Brat: An 80’s Story
Andrew McCarthy
223 Pages, 5 Hours
Published May 11, 2021 by Grand Central Publishing
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Ah…Life in the 80’s! Movies were either really horrible or super awesome!
Andrew McCarthy was in some of my favorite movies as a teen and is someone that I felt like I grew up with during those very formative years.
Pretty in Pink – OMG how I still love this movie and really almost any John Hughes movie! I honestly fell in love with Andrew during this movie. The rich kid that fell in love with the girl from the wrong side of the tracks and cracked under the pressure of all his rich friends. What’s funny is that I was the poor girl who had a rich High School boyfriend who had hair just like Andrew in this movie and kinda looked a little bit like him. Probably why I fell so hard for this movie and religiously watch it every time I see it on a cable channel (no commercials channel though, of course). This book tells several behind the scenes facts about the move, the off-screen actor relationships and some pretty big stuff about that epic Prom scene. I always knew something was waaaay off about him in that scene!
St. Elmo’s Fire – Hello young Rob Lowe! Of course my infatuation with Rob started in the Outsiders but intensified in every additional movie I saw him in during my teen years. The scene where he’s sitting on the grass back on the college campus – sheer perfection! Oh, but we were talking about Andrew. Right. Ok, so his character in St. Elmo’s Fire was so easily relatable. Another movie that I watch all the time, still. My daughter even watches this movie with me on occasion. She now gets the whole Rob Lowe stars in my eyes that I get when this is on.
Less than Zero – My mom wouldn’t let me watch this when I was a teen, so this is one of the films I had to wait and watch in college. It’s a little cringe in some ways but the story is so amazing that I’ve now purchased the book and can’t wait to read it. I wonder if the book will make me cry as much as the movie did! OMG, so many tears. Andrew’s character reminded me so much of myself, taking care of everyone else’ issues and problems. Yep, that’s me.
Class – I also couldn’t watch this until college but that was a very wise decision on my mom’s part. This was officially Andrew’s first movie role (and what a role!) but one that I wouldn’t see until much, much later. Again, hello young Rob Lowe!!
Mannequin – This is still a guilty pleasure for me to this day, don’t care how cheesy it is. I really like the two co-stars in this movie, and it can still make me laugh to this day.
I listened to the Audiobook version of this Autobiography because I like to hear his voice. He has such an interesting way of speaking.
It was a really interesting book. He’s a unique character and not at all like I thought he would be. It’s sometimes nice to see behind the curtain of a celebrity’s life, even if it changes your perspective of them.
He spends time discussing how his acting career negatively impacted his personal growth and enabled his alcoholism while at the same time, allowing him financial freedom and many, many opportunities. I’m happy to know that he was able to find his center in life as he aged.
He, of course, spoke about his role in the Brat Pack, which I found really interesting. I think Andrew was well on the outside of most of Hollywood, walking the sidelines in his own unique way.
If you like Autobiographies of 80’s actors, this one is definitely worth the read!
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