Filmmaker, Journalist Cameron Crowe Writes Memoir, ‘The Uncool’

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Cameron Crowe, who has written and/or directed such acclaimed films as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, and Almost Famous (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay), is publishing his memoir. The Uncool: A Memoir arrives October 28, 2025, via Simon & Schuster’s Avid Reader Press imprint. It’s available for pre-order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.

From the publisher’s announcement: The long-awaited memoir by Crowe—one of America’s most iconic journalists and filmmakers—reveals his formative years in rock and roll and bringing to life stories that shaped a generation. The 352-page The Uncool is a joyful dispatch from a lost world, the real-life events that became Almost Famous, and a coming-of-age journey filled with characters you won’t soon forget. The book’s title is a reference to a line spoken in that film (see the trailer below).

Crowe was an unlikely rock and roll insider. Born on July 13, 1957 to parents who strictly banned the genre from their house, he dove headfirst into the world of music. By the time he graduated high school at fifteen, Crowe was contributing to Rolling Stone as he interviewed legends like Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young and Fleetwood Mac while accompanying them on tour.

“One day, you’ll be cool…”

The Uncool offers a front-row ticket to the 1970s, a golden era for music and art. There was no such thing as a media junket—just a rare chance a young writer might be invited along for an adventure. Crowe spent his teens politely turning down the drugs and turning on his tape recorder. He talked his journalism teacher into giving him class credit for his road trip covering Led Zeppelin’s 1975 tour, which landed him—and the band—on the cover of Rolling Stone. He embedded with David Bowie as the sequestered artist transformed himself into a new persona: The Thin White Duke. Why did Bowie give Crowe such unprecedented access? “Because you’re young enough to be honest,” Bowie told him.

Youth and humility were Crowe’s ticket into the Eagles’ dressing room in 1972; to his first major interview with Kris Kristofferson; to earning the trust of icons like Gregg Allman and Joni Mitchell who had sworn to never again speak to Rolling Stone. It’s an odyssey of a teenage writer who waved through the door to find his fellow dreamers, music geeks, and lifelong community. It’s a path that led him to writing and directing some of the most beloved films of the past forty years. His movies often resonate with the music of the artists he first met as a journalist, including The Who, Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. His footage of the latter was finally turned into a film, Heartbreakers Beach Party, in 2024.

The Uncool is also a surprisingly intimate family drama. If you’ve seen Almost Famous, you may think you know this story—but you don’t. For the first time, Crowe opens up about his early formative years in Palm Springs, and pays tribute to his father, a decorated Army officer who taught him the irreplaceable value of the human voice. Crowe also offers a full portrait of his mother, whose singular spirit helped shape him into an unconventional visionary.

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Crowe became Rolling Stone’s youngest ever contributor as a fifteen-year-old high school graduate. He wrote the definitive book on the work of writer-director Billy Wilder, Conversations with Wilder. Crowe is currently at work on a film based on the life and music of Joni Mitchell.