TuesReviews: Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing

This book is written and narrated (in audiobook form) by Mathew Perry.

Matthew Perry was known for his sensational performance in the 90s sitcom, Friends, as comedic character, Chandler Bing. This memoir was published in 2022. Perry passed away late 2023 from an overdose. His autopsy revealed many substances in his body such as opioids and antidepressants at high levels.

Given his cause of death, it is eerie to listen to his voice on the audiobook as I did. He is like an angel from the afterlife. He unveils his views on life and death, his near death experience seeing God, and precisely how he thought he would feel looking at his life if he had died then and there. Like I said, eerie.

He says he never had wanted to die during any point of his drug use. His usage persisted from wanting to enjoy life, while drugs, such as alcohol and pain pills, were the only way he could find to lift himself out of constant debilitating depression. For this reason I expect his overdose was not a suicide.

If you are only curious about his career in Friends, this book may not be for you. The information on Friends was highly engaging, but it is spread like breadcrumbs throughout the extensive and primary coverage of his addiction, his lovers, and self-esteem.

However, he does reveal copious interesting stories such as how he was cast, and how David Schwimmer, known as 'Ross' in Friends, made a selfless decision in season one that helped the entire cast for all nine seasons. He discusses information on celebrities: He met and worked with Bruce Willis and divulges Willis was quite the party animal! He explains movies he starred in, and wrote, and how he broke bones in a jet ski accident. Poignantly, he talks about the event in his newborn months that possibly led to his reliance on drugs later in life.

It is grievously moving that he says he overcame his addiction at the close of the book, yet we know what his final relapse in the future lead to. Regarding this, he also sounded stoned in the audiobook. He slurred until I sped up the recording to 1.35x the normal speed. I now have so much compassion and love for this man. He was a brilliant man; talented and robbed of his potential.

The book, though mostly well-written, does become repetitive due to his pattern of drug use, getting sober, dating, a myriad of women (one at a time, mostly), then plummeting into intense feelings of unworthiness, and then relapse. This was his life, so that repetition cannot be helped if you want to know the full story. If nothing else, it is admirable how he never gave up the battle, but it did niggle at me, as I longed for him to recover. You could say, purely for reminding me of the struggles in our lives, I couldn't fully enjoy the book, despite my immense gratitude for his candid and courageous honesty. Thank you for sharing, Mat. Rest in peace.

4/5 ⭐️