Author Guide · Memoir & Travel
Books Written by
In 1985 Andrew McCarthy was in St. Elmo’s Fire, and the press filed him with the young actors it called the “Brat Pack”. A few decades later he was better known in some circles as a travel writer: editor at large at National Geographic Traveler and, in 2010, the Society of American Travel Writers’ Travel Journalist of the Year. His books follow both lives, from a travel memoir and a young adult novel to Brat (2021), his account of the 1980s, and a walk across Spain with his son. This guide covers his 5 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 5 key books · 2012–2026 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Andrew McCarthy has written five books: The Longest Way Home (2012), the young adult novel Just Fly Away (2017), Brat: An ’80s Story (2021), Walking with Sam (2023) and Who Needs Friends? (2026). Start with Brat, the book about the films and the fame that most readers know him for.
Where to Start with Andrew McCarthy
If you want the Brat Pack years
→ Brat (2021) — his memoir of the 1980s.
If you want travel writing
→ The Longest Way Home (2012) — his journeys, and learning to settle down.
If you want a father-and-son story
→ Walking with Sam (2023) — five hundred miles on the Camino.
If you want fiction
→ Just Fly Away (2017) — his young adult novel.
5 Andrew McCarthy Books, in Order
The Longest Way Home
A travel memoir in linked essays, published by Free Press, built on long trips to places including Patagonia, the Amazon, Costa Rica, Vienna and Kilimanjaro. As the subtitle says, it is about finding the courage to settle down, and about his life after film stardom.
Just Fly Away
His only novel, written for young adults and published by Algonquin Books. It became a New York Times bestseller.
Brat
His memoir of his life and career in the 1980s, published by Grand Central Publishing in May 2021: the films that made him famous, including St. Elmo’s Fire and Pretty in Pink, the “Brat Pack” label he disliked, and the drinking that, he has said, began when he was twelve. He has been sober since entering a detox programme in 1992. In 2024 he directed Brats, a documentary in which he revisits the label with other actors from the group.
Walking with Sam
In the summer of 2021 McCarthy walked the Camino de Santiago across Spain with his son Sam. The book, from Grand Central Publishing, follows the walk and the conversations between a father and a grown son along the way.
Who Needs Friends?
Published in March 2026, a look at how men in America make and keep friends, presented as an answer to talk of toxic masculinity and the online “manosphere”.
In What Order to Read Andrew McCarthy
None of his books follows on from another, so read by interest. Brat covers the earliest part of his life, the 1980s, so it makes sense to read it before the travel books if you want his story in order.
The Longest Way Home and Walking with Sam are a natural pair: one about long journeys and learning to settle down, the other about a long walk with his son. Just Fly Away is written for teenagers and stands apart.
A reading path
1. Brat: An ’80s Story (2021)
2. The Longest Way Home (2012)
3. Walking with Sam (2023)
4. Who Needs Friends? (2026)
The years · 1962–2024
Quick facts about Andrew McCarthy
- Known for
- 1980s films such as St. Elmo’s Fire and Pretty in Pink, his later career as a travel writer and director, and Brat, his memoir of the Brat Pack years
- 1962
- Born in Westfield, New Jersey
- 1985
- St. Elmo’s Fire
- 2021
- Brat
- 2024
- Directs the documentary Brats
- Born
- 29 November 1962, Westfield, New Jersey
- Films
- St. Elmo’s Fire (1985), Pretty in Pink (1986)
- Travel writing
- Editor at large, National Geographic Traveler; SATW Travel Journalist of the Year, 2010
- Director
- Brats (2024), a documentary about the Brat Pack label
- Sobriety
- Sober since a detox programme in 1992
- Books
- Five: three memoirs, a young adult novel and a book on male friendship
The red mark is 2021: Brat, his memoir of the 1980s.
How Andrew McCarthy Writes: The Travel Writer’s Eye
McCarthy came to books through travel writing, and two of his memoirs are built around journeys: the trips in The Longest Way Home, written as linked essays, and the walk across Spain in Walking with Sam.
Brat looks at his own past instead. It concentrates on a single decade, the 1980s, rather than his whole life, and is frank about the drinking that ran alongside his early success.
His later books widen out from himself: Walking with Sam is about a relationship with his son, and Who Needs Friends? about friendship between men in general.
Watch
Andrew McCarthy on Brat
Andrew McCarthy talks to ABC’s Good Morning America in 2021 about his memoir Brat: An ’80s Story.
Frequently asked questions about Andrew McCarthy’s books
How many books has Andrew McCarthy written?
Five: The Longest Way Home (2012), Just Fly Away (2017), Brat (2021), Walking with Sam (2023) and Who Needs Friends? (2026).
What are Andrew McCarthy’s books in order?
The Longest Way Home (2012), Just Fly Away (2017), Brat: An ’80s Story (2021), Walking with Sam (2023) and Who Needs Friends? (2026).
Where should I start with Andrew McCarthy?
With Brat if you know him from his films; with The Longest Way Home or Walking with Sam if you are interested in travel writing.
What is Andrew McCarthy’s most famous book?
Brat: An ’80s Story (2021), his memoir of the 1980s and the Brat Pack years.
What is Brat by Andrew McCarthy about?
His years as a young film actor in the 1980s, the fame that came with films like St. Elmo’s Fire and Pretty in Pink, the “Brat Pack” label, and his drinking, which he stopped in 1992.
Is Brats the same as Brat?
No. Brat (2021) is his memoir; Brats (2024) is a documentary he directed, in which he talks with other actors grouped under the Brat Pack label.
Has Andrew McCarthy written a novel?
Yes, one: Just Fly Away (2017), a young adult novel. It became a New York Times bestseller.
What is Walking with Sam about?
The walk McCarthy and his son Sam made along the Camino de Santiago across Spain in the summer of 2021, about five hundred miles.
Is Andrew McCarthy a travel writer?
Yes. He has been editor at large at National Geographic Traveler and was named Travel Journalist of the Year by the Society of American Travel Writers in 2010.
Footnotes
- Andrew McCarthy — Wikipedia
- The Longest Way Home — Kirkus Reviews
- Andrew McCarthy: No longer running from his youth — CBS News
- Andrew McCarthy recalls his Brat Pack years in a new memoir — KQED, 2021
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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