Love Life

By Rob Lowe

Actor Rob Lowe is an entertaining raconteur whose bestselling first book, Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography, was hailed as "self-deprecatingly funny" (The New York Times) and "thoroughly entertaining" (Time) and earned the author the cover of Vanity Fair. Love Life serves up another delicious selection of intimate stories and observations from Lowe's life, told with humour, warmth, and brutal honesty. After writing his acclaimed debut effort, Lowe felt he had more stories to share and many more friends to introduce. The result is a touching memoir about the business and craft of acting, the pitfalls of success, family, love, and much more.

Among the many adventures Lowe describes in Love Lifeare what it's like in the trenches as both the star and producer of a flop TV show; how a visit, as a twenty year old, to Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion led to a surprise in the hot tub; how an actor prepares for a role, as well as the practical, boots-on-the-ground details no drama or film school would ever teach you. You'll delight at the hilarious account of the time a major movie star stole his girlfriend, and of coaching a kid's basketball team dominated by omnipresent helicopter parents. The story of coming to terms with his son's departure to college for the education his father never got will touch anyone with a family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781471137303

Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe is a film, television, and theater actor; a producer; and an entrepreneur. He is also involved in politics and is the author of Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews for Love Life

[purplequeennl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have always been an unabashed fan of Rob Lowe, since my teenage years when I would gorge myself on his movies and everything 'brat pack', and I also enjoyed his first autobiography 'Stories I Only Tell My Friends', which went into detail about the Outsiders and all the actors involved in the it.

Love Life is a more emotional read, mostly due to it being written when Rob Lowe's son was about to go off to college. He shares his feelings with the reader about fatherhood and how much it has means to him, and the love he has for his children. Such openness prompted me to shed a tear or two. But it also contains humour too: I found myself laughing out loud at the thought of the headline 'Rob Lowe shot dead in forest, mistaken for Big Foot' or 'Rob Lowe's secret fetish: dressing up as Big Foot and roaming forest making wild mating calls'. Hilarious tale.

Rob Lowe writes fluidly, easily engaging the readers with lots of little anecdotes and a ton of name dropping. And he hooks the read in within the first few pages with a story about a vibrator. He clearly knows what he is doing as a writer as well as an actor.

In Love Life he speaks a great deal about his acting career and goes in to detail about acting itself. As a Drama Student back in my college years, I found this interesting and it gave me further insight into what life as an actor is truly like.

The book finishes off on another emotional note, when he talks about his marriage and his wife, and gives some profound observations on life and relationships. Rob shares deep feelings and thoughts with the reader, bringing them that little bit closer. I found his open, vulnerability endearing and special.

I would definitely recommend this book.

[ldvoorberg · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I liked it for all the West Wing references -- if you've never watched the show, this book makes it sound like it was bigger than Seinfeld. It was definitely a great series, but I think Rob Lowe "name drops" it a lot in this book -- certainly it gets more references than in his first book. The only thing he talks about with more fondness is his wife, who by this book's description, is a saint, WonderWoman and perhaps the returning Messiah.
His first book, if I'm remembering correctly, is better. The chapters in this one do have a beginning and an ending that match, but in between he goes on about two or three other stories that are tangential or related. It might be good historical reference on the Hollywood life for a few generations in the future, but otherwise it's just a movie star who had one good book writing another book. I wonder how much of this book was edited out of the first one.
It's Rob Lowe. If you love him, you'll love this.

[realbigcat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked this up as an audio book at a yard basically for free so I thought I would give it a try listening while driving to work. I am glad I did. Rob Lowe gives a great insight into his personal life and into the celebrity life as well. I like audio books that are read by the author and I think that is even more important if the authors voice is well known. Rob Lowe speaks very openly about his life the good and bad. He does not worry about appearing vulnerable. His love for his wife and kids is so admirable especially considering he is a Hollywood actor. The stories he tells are very interesting and I really enjoyed them. I would highly recommend the audio version as Lowe being an actor gives a great performance.

[susandennis-139327 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. Lowe is an excellent writer, has good stories to tell and does a good job telling them. Nicely done!

[mhanover10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like Rob Lowe. I like that he has been married to Sheryl for over 22 years. I like that the loves of his life are his boys. I like that he seems to be a very down-to-earth guy who just wants to try and have as normal a life as he can for his family. I like that he doesn't take success for granted and he doesn't take his job for granted. I like that he get that acting is just a job and it doesn't define him. Saying all that, I really enjoyed reading these little snippets into his personal and professional life. We are the same age so I have always had a crush on him and have always felt like I grew up with him. He looks damn good for his age and I think it's due to living a healthy and happy life.

[jo3jo_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Let me start by saying how much I appreciated this audiobook narrated by Rob Lowe. When I listened to Stories I Only Tell My Friends, I found myself laughing quite often. This book still had a few humorous moments, but overall it carried more of a serious tone. Lowe didn't hold back with his life experiences once again and my heart just melts as he proclaims his love for his wife. When I think back on the book, it is hard to pick just one story that stuck with me more than any other. One instance that brought tears to my eyes is when he shared with us about his stint in rehab. This was obviously a turning point in his life as he came to accept how drugs and alcohol were controlling his life. The part that really got to me was the therapy session about the NFL player. How the entire group came together to support and comfort this man when no-one else would was beautiful.The other "Holy Smokes" moment for me was when he was telling us about his experience with the Nip/Tuck television series. I absolutely loved this show, clearing my calendar once a week so as not to miss an episode. I won't say any more about this in case you are a Nip/Tuck fan too!I truly enjoyed all Lowe's stories in this book and having him narrate just enhanced my listening experience. I was able to pick up on the love and emotions regarding the subjects he was talking about. With themes of love, family, career, and opportunities, you may enjoy this book as much as I did. I highly recommend this book for personal leisure or as a book club selection, especially if you are a fan of Rob Lowe.

[kappadeemom · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked Rob Lowe before I read this book, but I now LOVE Rob Lowe because I have found my kindred spirit with my fascination of Bigfoot. His tale of scaring his sons and nephews dressed as Bigfoot had me laughing out loud. My favorite chapter was the love letter he has written to his wife in the end of the book. If you are interested in the "craft" of acting or movie making, this book is very interesting. It's not a "dirty, tell-all, TMZ, National Enquirer" type book. It's more about his interpretation of he sees fatherhood, marriage, friendships and career. It was a quick and enjoyable read.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rob Lowe's first book was a fantastic compilation of his life adventures. His stories were crazy, over-the-top, and involved unexpected run-ins with other amazing celebrities. I was hoping that this book would be similar. This second autobiography, however, is much more personal and deep, reflecting Rob's thoughts about acting, success, life, family, and his sobriety. Although I enjoyed catching a deeper glimpse into his family life, particularly his relationship with his sons, this account was a little preachy and read more like a sermon about his philosophy of life. It was still very well written and interesting, but not as exciting and flashy as Stories I Tell My Friends.

[sigmundfraud · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved Rob Lowe's LOVE LIFE but liked even more his STORIES I ONLY TELL MY FRIENDS: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. He is such a loving, sensitive caring man who writes simple but beautiful prose. The love he expresses for his sons overwhelmed me. I never felt someone love a child like that. I was swept away. He seems such a loving, good and principled man even though he says he has trouble with intimacy. He was able to get off alcohol over 20 years ago and has been clean every since. His loving wife, Sheryl is his anchor in life and he is crazy for her. It was such a nice family story compared to some of the dreadful stories one hears about today. I urge you to read the book and you will be swept away.

[ozzer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was drawn to the audio version of Lowe’s memoir because of positive reviews that extolled the virtues of this format. It was read by the actor himself and included a lot about his relationship with his children. The former was a real plus but the latter seemed less than expected. At first, I was prejudiced against reading this book primarily because of an impression of Lowe that I formed during the 80s when he was part of the “brat pack.” My view of him was that he was a minor talent who was an immature party boy with an overinflated opinion of himself. I was pleasantly surprised to learn of his evolution to a thoughtful professional and mature family man. Although this memoir does seem to confirm some of my early perceptions of Lowe, it also reveals a remarkable journey toward self-realization and maturity that he credits primarily to his wife. In fairness, my outdated perception of Lowe comes from a habit of avoiding TV and Hollywood movies, two genres where he was succeeding and evolving. In fact, the strengths of this book are Lowe’s insider insights into the craft of acting (e.g., eating on screen, scene stealing techniques, faking flubbed lines). The chapters are essentially a series of anecdotes about his experiences in “the business” and how they have impacted his art and private life. As a person inexperienced with the genres where Lowe has been working, I was not familiar with most of the people in these stories, but that did not detract from my enjoyment of them. Unfortunately, Lowe is quick to offer abundant advice about what he has learned from his experiences and how this may help the reader to live a more fulfilling life. Because most of this philosophizing is overly sentimental and lacking in critical analysis, it detracted from what was otherwise a good series of insider stories about life as a Hollywood celebrity and actor.

[mcelhra · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love Life is a bit of a misleading title for Rob Lowe’s latest book. It’s not about his romantic love life. It’s about loving life. Rob has written a series of unrelated vignettes about events in his life. Some are very touching, like the one about his son going off to college. Some are funny and some make Rob look like an idiot. I love that he is not afraid to share any story – he doesn’t seem to have an ego problem at all.He explains why he left the West Wing to do one horrible series after another and why those series were so bad. I love insider Hollywood information like that. My only complaint about this book is that unlike his previous book, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, he does NOT NAME NAMES! for the more scandalous stories – with the exception of Jewel. That story was hilarious. You’ll have to read the book for that one alone. Anyway, he does provide cryptic hints when he describes the person and with some Googling, I probably could have figured out who the people were. But I was listening to this book on a road trip and couldn’t justify pulling over to make notes of who I needed to look up later. However, I’m pretty sure that the girl he took with him to Warren Beatty’s house was Melissa Gilbert. So there’s one mystery solved for you!I loved listening to Rob narrate this audio book. Obviously, he is the best person to tell his own stories. The book is already written in a very conversational style and having Rob himself read it to me made it that much better. And he is actually a pretty good impressionist for some of the celebrities in the book. Some of his accents were pretty terrible though but I just thought it was funny, not annoying.The great thing about Rob Lowe is that after a brief downturn in the 90s, his career is stronger than ever and he remains such a downright nice guy. Watch any of his appearances on Ellen and you can totally tell that he is not faking his awesome attitude. Ahem. I may still be crushing on him after all these years. Children of the 80s, this book is for you. Fans of West Wing, Parks and Rec, Californication or Behind the Candelabra, this book is for you too. Rob Lowe fans unite!

[undermyappletree · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an enjoyable and entertaining collection of stories from Rob Lowe. Witty and insightful, he touches on a little bit of everything – TV, movies, his family, friends, and even a little on his time in rehab and on why he decided to take acting lessons after he was already a successful actor.One of the funniest stories was about The Lyon’s Den, a short-lived TV series I never heard of – possibly because it was canceled after six episodes but filmed all thirteen. Rob gives a hilarious and snarky account of the revolving door of writers and actors, pulls no punches and even names names. Some of the more touching moments in the book were when he wrote about his family – how he met his wife, their longtime marriage and raising his sons.Audio production:The author narrates the book, bringing the stories to life. With few exceptions, I’m not a fan of authors reading their own work, but in the case of a memoir, it adds authenticity, especially for a celebrity whose voice we are already familiar with. And Rob a fine job. This was an easy listen and one I would recommend to everyone, even those who don’t usually listen to audio.