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Brat: An '80s Story
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About This Book
Most people know Andrew McCarthy from his movie roles in Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo's Fire, Weekend at Bernie's, and Less than Zero, and as a charter member of Hollywood's Brat Pack. That iconic group of ingenues and heartthrobs included Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, and Demi Moore, and has come to represent both a genre of film and an era of pop culture. In his memoir Brat: An '80s Story, McCarthy focuses his gaze on that singular moment in time. The result is a revealing look at coming of age in a maelstrom, reckoning with conflicted ambition, innocence, addiction, and masculinity. New York City of the 1980s is brought to vivid life in these pages, from scoring loose joints in Washington Square Park to skipping school in favor of the dark revival houses of the Village where he fell in love with the movies that would change his life. Filled with personal revelations of innocence lost to heady days in Hollywood with John Hughes and an iconic cast of characters, Brat is a surprising and intimate story of an outsider caught up in a most unwitting success.
Reviews
"With a candid exploration of his feelings of isolation along with his battles with alcohol and drug addiction, McCarthy's memoir will appeal to aspiring actors, fans of his work, and readers fascinated by the movie world."
"It's not Just Kids, but the book is a pleasant combination of name-dropping, fun insights, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the actor's relief at jumping off his particular 1980s hamster wheel ..."
"But his perspective is welcome, his insight more, much more, than zero."
"As someone with firsthand experience in the perils of second installments, McCarthy, 58, might have reconsidered going back to the autobiographical well, which he already explored with the 2012 travelogue, The Longest Way Home."
"The result is a riveting portrait of the artist as a young man."
"Instead, he focuses on his own experiences—including his bouts of alcoholism and armor of aloofness—and recounts his dawning recognition that he would prefer to work behind the camera instead of in front of it ..."
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