[BOOK REVIEW]
Matthew Perry (Hachette Australia: Headline) 2022, 250pp, RRP $34.99 (paperback); $65.00 (hardback); $16.99 (e-book); $55.99 (audiobook)
Perry’s first book is a harrowing autobiographical study of his almost-suicidal experiences as an addict, and just to make sure we know what we’re in for it, yes indeed, starts with the time he barely made it to hospital before his colon exploded.
After an introduction by another Friend, Lisa Kudrow, this proceeds not-quite-chronologically into Matthew’s Canadian youth and some of the best times of his earliest days. However, he can also recall where things began to go wrong, and the unintentionally damaging events that led to his slide, as a teen, into alcoholism, drug abuse (legal and illegal) and outrageous self-destructive behaviour. By the time he finally gets to his casting in TV’s Friends in the mid-‘90s, it’s hard to believe that he was still actually alive, and he kept on trying to change that, over and over, as his fame soared and the millions of bucks piled up.
Supposedly written by him in longhand as sort of bitterly funny, personal and ranting screed, this is surely all too much for anyone expecting a more user-friendly celebrity memoir, while addicts fighting to get clean might find it unhelpful given that he keeps on lapsing back into appalling addictive carry-on despite knowing full well what’s happening.
And when he says that he would gladly give away the huge money and the mega-fame if only he could live a normal life, it’s impossible to really believe him. Come on Friend! Give it a rest!!!
Dave Bradley
This title is available through the Hachette Australia website. Click HERE to purchase your copy.
