I judged a Book by its cover!

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" is what folks are told.  However, I sometimes find myself doing just that.  I don't intend to jump to conclusions about a person, a headline or even a book, but being human my mind sizes things up and often, I get the whole story wrong. 

The "book" I am speaking about now is a person: Rob Lowe.  That pretty boy from my youth, who starred in movies such as "St. Elmo's Fire", "Hotel New Hampshire" and "Class".  I was never into "pretty boys", being an intellectual girl in high school who marched to the beat of her own drum, I wasn't about to become enamored with a guy whose face was prettier than mine.  Fast forward 30 years....while on an outing with friends, my friend Jodi Kearns told me she was listening to a book on her mp3 player. "Stories I Only Tell My Friends" by Rob Lowe, with Lowe reading the book.  My friend Jodi is one of the smartest ladies I know, I thought, what is SHE doing listening to his book, what can he have to say that would be so great?  Now I must admit here that I have become an admirer of Lowe's work on "Parks and Recreation"  I also admit he did a pretty good job as Sam Seaborn on the "West Wing", so I was a bit interested.  I checked the library and the copy of the book on CD was in, still waiting on my book club book to come in, I took it out.  I listened to it at work (what a joy a book on disc is for a person who works in an office and can wear headphones at her desk), then I took the discs home and went to bed early to plug my headphones in, so I wouldn't have to wait until work the next day to listen, something I never do. 

Rob Lowe's autobiography is the story of a boy who grew up in Dayton, OH who saw the play "Oliver" at a local playhouse when he was 10 years old, decided that acting was what he wanted to do and did it.  While he enjoyed success as a young person (which he worked very hard to achieve) it wasn't a journey without issues, when he decided he was drinking too much, he got help, without using the revolving door of rehab we hear so many others struggle with. He is very smart, driven, and while he did "have it all" during his Brat Pack days, he has achieved so much more.  He volunteered on political campaigns and raised awareness to issues he felt important to him.  In other words, he put his money where his mouth is. What's not to admire about that. 
His book is a pleasure to listen to, I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone. 

While I am better about not judging books by their cover these days, I now know that I may need to, now and again, look back at "books" I may have judged in the past and give them a second look.

Happy reading!