A review by camartin1015
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

dark funny sad medium-paced

3.0

I knew a bit about Matthew Perry and figured this would be a tougher listen after his death. I came to Friends late (didn't watch it while it was on), so it was interesting to learn some of the behind-the-scenes and cultural response to it. Perry doesn't shy away from the details of his addictions and their underlying causes, and it's pretty evident that he was only barely managing these at many times in his life, not just during the heyday of the show. I learned a lot about him, but this book had a much different tone than similar ones I've read/listened to (like Carrie Fisher's books). It's hard to listen to someone reflect on the deep entanglement of family life, romance, drug addiction, and mental illness, and see them get so close to making choices that could've led them in a fundamentally different direction. It's easy to notice these in hindsight and when it's not your personal experience, so that's not a criticism of Perry necessarily. But it's hard to think about this book and be sad/frustrated by the state of mental health care, especially in the US.
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