Brat

As a teenager I was somewhat aware of the group of young actors just a bit older than me that were labeled the “Brat Pack.” Out of all of them, I liked Andrew McCarthy the best. That was a long time ago, and not a huge part of my life, but it was enough to make me pick up this memoir, which I liked quite a bit.

McCarthy tells about his early family history, discovering his vocation to be an actor in high school, his experience of moving to New York to study theater at NYU, and finding his way into the acting business, all as a lead up to focusing on the 1980s when fame found him. It's not a gossipy story, though. He mentions people he worked with, but his focus is more on his own experience–his approach to becoming a professional, his struggle with anxiety, and his developing drinking problem. He alludes a bit to his later career, but this book is mostly about the 1980s.

Written in a conversational, self-deprecating style, with accompanying black and white pictures.

McCarthy is a better writer than I assumed he would be, but his memoir of the Brat Pack years is surprisingly dull. I appreciate that he doesn't gossip about his co-stars, but that leaves him little material other than his own insecurities, toxic relationship with his father, and burgeoning alcoholism - all of which are presented in a muted tone. Fortunately it's a brief book and it reads quickly. Readers who came of age in the 1980s can take comfort in the fact that there's nothing in the book that will make them feel ashamed of their crush on him.

This was not compelling at any point for any reason. I finished it an hour ago and I already can't remember anything about it.