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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
medium-paced
This book was brutally honest and I'm going to be the same.
I've been on a roll this year reading memoirs or biographies of people whose work I admired, so I really wanted to get into Matthew Perry's Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. As a long-time fan of Friends, it was high on my backlog. And then news broke that Matthew Perry had died just a month ago - I wasn't sure I wanted to get into the book anymore for a while. I'm sort of glad I did.
I loved getting to know the Matthew Perry both in and beyond his cinematography. He goes into lots of details about his relationships with his costars and life on the set of Friends and other movies or shows, and everything sounds as bright and cheerful as I hoped it would be. Apart from the several addictions he was battling all the while of course. And the pressure to continue being "the funny guy" all the time, in front of a live audience, people in the movie industry and his own demons. The rest was great though!
The biggest part of this book is his struggle with smoking, alcoholism and drug use, and some of the health issues that resulted from that including a near-death experience. He also goes into lots of details about his many relationships with women and exactly why and how they failed. He's a harsh narrator when it comes to his own shortcomings, but his many years in therapy show up as a sort of clarity - he often pinpoints what went wrong with precision and doesn't shy away from opening up about their roots.
Analysis aside, the writing is rather disjointed as a whole and sometimes much is said about nothing, or there's unnecessary repetition. It's a sort of free-form writing you might see in journals. I wonder if that's a skill they teach in rehab.
All in all, I'm left with a good impression. It's one of the more interesting memoirs I've read, and while this isn't why I read it, I'm now more intimately aware of the struggles people face when addiction becomes overwhelming.
I've been on a roll this year reading memoirs or biographies of people whose work I admired, so I really wanted to get into Matthew Perry's Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. As a long-time fan of Friends, it was high on my backlog. And then news broke that Matthew Perry had died just a month ago - I wasn't sure I wanted to get into the book anymore for a while. I'm sort of glad I did.
I loved getting to know the Matthew Perry both in and beyond his cinematography. He goes into lots of details about his relationships with his costars and life on the set of Friends and other movies or shows, and everything sounds as bright and cheerful as I hoped it would be. Apart from the several addictions he was battling all the while of course. And the pressure to continue being "the funny guy" all the time, in front of a live audience, people in the movie industry and his own demons. The rest was great though!
The biggest part of this book is his struggle with smoking, alcoholism and drug use, and some of the health issues that resulted from that including a near-death experience. He also goes into lots of details about his many relationships with women and exactly why and how they failed. He's a harsh narrator when it comes to his own shortcomings, but his many years in therapy show up as a sort of clarity - he often pinpoints what went wrong with precision and doesn't shy away from opening up about their roots.
Analysis aside, the writing is rather disjointed as a whole and sometimes much is said about nothing, or there's unnecessary repetition. It's a sort of free-form writing you might see in journals. I wonder if that's a skill they teach in rehab.
All in all, I'm left with a good impression. It's one of the more interesting memoirs I've read, and while this isn't why I read it, I'm now more intimately aware of the struggles people face when addiction becomes overwhelming.
Extremely sad. I don't think the stars say something when it comes to someone's life. He can decide to tell his story any way he wants, even though I think his writing was not good. It was quite messy and poorly organized, but it was in alignment with the life that Matthew Perry led. Rest in peace Chandler!
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
A brutally honest depiction of his life and his struggles. While I don't relate to his specific issues, I found this book spoke to me and reminded me to fight for the life I want.
At times I found it too honest as he reveals the parts of him he has kept hidden for years. I wasn't obsessed with how much he thinks about sex and his comments about Jennifer Anniston made me slightly uncomfortable.
At times I found it too honest as he reveals the parts of him he has kept hidden for years. I wasn't obsessed with how much he thinks about sex and his comments about Jennifer Anniston made me slightly uncomfortable.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Such a sad story of how addiction can have complete control of a life. Even when a person is beautiful, wealthy and famous, addiction can ruin a life.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced