Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Review

 

I finally finished Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. In some ways I loved this book. I have read the reviews. Some are good, and others are not. It seems that people who just want to know more about Matthew Perry love this book. Then, there are the people who seem to expect it to be perfectly written and edited. 

I bought this book in December as soon as I heard about it because I have a slight obsession with Friends, and I love to learn about people’s backstories. I wasn’t able to start it until January, but for those reasons, I eagerly dove into the book knowing the time I had for reading personal books was limited. 

This book tells Matthew Perry’s life struggles in raw detail. I think it would have been a disservice to him had it been perfectly edited. For the most part, he tells his life story in a linear way. He talks of his upbringing following his parents' divorce, his rise to stardom, his struggles with addiction and dating, his love of God, and his road to recovery. 

Matthew Perry starts with what should have been the story of his death. One would think this would have been the wakeup call needed for him to get clean once and for all. ***Spoiler alert***It was not. 

If you want to read a literary work of art, this is not the book for you. If you want to learn the story of Matthew Perry's life and how he overcame the impossible, you will like this book.