“I was so full of shit it nearly killed me.”
Matthew Perry's autobiography Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing tells a sad story about a sad man.
Matthew Perry was a narcissist, drug addict and womanizer. Well, he thought he was a womanizer, but really he was a self-absorbed misogynist. He thought that he made women laugh, but in reality he made them cry. His attitude towards women is sickening to read. Frankly, I don't understand women who give this book five stars.
A person who only wanted one thing: to become famous, and imagined that fame would fix all his problems.
Millions spent on drugs and rehab. I guess the money could have been put to better use.
It is unlikely that the cast of Friends will ever tell what it was really like to work with this self-described comedy genius for ten years. It would be interesting to hear especially Jennifer Aniston's side of the story. Perry had a crush on her, without reciprocating.
If you're still a fan of Friends, Chandler Bing or Matthew Perry, I definitely don't recommend reading this memoir. For many, this book has ruined the aforementioned things. When I was watching Friends, I didn't know anything about Perry's substance abuse problems either. What was I wondering about his sometimes bloated and even sweaty look.
What would Matthew Perry have become if he hadn't become rich and famous? The drugs should have been obtained in a slightly different way, and there would not have been money for expensive rehab treatments.
Matthew Perry took ketamine, went into a hot tub and died in October 2023. Would he have died from that amount of ketamine without going in the water? Ketamine is said to be an anesthetic. Probably not a very good idea to take it and go into the water.
It is always said not to speak ill of the dead. I probably would have written even worse about him if he was still alive, now I tried to restrain myself a bit. But of course I'm afraid that because of this blog post he will come to haunt me.
The book itself intrigued me like that famous (pun intended) train wreck, I couldn't look away and I read it in a couple of days.
Whenever I finish a book, I always go to Goodreads to read its reviews, especially the one-star reviews.
So would I give this book only one star? No. As some have said, the book itself should be criticized here, not the author or his life or life choices. As many readers have stated, the book is a bit difficult to understand because it jumps around in different time periods. Chronological order would have been better. But otherwise, I would give this macabre social porn 3-4 stars out of five.
And yes, I didn't add this book to my library reserve list until after Perry died. I was interested in it before, but not enough.