I haven’t grown up watching Friends. In fact, I was already in my 20s before I even saw an episode of this well-known sitcom. And so, I didn’t grow up together with the characters and I wasn’t aware of any celebrity gossip concerning the actors.
Matthew Perry – best known for playing Chandler – was just that to me, an actor playing a role. Until I purchased his memoir, ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’. I listened to its version of an audiobook, narrated by Perry himself.
He is as honest about his experiences as I would expect him to be. There is rawness to his words, and he doesn’t spare anyone, including himself, from the truths of his life. It was a revelation to me what he has gone through. Of course, I noticed his ever-shifting appearance and weight between seasons of Friends, but never dug deep as to what was happening with him, he addresses it though, amongst other things.
I find it hard to go through his experiences in a review format, because they are what they are and they happened. I can’t talk for or against factual statements.
However, I do have minor criticisms towards the book itself. It was too long, the audiobook stands at over 8 hours and unnecessarily so as some of the content is repeated multiple times. The narration also jumps around a lot, between different points in time and it is easy to loose the plot.
Since the audiobook is narrated by Matthew Perry, I expected it to be more entertaining than it ended up being. His monotone presentation left a little to be desired, emotions weren’t there when I felt they should.
Regardless, it was very brave of him to share so much of himself and his life with readers/listeners and for that, kudos. I wish Matthew all the best on his journey.
The Wolf Pad 