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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I’m giving this 1.5 star (should have been 1 star)—half a star purely for how much I loved Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing and the joy he brought to Friends. But as a memoir, this book is a mess.
It feels disjointed and chaotic, jumping from topic to topic with little structure or coherence—almost like he couldn’t remember the order of his own life events. One moment he’s sharing something deeply personal, the next it’s a random aside—“Look, squirrel!”—and we’re off in a totally different direction. The “Interludes” between chapters were especially jarring; they should have been integrated more smoothly or made into full chapters themselves.
I hesitate to be too harsh, especially knowing he passed away just a year after publication. His pain and addiction struggles are clearly profound. But he also came across as egotistical and, frankly, unlikeable at times. His repeated objectification of women and self-aggrandizing tone were hard to stomach. It’s honestly surprising to read how beloved he was by those who knew him, given how he portrayed himself here.
In the end, it’s a deeply sad story. Not just because of the tragic outcome, but because even in telling his own story, he didn’t seem to find peace.
It feels disjointed and chaotic, jumping from topic to topic with little structure or coherence—almost like he couldn’t remember the order of his own life events. One moment he’s sharing something deeply personal, the next it’s a random aside—“Look, squirrel!”—and we’re off in a totally different direction. The “Interludes” between chapters were especially jarring; they should have been integrated more smoothly or made into full chapters themselves.
I hesitate to be too harsh, especially knowing he passed away just a year after publication. His pain and addiction struggles are clearly profound. But he also came across as egotistical and, frankly, unlikeable at times. His repeated objectification of women and self-aggrandizing tone were hard to stomach. It’s honestly surprising to read how beloved he was by those who knew him, given how he portrayed himself here.
In the end, it’s a deeply sad story. Not just because of the tragic outcome, but because even in telling his own story, he didn’t seem to find peace.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
dark
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I guess when rating a memoir, you should be rating the book and not the person. This book was in desperate need of a good editor. It was difficult to follow, extremely repetitive, and quite unfocused. Perry, the person, comes across as vindictive, egotistical, ungrateful, sexist...and a big baby "unaccompanied minor". The Friends stuff and his rise to fame was interesting, but the bulk of the book was about the Big Terrible Thing - which was eye-opening and sad for me to hear, but sadly became quite repetitive (I feel bad saying this, because I can only imagine how excruciatingly repetitive it would be to actually live through it). A sad man and a sad book.
heartbreaking, funny and hopeful.
what a special human he was.
wish you were still with us, matty
what a special human he was.
wish you were still with us, matty
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced