My Rad Career

by Bill Allen

In his memoir, My RAD Career, Bill Allen shares what it was like to play Cru Jones alongside Lori Loughlin, Olympic Gold Medalist Bart Conner, and Talia Shire, as well as the thrill of discovering the inventors and first stars of BMX (Eddie Fiola, Jose Yanez, Martin Aparijo, and so many more – riders and stunt doubles in the film), witnessing them literally risk their necks as they invented and executed amazing feats on set, not to mention the history-making filming techniques of director and Oscar-Winner, Hal Needham.

137 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2014

Reviews

[Phil Zimmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember fondly renting Rad from the local Blockbuster. After renting it probably a dozen times, we copied it onto Betamax. I then watched the movie every weekend for years. I am 36 and still enjoy watching Rad a couple times a year. I know little about Bill Allen except for the fact that he played Cru Jones.

This book is the story of his life and includes many tales about Bill and Rad that were quite interesting. Bill had run ins with many famous people and he makes a point to detail all of them. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Brandon Lee and many others are mentioned and are connected to Bill in some way. It was interesting to read him recount as those around him gained fame while he remained in relative obscurity.

The section on the filming of Rad is short. I don't know if this was because Bill was partying too much or what. I was expecting more about this pivotal film.

About two third of the way through, Bill talks about the death of Brandon Lee and the story gets a little odd. Bill talks about ghosts and astrology and acid. An odd section.

This book is self published and Bill Allen is certainly not a professional writer. There are weird formatting errors and other glitches in the production.

As a fan of Rad though it was enjoyable and worth and afternoon!

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Shawn. Written by the star of the movie Rad. Pretty neat look back at being a young movie star in the mid-late 80s.

[William Lotten · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book on a great man

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for more info about Rad, and particularly the weird copyright issue that kept it from being released on CD or streaming for so long. The book has maybe three chapters on Rad, which are fun, but the rest is more of a who’s who on various stars Allen met throughout his career and what they were like. Fun to read for some nostalgia and gossip, just not quite what I was expecting. He also gives some pretty snarky responses to fan questions in the Q&A that were disappointing.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book. As a fan of the sport growing up with heart problems I wasn't allowed to do many things but a bike was the first thing I rode and had many broken bones and skinned palms. All because I wanted to be like Cru!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting read by Bill Allen. I only knew of his work in the movie Rad. His account of his life, career, and friendships are fascinating. It's a far better book than I was expecting.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book. Rad is one of my all-time favorite movies and even if this is titled "My...Career", I was hoping that at least half of the book would be focused on behind-the-scenes tales from the set of Rad and the like. Sadly, those types of stories are only about 10% of the book. The rest of it is fine, but for those who really wanted to spend time learning new things or hearing interesting tales from the production of one of the best action sports movies of all time will have to wait for another book to come out.