especially everything about making of The Outsiders. Like I said, it's ok but not great.