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Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
439 reviews
readorperish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
First off, I’m not a “Friends” fan. It doesn’t represent my generation and I don’t find it funny or interesting. However, I have seen the author interviewed on Dave Letterman’s show and found him funny and quick witted. Tragically, the book was published right before Perry’s death. Do we blame addicts for their demises? Does the fact that Perry was rich and famous make us less sympathetic to his plight? Is it fair to blame his parents? I’m guessing Perry would have traded his fame and wealth for a wife and children, but ultimately he came to that realization too late.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, and Excrement
rhiannekx's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, and Drug use
Moderate: Mental illness
ceciletaylor's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
A well-written account of a difficult struggle with addiction and with finding your purpose in life. It was very interesting to get a first-hand insight into what it is like living with this disease. The book definitely goes a long way to dispel the false narrative that it is simply a choice. Although I felt the narrative jumped around a little confusingly time wise, and some passages felt somewhat repetitive, overall this is a book with real purpose that I definitely enjoyed listening to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Alcoholism
mollykfinn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
jenniee_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
5.0
Listening to the audiobook and actually hearing Matthew Perry talk about his life and struggles was truly heartbreaking. Listening to him talk about his hopes for the future was especially hard considering he passed away just about a year after this memoir was published. This was an emotional one but definitely worth a listen. An easy 5⭐️ read for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Abandonment and Mental illness
danibatista's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Drug use
nuuamuikkunen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Is it the best book ever written? No, definitely not. There is a lot of repeating sections. But I don’t think memoirs need to be great works of literature! It’s an insight into the mind of a real person. It’s messy, unorganized and long winded.
This book is absolutely heart breaking.. I watched the documentary about Avicii after he had passed away and this book gives me a similar feeling. Of hopelessness. Wishing there was something I could have done as a complete stranger, to keep this person here for a little while longer.
No matter what your opinion is about Matthew Perry or Frends, I highly recommend you pick up this book. The audiobook is narrated by the author, and that ALWAYS gives autobiographies a vibe that cannot be reached by reading it yourself.
It’s a story about a bent (not broken) human being coming to terms with the reality of their life on earth. It’s sad, it’s inspiring, it’s warm, it’s funny. Especially the way Matthew talks about all the different people in his life: his family, his frends, his costars, his ex-girlfriends. It’s so heart warming to listen to. He was a beautiful, deep soul, that was dealt an unfortunate hand in life.
This book is absolutely heart breaking.. I watched the documentary about Avicii after he had passed away and this book gives me a similar feeling. Of hopelessness. Wishing there was something I could have done as a complete stranger, to keep this person here for a little while longer.
No matter what your opinion is about Matthew Perry or Frends, I highly recommend you pick up this book. The audiobook is narrated by the author, and that ALWAYS gives autobiographies a vibe that cannot be reached by reading it yourself.
It’s a story about a bent (not broken) human being coming to terms with the reality of their life on earth. It’s sad, it’s inspiring, it’s warm, it’s funny. Especially the way Matthew talks about all the different people in his life: his family, his frends, his costars, his ex-girlfriends. It’s so heart warming to listen to. He was a beautiful, deep soul, that was dealt an unfortunate hand in life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Addiction, and Mental illness
julieyael's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
This is a very deep and profound view of what addiction is, and life as an addict, as well as the everyday struggle against this addiction.
It’s well written in a quite light and funny style, which makes it more bearable for the reader but also doesn’t diminish the hardships the author went through.
Be prepared for a tough read, but a good one.
It’s well written in a quite light and funny style, which makes it more bearable for the reader but also doesn’t diminish the hardships the author went through.
Be prepared for a tough read, but a good one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Cursing, Excrement, and Medical content
Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Death
aaashtyn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This book hurt my heart in many ways, but reading it in Perry’s voice helps. It’s so unfortunate to read this after his passing, because the entire time I read the book, it felt like he was never truly going to get better. Friends is my absolute favorite show, so reading about his experiences on the show and envisioning him in every season and every scene he talks about just breaks my heart. It feels weird to “rate” someone’s life, but it is really a good read, he’s very raw and honest about his addiction and emotions he dealt with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Alcoholism, Addiction, Excrement, and Drug abuse
sydneybeggins's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I don’t think I can give a memoir less than 5 stars, due to the nature of the story. It is not mine or anyone else’s to tell but the person whose story it is. 5 stars is only appropriate.
As for a review on Matthew Perry’s memoir itself? I absolutely devoured it. Mostly because it was sad, scary and kept me waiting for the resolution of his life. Perry is the definition of the word addict. He was a man with a terribly scary and sad mental illness, and it took most of his life to climb out of the darkness he was always in. However that’s what I found most endearing and enjoyable about this book, he rarely blamed anyone but himself for the problems he faced, he was truthful about how often he let himself down and he never gave up on himself fully; even if he came very close more than a few times.
Perry’s story is inspiring because of how dark it really is. He was a man with absolutely everything, he achieved all of his greatest dreams and at the end of the day he was still a person with struggles and insecurities. He is someone I wish I could have met before he passed, but this book was a glimpse into his life that he owed to absolutely no one, and I am grateful to have listened to his full story.
He was always performing, even with his friends and family, to make up for feeling as though he wasn’t enough. I hope that wherever he is now, he is performing because he enjoys it, not because he feels he needs to hide behind it. Rest In Peace, Matthew Perry.
As for a review on Matthew Perry’s memoir itself? I absolutely devoured it. Mostly because it was sad, scary and kept me waiting for the resolution of his life. Perry is the definition of the word addict. He was a man with a terribly scary and sad mental illness, and it took most of his life to climb out of the darkness he was always in. However that’s what I found most endearing and enjoyable about this book, he rarely blamed anyone but himself for the problems he faced, he was truthful about how often he let himself down and he never gave up on himself fully; even if he came very close more than a few times.
Perry’s story is inspiring because of how dark it really is. He was a man with absolutely everything, he achieved all of his greatest dreams and at the end of the day he was still a person with struggles and insecurities. He is someone I wish I could have met before he passed, but this book was a glimpse into his life that he owed to absolutely no one, and I am grateful to have listened to his full story.
He was always performing, even with his friends and family, to make up for feeling as though he wasn’t enough. I hope that wherever he is now, he is performing because he enjoys it, not because he feels he needs to hide behind it. Rest In Peace, Matthew Perry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Alcoholism, Death, Addiction, and Drug abuse