Andrew McCarthy grew up searching for direction. He was plagued by anxiety, a lack of confidence, and bad grades in school.

Through it all, though, he sensed that he possessed a gift. It surfaced one day when he was a teen-ager, uncharacteristically putting aside his jitters and walking into a rehearsal hall at New York University. During his reading, his instincts for acting bared themselves as an unscripted performance so good that he was accepted to NYU’s acting program, provided he improve his grades and show a seriousness of purpose.

With humor and honesty, the actor and director relates a book full of revealing anecdotes in Brat: An ‘80s Story. As a teen-ager, he broke into movies in Class, with Rob Lowe and Jacqueline Bissett. He leaped to stardom in Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire, and the hysterical Weekend at Bernie’s.

He did not consider himself one of the “brat pack” and was not close to many of his fellow actors; his self-doubt showed itself as aloofness. He lost one part after an exceptional audition with John Hughes. But, Hughes misinterpreted McCarthy’s nervous whistling as he left the room as off-putting cockiness. Hughes chose someone else.

McCarthy is an exceptional writer who has also pursued grand adventures that he describes in a captivating book, The Longest Way Home. In Walking With Sam, McCarthy brilliantly relates his walk across Spain with his son on the Camino de Santiago.

Andrew McCarthy has often not been very kind to Andrew McCarthy. But he has overcome alcoholism, performed and directed with distinction, and written several best-selling books. Now in his 60s, I hope he lives out his life with a sense of accomplishment while adding to his volumes of work.