I admit it—I love brat pack movies, especially Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club. So when I heard that Molly Ringwald, the iconic red-headed star of those two movies, had recently published a novel, I was intrigued but skeptical. Can she write, I wondered? The answer, happily, is YES! And she isn’t the only brat packer with writing chops. Welcome to the Brat Pack Book Club!
When It Happens to You (2012) by Molly Ringwald contains eight linked short stories that shine on their own or together as a novel. Ringwald writes with precision and intelligence, creating believable characters who quietly struggle with betrayal and loss, but also experience moments of beauty.
Not ready to accept Molly Ringwald as a literary author? Then, how about as a dispenser of advice about personal style and self-confidence? If so, try Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick (2010). Interested in whether she can sing? Check out her new CD of jazz vocals Except Sometimes (2013).
Did you know that Andrew McCarthy is an award-winning travel writer? In The Longest Way Home: One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down (2012), McCarthy reveals why his reputation as the “sensitive” brat packer fits so well. He’s pretty sensitive in real life too. He searches his soul as he travels the world and skillfully documents the process in this memoir and in articles he’s written for National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times and The Atlantic.
McCarthy’s interest in travel began after he accidentally purchased and then read Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim’s Route into Spain (2005) by Jack Hitt. The book inspired him to go on the El Camino de Santiago, or The Way of Saint James, a route commonly walked by “pilgrims” from France into Northern Spain.
Brat packer Emilio Estevez also has a connection to that famous pilgrimage route. He wrote the screenplay for and directed the 2010 feature film, The Way, which stars his father Martin Sheen, and tells the story of a heartbroken man who decides to walk The Way of St. James to honor his son. Next, Sheen and Estevez co-wrote Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son (2012), a family memoir told in alternating chapters. The behind-the-scenes stories about the making of Apocalypse Now while living in the Philippines are especially riveting.
If you want a brat pack fix, and you’re in the mood for a Hollywood-gossip type of memoir, don’t miss Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography (2011) by Rob Lowe. He’s funny. He knows lots of famous people and constantly drops their names, yet still keeps some details to himself.
Finally, if you want to read about the brat pack without reading something by one of them, check out You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation (2010) by Susanna Gora, which will make you want to watch all of the movies again (and again!).
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