It’s been a little over a month since we’ve all lost Matthew Perry – better known as Chandler Bing. Although I admit, I wasn’t a die hard fan of the sitcom Friends, I did enjoy the show. I did know the characters and their personalities, and absolutely love sending the gif, where Monica went across the apartment wearing a full ass turkey with sunglasses on top of her head. I distinctly remember this episode where she did it to cheer up Chandler, but for what reason, I can’t remember for the life of me. Like I said, I enjoyed the show but don’t remember the specifics.
“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.”
This was the opening line to his story, his memoir and I listened to it on audiobook. It was read by Matthew Perry himself and at the time of listening to it, we had just lost him to drowning. Or so we think, until the full report comes back. And, it made me sad.
“It is very odd to live in a world where if you died, it would shock people but surprise no one.”
A lot of us think that wow, once someone rises to fame – they have everything. But, little do we know what every celebrity, actor, what each recording artist, DJ, etc. are actually really going through. Matthew was an open book in his memoir. I applaud him for being able to be so honest about so many things, namely the drug abuse. It must’ve been hard and difficult to relive those details at the time of writing, but he did it – and, he did it with courage.
We go through different timelines which kind of jump around a bit and yes, it does get a bit … annoying for lack of a better term. But ultimately, you are learning so much about him. About his accomplishments and failures, about his love life and his crave for attention: about the downwards spiraling staircase that he kept stumbling down upon. Most notably, we learn about his drug use – specifically alcohol and opioids, namely Vicodin. His love for alcohol started at the young age of 14, and he was prescribed Vicodin after an accident in 1997 which made him addicted to the drug. What was unbelievable to me was that he was taking upwards of 55 pills a day! This kind of reminded me of Dr. Gregory House from the show House. How he eventually stole his colleague’s pad to write himself prescriptions for Vicodin. But, my gosh – 55! A day! That’s bizzare.
He eventually opened up his home in Malibu as a sober-living facility for those struggling with the same issues that he had. What makes this an eye opener is that he 100% had the heart to help those in need, yet he wasn’t able to save himself. He talked about how he lost so much weight in Season 7 of Friends – and even so much as Jennifer Aniston once asking him if he’d been drinking, because everyone could smell it on him. Like I said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the show – but, I am streaming it on Max now in honor of the late Matthew Perry. Despite cheating death once, although alcohol and drugs were not found in his body from the initial reports, he wasn’t able to cheat it again.
I hope that if you do decide to pick up this book and give it your time, that you will learn a few things like I did. How difficult it is to kick a habit that you are so dependent on. How money and fame don’t necessarily make all problems go away. How although we sympathize with those who are struggling with substance abuse by nature, it is impossible to get them to empathize unless they want to. How even if they get the help they need, they can in an instance walk out the door and relapse. And, how easy it is for people to relapse. Addiction is mean and ugly.
In closing, I’d like to leave this review with one note, and that is the quote that says “You never know what someone is going through. Be Kind. Always.”
Rest easy, Matthew Perry.
Love,
Anita