I loved the stories that Andrew shared, especially about the difficult times in his life. I was hoping for a little more depth on his career. I enjoyed what I received, but was left wanting more.

This was ok. Not what I was expecting. It was interesting to read how Andrew got his start in acting and his interactions with many of his costars. I guess I was hoping to find out more about his personal life. Wife, kids, etc. When he talked about his time on any of the sets, it was very brief. Just enough to get you interested and then he would move on. I was hoping for more.

Possibly my favorite Brat Packer aside from Rob Lowe, I had to read this.

No gossip, just low key 80s focused stuff. I would have liked to hear more stories involving others that weren't gossipy even but it passed the time just fine.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

This book had me with the subtitle "An 80s Story." As a card-carrying fan of hair metal, side ponytails, blue eyeshadow, and Love's Baby Soft, I am the perfect audience for this book. I admit that I did not know that McCarthy had carved out a second career as a travel writer before moving into directing, so I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the writing, as well as how vulnerable McCarthy was willing to be about his own shortcomings. He writes with a funny, self-deprecating quality, such as when he hears that someone denigrated his acting and muses that the person clearly had not seen his "subtle, nuanced performance in Weekend at Bernie's 2." For the 80s fans, there are plenty of great behind-the-scenes nuggets. The best one: John Hughes originally wrote McCarthy's Pretty in Pink character as the quarterback of the football team until Molly Ringwald convinced him that McCarthy's brooding intellectual was much more the type she would be attracted to. Also Hughes gave McCarthy and Ringwald lots of input into the soundtrack, which was a top-selling record that I eagerly added to my cassette collection. As open as he is about Hollywood life in the 80s, you have the sense that there's a whole lot that McCarthy is NOT sharing, certainly his prerogative, but I would have loved a little more detail. All in all, a fun read that is well worth your time if you came of age in the 80s or loved any of McCarthy's iconic films.

Being a teen in the 80s and 90s, I was truly looking forward to this memoir. I feel that Andrew McCarthy did a great job of sharing bits of his life that readers really wanted to hear about. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to my friends.

It is well written and it was a quick read. I did enjoy reading the information he chose to share. However I was hoping to read more detail about his acting career during the eighties and his current career behind the camera. Even though he has chosen to write an autobiography he still prefers to keep much of his life private. If you are looking for a lots of gossip you will be disappointed. Enjoy what he has chosen to write about.

I have been a fan of Andrew's since the 80s
I always wished I had seen him in more movies or tv
Reading this book I had eyes behind the scenes of movies I love.
I reflected on fame, on family, and the choices, decisions and second guessing
anyone can relate to and play "what if" too.

I am a huge fan of Blacklist (more so knowing he is a part of them, but definitely like
him and James together again!)

I really enjoyed this book, and I love Just Fly Away
I am looking for Longest Way Home so I can read that also.

I was unable to finish this book due to the self destructing nature of modern ARCs, so I am unable to publish a review online. What I read was well written, interesting and nuanced. It's a shame it wasn't available in kindle format, which stays past x number of days for those of us who review large numbers of books at a time and sometimes have life interfere with the schedules we (or publishers) planned. What I read was enjoyable.

Nothing earth shaking here. Just a nice memoir about an overall nice guy. It was interesting to learn about the acting career of Andrew McCarthy whose movies I have always enjoyed.

I love the author and his movies. I just was not excited to read about his childhood. I am sorry to say I DNF this book. Perhaps I will try again in the future.

I was a big fan of the “Brat Pack” movies in the 80’s, but Andrew McCarthy didn’t really ever do it for me. He seemed like a cardboard cutout “cute boy” without much depth. I couldn’t imagine what his memoir would offer beyond a superficial Hollywood tale. So I was pleasantly surprised to find his story much more complex and interesting than I ever would have guessed. This is a well written, thoughtful and honest autobiography that is worth reading. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you thought you loved Andrew McCarthy back in the 80's you are going to love him even more after you finish this book. It is a quick read but he packs so much into it. He takes us on a journey through his movies and his acting career and I can not say enough good things about it. It is never boring and his writing his above-average for any movie star memoir I've read.

This was a fun, surface level memoir written by the author. I'm a huge fan of his movies, so it was fun to read what went on behind the scenes of Pretty In Pink & St. Elmo's Fire. He's a good writer, but this memoir is fairly short, so he doesn't go very deep. Fans of "Blane" will enjoy it very much

I am a child of the 80s and 90s and squarely in the demographic of this book. I grew up on "Brat Pack" movies even though I was a little young to appreciate them properly. (My teen years were in the 90s.) Even so, the so-called “Brat Pack” label was prevalent enough that I was familiar with it, the movies and the faces associated with that term, even if I was unaware of exactly how they came by the label. I requested, “Brat,” because I always thought of Andrew McCarthy as the “cute one” and I wanted to know what that label meant to him nearly 40 years later.

"Brat" was an enjoyable read and McCarthy is a fine writer. Who knew? Not me. It’s a charming story of a young man who fell into acting kind of serendipitously, pursued it half-heartedly, succeeded dramatically, and unfairly suffered personally and professionally. This is not a tell-all. There is no salacious gossip. McCarthy wisely tells his story without infringing on and/or bashing on his co-workers, friends and loved ones. He spends quite a bit of time explaining how his career choices and subsequent actions were dictated by a feeling of being an outsider. He kept everyone at arm’s length, and as a reader, you can feel him doing the same here.

That being said, it’s an interesting and totally readable book. I couldn’t put it down after a while. I was pleased to find that he looks back on those years, if not with fondness, then at least with clear eyes and a certain gratefulness for the kid he was and the man he became.

Andrew McCarthy reveals his life in Brat: An 80s Story

Posted on May 17, 2021 by michellelovatosbookreviews, world's first book color commentator, book reviews with a twist

I learned the term “pretty boys” in the 1980s when movies like Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club premiered. Rob Lowe, (gorgeous) Emelio Estevez, (looked too much like me), Judd Nelson (I liked the dark-haired boys), and Andrew McCarthy (too handsome to even consider) made movies depicting my era and defined my age.
The media followed this group of young people during their transition from youth to adulthood in an environment of expectation, pressure, and privilege, sharing every detail, pretty or ugly, of their storied lives.
Born and raised in New Jersey, McCarthy attended Pingry School, a prep school that refined his talent as an artist. He attended New York University as a theater major and studied at the Circle in the Square Theater School in New York. Set aside from the beginning to be a Hollywood master, McCarthy performed in a fistful of Off-Broadway shows and more than 40 movies during his young life and earned his way into the famous “Brat Pack” of era-defining Hollywood stars.
As an adult, McCarthy enjoyed a richly textured writing career for National Geographic Traveler, Travel+Leisure, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and a list of other top-notch publications. He then moved into the role of director and made his mark once more. In his new memoir, Brat: An 80s Story, McCarthy outlines the pretty boy Hollywood lifestyle he shared with his 1980s peers.
McCarthy, who experienced his coming of age under the bright lights of reporters’ microscopes, navigated his way to adulthood in the fast lane with an unlimited buffet of sexy girls, drugs, and cars. McCarthy, like many of his peers, faced the choice of success or self-destruction. And MCarthy made his mark on the world throughout his life as a first-class multi-talented artist.
Honestly, I came to dislike this group of Hollywood hunks. I saw them as shallow, materialistic, too good-looking, and well-connected to have any character or life texture. They were on-screen puppets in my mind, used by movie makers to define my age. Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy, in particular, were two Brat Pack members I considered flat, useless real-life human beings. Embarrassingly, I expected them to drug out, drink themselves off a cliff, and disappear like the ratings of their many movies.
I was so wrong. I officially, and humbly, apologize to all Brat Pack members and pretty boys around the world. Rob Lowe was the first pretty boy to shock me back into reality with his work on Wayne’s World. And, admittedly, over the years, I’ve watched Lowe embrace humor and parody that made his overly gorgeous looks acceptable to be around. (Shame of me for being so insecure.)
McCarthy disappeared. Ironically, while he was off fulfilling a satisfying journalist’s career abroad, I was fulfilling a satisfying journalist’s life right here in Southern California. Reading his book now convicts me for my preconceived prejudice against his looks and privilege and demands respect where there was only a bedroom poster before. Bravo, Mr. McCarthy.
Brat: An 80s Story is a pure, intelligent, witty, and sometimes painful look at the life of this artist during the 1908s. McCarthy explores the plaguing questions of identity and direction in a world of thespian disorder and chaos. McCarthy’s introspective and candid nature makes this memoir memorable to readers as he tells history under the microscope of his own words.
Brat: An 80s Story, a Grand Central Publishing title, hits the streets on June 11.

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Happy are those who respect the Lord and obey him. You will enjoy what you work for, and you will be blessed with good things. Psalm 128: 1-2

Andrew McCarthy not only made great films for me to watch during my teenage years but now has given me a great book to read as an adult. He brought me back in time to New York City when is was crime filled and had graffiti all over walls, parks and subways. His struggle with his father is something that I think all boys can relate to while coming of age and searching for their own success and trying to carve their own path. It took me back to Washington Park, NY pizza slices and the West Village. I was happy to read his story and reminisce about my city and those great movies I was watching at the same time. Recommend this book to any 80’s brat like myself that loved Pretty In Pink, Heaven Help Us, Weekend At Bernies and Less Than Zero. I was back in the 80’s walking around the city as a young man again even if just for a moment.

Most people know Andrew McCarthy through his movies. While he’s also a talented director and award-winning travel writer, I think most people still recognize him mostly from the movies he was in from the 1980s. Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie’s—these iconic films captured a time in America, and McCarthy brought his signature sensitivity to these characters and made them larger than life.

The cast of St. Elmo’s Fire in particular became the media darling when the behavior of Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, and Judd Nelson during an interview won them the nickname The Brat Pack. Other actors of that time were added in to the Pack, and many stories were written about their bad behavior and breakups. Andrew McCarthy was roped in to the Brat Pack, according to those writing all the stories about it. But the truth is, there never really was a Brat Pack, just a group of actors who were friends and appeared in some movies together. And as a loner, even if there had been a Brat Pack, McCarthy wouldn’t have been a part of it.

Brat is, in part, McCarthy’s wanting to set that record straight. But more than that, it’s an introspective look at his personal history, from his early memories of family through acting classes at NYU to his early movie career and his fights with his personal demons. The stories he tells are marked by brutal honesty, deep self-reflection, and the wider perspective that only age and wisdom can bring. Whether he’s talking about his first role onstage as a bit player in his high school’s Hello, Dolly! or his comparing himself to his older (more athletic) brothers, his sneaking in to Broadway shows for the second act or sneaking out of the premiere of Pretty in Pink so he doesn’t have to watch himself on-screen, his love scene in St. Elmo’s Fire with Ally Sheedy where they break the shower (they really did break the set) or how his alcoholism made his loneliness grow exponentially, McCarthy is not one to pull punches, even when it’s to point out his own shortcomings.

Brat tells a little about being inside Hollywood, but it’s far from a tell-all of movie-making or partying with actors in the ‘80s. This is a far more personal book about McCarthy’s experiences as an actor and as a young man coming into his own. His sensitivity comes through, whether he’s talking about of auditioning for his first feature film (Class) or how he was continually told that his introversion was a problem that he had to overcome.

Fans of Andrew McCarthy will want to grab this and devour it, as I did. There are mentions of Class, St. Elmo’s Fire, Pretty in Pink, Mannequin, The Benniker Gang, and Weekend at Bernie’s as well as other acting and directing jobs he’s had, so fans of those movies will also want in. I also recommend this one to young actors, wanting to learn more about the craft and about the steps McCarthy took to find his success. His struggles with alcohol may help others who are trying to stay sober. And I think that there is a lot of understanding and hope in these pages for those of us who are introverted and sensitive.

I have long been a fan of Andrew McCarthy’s movies. Now, having gotten a chance to read this very personal memoir, I am also a fan of Andrew McCarthy, the man. It’s hard not to be when someone is willing to be this open and vulnerable about his personal struggles, his art, his thoughts, and his soul.

Egalleys for Brat: An ‘80s Story were provided by Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley, with many thanks.

There were many, many years between my "Andrew McCarthy Film Festival" slumber parties and meeting the actual Andrew McCarthy, very briefly, after a performance of 'The Exonerated'. I "fell in love with him" at age 10, like many of us did, and spent much of high school gazing at my Trapper Keeper pasted with photos of him from 16 Magazine. But something changed when he smiled that quick thank you at me in real life. Fandoms don't always mature, but this one definitely did. It made sense to move on to reading his travelogues and watching shows with his name, now listed as a director. Fast forward again, and reading Brat feels like that same, familiar memory lane, but with a keen hindsight and an awareness we didn't know we needed. It's a rare memoir where you realize collective memory of a certain place in time didn't just shape you, it actually did shape the author, as well as all of us watching the same movies. His stories are filled with well-known names and whoa-moments. With his trademark looks and sensitivity, McCarthy is an important, though also reluctant, influencer in entertainment. His works still shape how we grapple with teen angst and crushes, of coming-of-age, and of second acts. And those of us who didn't know of his struggles with substance abuse will be inspired by his courage to overcome them. McCarthy, for sure, can write. His self-deprecation is endearing and his anecdotes remind us that acceptance, lack thereof, talent, what's on screen, what's off screen, and especially, being labeled isn't ever the whole story. His brand of reader engagement makes him one of the most genuinely reliable narrators of this era. Brat is must for all collections

This was a non-fiction story that I never knew I needed to read. I wouldn’t say I know a lot about Andrew McCarthy but now I definitely do and it’s a story worth telling. I highly recommend this.

This was such a refreshing celebrity memoir, and unexpected. Andrew McCarthy's voice is honest and unglitzy, plus he writes beautifully. He strips down what it meant to be a young Hollywood actor in the 80s, unmoored by new situations in a very wild and weird place, and kind of alone by choice/personal preference. Spectacularly, he never devolves into self-pity, aggrandizement, or gossip. It's just a really beautiful, human story of a talented and beautiful person who started his journey in a unique way, as a teen idol -- for better and for worse! But, that's just the beginning of this artist's story, as he went from there to filmmaking/directing, and writing travel essays and more. The pictures were fantastic, of course! And, I loved that he intertwined stories about his relationship with his family, in particular his dad, and illustrated how the emotional challenges in that relationship helped him along his path. This was a quick read, I devoured it in under three hours. I will highly recommend it to patrons with interest in 80s movies, Hollywood fame, and/or just anyone around my age -- most of us remember Pretty in Pink, etc fondly. With Demi Moore's recent memoir having been so popular, this will be an easy tie-in, and an easy sell. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this great book!