Again, while on Amazon, I was taken in by another of their suggestions. I was just a couple years younger than Andrew McCarthy and the rest of the Brat Pack in their heyday! So of course I had to buy a (used) copy of Brat: An ’80s Story by Andrew McCarthy and I also sent a new copy to by my bestie Lisa (we’ve been friends since 8th grade math class!). Who among my generation of young women of the ’80s didn’t have a crush on Andrew?!
This 215 page memoir was released May 2021. It’s takes a bit to get going and I had my doubts about it for the first 40 or so pages. For some people Andrew’s growing up in the burbs of New Jersey may be interesting, but as a former Jersey girl it was a bit of a yawn for me. Dysfunctional family? 🗹 Bad grades? 🗹 Pain in ass the brothers? 🗹 Middle child? 🗹
But Andrew did something I didn’t do…left home for college. Despite his father’s objections, he set out to become an actor…and well, we all know how that turned out. I wouldn’t call his life story dramatic or different in anyway for other famous people. He did the drugs and drinking like many youngsters of the ’80s when everything was BIG and done to excess (I mean seriously, I tell every young person, “It was the best decade. So. Much. Fun!”), but Andrew did it with an aloofness, loneliness and no real desire to ‘fit in’ despite being labelled as one of the Brat Pack. He preferred New York City to Hollywood, but is still able to tell some really amazing insider stories during his time in Tinsel Town and behind the scene info on Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire, Less Than Zero and Weekend at Bernie’s. And…of course, as is required of all books by the rich and famous, we get to hear how he lost his virginity! (Has anyone written a book yet with all the lost virginity stories of the rich and famous?)
I swoon every time he appears on screen…and making me kinda sorry I didn’t get a signed copy of this book at Premier Collectibles, but I think my children would have a “Who the hell is Andrew McCarthy?” moment after I pass I away! He belongs to my generation…it was the ’80s…we were all BRATS!
McCarthy has moved on to TV directing in shows such as Orange is the New Black and Blacklist. (The Blacklist connection with his old pal James Spader from Pretty in Pink is interesting because unlike McCarthy, Spader will not talk about that film!) If you’re interested (maybe not?), Andrew McCarthy has actually written two other books (one on travel and one a young adult novel) that were New York Times bestsellers (who knew?!). You can find them on Amazon.
Ya know…who cares about the book…
I rate Andrew McCarthy, 4 Beetles + the Golden Beetle!
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