The 80’s | Book Chatter

Brat: An 80’s Story
By Andrew McCarthy
Grand Central Publishing, 9781538754276, May 11, 2021, 240pp.

The Short of It:

This is probably the first time I’ve ever found myself completely enamored by a memoir.

The Rest of It:

Most people know who he is. Andrew McCarthy did many films, perhaps not all of them successful but films like Pretty in Pink, Mannequin, St. Elmo’s Fire and Weekend at Bernie’s were surprisingly successful and seemed to make him a household name. My favorite film Less Than Zero, is oddly enough, not McCarthy’s favorite by far. From the title, you would think that much of this book is about the 80’s and yes, there’s plenty of that decade covered in this book but it’s more about how the term “brat pack” made and broke, what was a very vulnerable kid just trying to find himself.

The push-pull nature of McCarthy’s story is so readable. He was given some breaks but never felt that he belonged. His insecurity about who he was or who he was being asked to portray, caused him a great deal of nervousness and anxiety. He would often self-sabotage himself by consuming too much drink, and later drugs. The substance abuse only masking his insecurities for the moment.

Anyone who has ever doubted themselves can relate to his story. There’s a raw, vulnerability here which I always felt came through his characters too. This is not a story about Hollywood and all of its glitz and glam and it’s not about what we all perceived to be wild success. This is a story about a young man struggling to find a place for himself in the world.

What I really loved about this book is that it so delicately balances what we expect from him, and what he needed to share with readers. He includes plenty of information about each of his films and how they came to be. He also includes a lot on the business of acting itself, which is why I am handing this copy over to my daughter for her to read. But in addition to all of that, he tells us about his family, introduces us to the people who made an impact on him along the way, and what he’s learned from it all.

I’ve read McCarthy before and he’s quite a good writer but he really outdid himself with this one. If you ever wondered what happened to him after the 80’s, you might recall some TV shows he was in and his directorial work for the very popular Orange is the New Black series on Netflix. In my mind, he has had a very successful film career but with this book, I feel that he’s firmly planted his shoes into writing and I hope that’s the case because I would love to read more from him.

Note: This book comes out May 11th so pre-order it now!

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Searching for John Hughes
By Jason Diamond
William Morrow Paperbacks, 9780062424839, November 29, 2016, 304 pp.

The Short of It:

Anyone growing up in the 80s is going to find this book to be a real treat but even if you didn’t grow up during the best decade ever, you’ll still find something to like.

The Rest of It:

When I was asked to do this tour and began to casually chat about the book, I was surprised by how many people I ran into who had absolutely no idea who John Hughes was. Really? My first reaction? What is wrong with you?

In 1984, the movie Sixteen Candles came out. I was a sophomore in high school. In my junior year, The Breakfast Club came out. In my senior year, my most tumultuous year by far, Pretty in Pink debuted. ALL of these movies shaped me as a human being. So much so, that I introduced them to my kids as soon as they were old enough to understand all that teen angst. John Hughes wrote many movies and he directed some of them too but what he did best was really nail the teen experience.

Enter Jason Diamond. His infatuation with Hughes goes beyond my love of the man, in that he followed his work well into the 90s and filled notebook upon notebook with bits of knowledge about him. Searching for John Hughes IS about Diamond’s quest to write a book about Hughes but it’s about so much more.

Diamond’s childhood was troubled. Although he lived very close to some of the iconic Chicago movie locations seen in some of the films I mentioned, he dealt with physical abuse at his father’s hand, a mother who struggled to be the kind of mother she really wanted to be, and Diamond’s continued struggle to find himself.

As a teen, pretty much abandoned by his mother, he’s forced to move from couch to couch, living off the kindness of friends. School, often a challenge, provided some brief moments of clarity. Especially when one of his favorite teachers turns him on to good literature and gives him a place to stay.

This memoir has highs and lows, both good and bad. Diamond struggled with drugs and alcohol but his survival instinct always seemed to kick in when he needed it to. Moving from job to job, he began to think about writing as a career and that is when he decided to write a biography on the man himself, Hughes. A biography that never happened.

What struck me about this memoir is that Diamond is a really interesting guy on his own. His challenging childhood, his ability to always pull himself up by his bootstraps, was impressive and there was a lot that I could relate to. As much as I love Hughes, and as much as I enjoyed reading about Hughes, I almost wanted to read more about Diamond.

As some of you know, my mother passed away on November 15th. This was the first book I read after her passing and it gave me all the feels. It’s like I jumped into a time machine and went back to my senior year. Hughes knew so much about being young and wanting more. Like Andie in Pretty in Pink, I came from the wrong side of the tracks and struggled through my high school years. I had a Duckie and a Blane and even a Steff. How could Hughes have known this? That was his appeal. Everyone viewing these movies can find someone to relate to. Rich, poor, popular or not. If you haven’t seen his movies, I implore you to do so.

Then? Read this book. It’s filled with lots of movie facts but Diamond also takes us to some of the iconic filming locations in and around the Chicago suburbs. I thoroughly enjoyed it.