Brat, Andrew McCarthy
Brat, Andrew McCarthy
28 Rating(s)
List: $18.99 | Sale: $13.29
Club: $9.49

Brat
An '80s Story

Bestseller

Author: Andrew McCarthy

Narrator: Andrew McCarthy

Unabridged: 4 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/11/2021

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

From an actor and director who got his start as a Brat Pack member,  an emotionally poignant memoir,  perfect for fans of Patti Smith's Just Kids and Rob Lowe's Stories I Only Tell My Friends. The inspiration for the Hulu documentary.

Everyone knows Andrew McCarthy from his iconic movie roles in Pretty in Pink,  St. Elmo's Fire, Weekend at Bernie's, and Less than Zero. A member of the legendary Hollywood Brat Pack (including Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, and Demi Moore), his filmography has come to represent both a genre of film and an era of pop culture.
 
In Brat, McCarthy focuses 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. 1980s New York City 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.

About Andrew McCarthy

Since starring in movies like Pretty in Pink, St Elmo’s Fire, and Less Than Zero, Andrew McCarthy has become a director, an award-winning travel writer, and a bestselling author. He has directed more than eighty hours of television, including Orange Is the New Black, The Blacklist, Gossip Girl, and many others. For a dozen years he served as editor at large at National Geographic Traveler and his award-winning travel writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Atlantic and TIME. He is the author of The Longest Way Home, Just Fly Away, and most recently a memoir, Brat, all New York Times bestsellers.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Regina on August 30, 2021

The quiet “It Boy” for nerd girls of a certain generation wrote a little memoir, and I’ve had a lovely parade down nostalgia lane since starting it. Brat: An ‘80s Story could win a truth in advertising award for its spot-on title. Clearly it’s a not-so-subtle nod to Andrew McCarthy’s association wit......more

Goodreads review by Heidi on May 01, 2025

Last night when I finally settled down in my comfy bed with the Mister lightly snoring next to me (if it’s a good book I can tune him out— a few decades of practice) and decided that a dark mystery or thriller (my two unfinished choices on my kindle) might not be the best books for inducing inner pe......more

Goodreads review by Darlene on May 18, 2021

What 80's kid didn't love the brat pack? This book will take you down memory lane while showing you a seedy behind-the-scenes look at all your favorites. I grew up watching Andrew McCarthy and really loved hearing his story and that he came out all of it to a good place. I loved his sincerity and se......more

Goodreads review by CYIReadBooks on April 16, 2021

As a young adult, I admired Andrew McCarthy ever since his first movie, Class. I might have even had a crush on him at that time in the the 80’s. How can you not adore his boyish charm and good looks? So when I saw that McCarthy had a memoir, I just had to get my greedy little hands on an early copy......more

Goodreads review by Samantha on June 16, 2021

I think I was expecting a lot more background and 'behind the scenes' moments from McCarthy's classic 80's movies then what was presented here. McCarthy is a great writer and while I enjoyed parts of this, I found the whole memoir felt rather forced, like this wasn't a story he was really wanting to......more

Quotes

PRAISE FOR ANDREW MCCARTHY

"Soulful and searching . . . McCarthy's prose shines with intelligence and intimacy . . . A long, strange trip on the direction of full-throttle love."—Cheryl Strayed, New York Times Book Review

"McCarthy ponders some of the biggest and most frightening questions surrounding intimacy: How does a loner connect? How does a traveler settle down? How do we merge into families without losing ourselves? The answer seems to be that all these things are impossible...and yet somehow we do it anyway. There is much to be learned, and much to be admired, in this elegant, thoughtful story."—Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love

"A candid, touching, and often humorous new memoir."—San Francisco Chronicle

"Combining the best aspects of Paul Theroux's misanthropy in books like Old Patagonian Express and Elizabeth Gilbert's emotions in Eat, Pray, Love, this book is hard to put down. Bound to be popular, this compelling and honest chronicle will not disappoint readers."—Library Journal

"Andrew McCarthy treks from Baltimore to the Amazon, exploring his commitment issues as fearlessly as he scales Mount Kilimanjaro."—Elle

"Brave and moving. . . McCarthy's keen sense of scene and storytelling ignites his accounts...[t]hreaded with an exemplary vulnerability and propelled by a candid exploration of his own life's frailties."—National Geographic

"This is not some memoir written by an actor who fancies himself a world traveler. McCarthy really is a world traveler - and a damned fine writer, too...To readers who think, "Andrew McCarthy? Really?" the answer is a resounding and emphatic yes. Really."—Booklist

"Rarely have I seen the male psyche explored with such honesty and vulnerability. This is the story of a son, a father, a brother, a husband, a man who finds the courage not only to face himself, but to reveal himself, and, in so doing, illuminates something about what it is to be human, fully alive, and awake."—Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion

"It's hard to write books that are both adventurous and touching, but Andrew McCarthy manages to pull it off and more! A smart, valuable book."—Gary Shteyngart, bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story and Absurdistan

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