A Book by an Author I Have Never Read

Title: Love Life
Author: Rob Lowe
Published: Simon and Schuster, 2014
Started: 1/02/15
Finished: 1/07/15

In this day and age anybody can write and publish a book.  That doesn't mean everybody should.  Rob Lowe is an exception to that, so don't misread this as a negative review.  Celebrities are pumping out memoirs and autobiographies like it is their second job.  It is, perhaps, their way of telling the public, "Hey, I am more than what the tabloid says I am."  I have read a few celebrity memoirs/autobiographies, and many are pretty exciting, some are shocking, some are dull.  Many celebrities actually live pretty interesting lives, but everyone (celebrity or not) has stories worth telling.  I saw Rob Lowe's book at Target one day and wanted to buy it so I did (not the most exciting sentence ever).  I am a huge Parks and Rec fan and read Nick Offerman's book Paddle Your Own Canoe last year, so Rob Lowe's book automatically intrigued me.


Rob Lowe published his first book Stories I Only Tell my Friends in 2011 and it received great reviews.  Lowe is someone who I recognize, but don't necessarily idolize.  I enjoy his acting, but he is not my favorite.  I didn't know a lot about him, but for some reason I was drawn to the book.  Perhaps the original appeal was that the book is actually written by him.  See, the reason why celebrities are able to publish books like they do today, is because they receive an immense amount of help from other authors.  These people are hired to hear the story of the celebrity or take what they have already written and make it more interesting.  Sure the books typically end up sounding like that person, but that's decent writing.  Rob Lowe writes his own books and I appreciate that.  It's so much more authentic and real.

Love Life is a book split up into chapters, each offering bits of wisdom that inevitably lead to one overarching moral...Love Life.  Through stories of his youth, alcohol addiction, experiences on set, and his family life it is apparent that Rob Lowe is a human being.  Many times celebrities almost seem fictitious, which is why many of them write these accounts (speculation).  Lowe is a family man first and an actor second.  It wasn't always that way for him.  He has lead an interesting life, enough so to make some great stories, but more importantly Lowe is easy to relate to.  He doesn't glorify his life as an actor.  He glorifies his life as a person, as a father, and as a husband.  I appreciate that.  He includes certain anecdotes about what acting is truly like, which is interesting, but it's not in your face.  His most memorable chapters are accounts of his family life and background, though the story about the Playboy Mansion is pretty funny.

I don't know Rob Lowe, personally, and probably never will.  I don't know how he lives as far as material goods are concerned, but one thing came through this book.  I don't think Lowe is concerned about material goods, money, or anything of the sort.  He is concerned about memories, experiences, life.  Maybe that's what he wants the perception to be and it's all a farce, but if so he fooled me.  The book went by rather quick and I enjoyed every page.  In a day and age when anyone can write and publish material, Rob Lowe has taken advantage and done so admirably.

Favorite Quotes: Speaking of his wife Sheryl: "I also love her for her shortcomings.  When you can love those, and not be resentful or hope they will magically disappear, you are approaching unconditional love."

"In rehab I learned to love alcoholics and addicts for what we are and what we are not.  We truly view things differently for others and that is our curse and blessing.  We have characteristics that uniquely our own.  We are the lives of the party, the dreamers, the romantics, the storytellers, the masters of the grand gesture.  We are emotional, passionate and capable of a depth of feeling that is usually the source of our problem.
"Unfortunately, we can also be heartbreakers of the highest magnitude: frustrating, maddening, confusing and disappointing quicksilvers who flirt with tragedy on a daily basis."