NO SHELF CONTROL

Title: Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing

Author: Matthew Perry

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publication Date: November, 2022

Genre: Biography

Pages: 250

My Rating: ★★★★☆

When I bought this book a week ago, little did I know that in a few days Matthew would be dead.

The opening page hit that little bit harder.

It’s hard to be nice reviewing this, because Matthew had issues. Huge addiction and abandonment issues. I feel like he blames his addiction issues on anyone but himself, though. His family, his doctors, even his dentist.

He’s quite open, and unashamed, about treating women badly and the fact he wanted to sleep with the whole of California. He uses women. Uses them for fun and spits them back out, because he’s Matthew Perry, and there’s more where they came from. Who wouldn’t want Matthew Perry, right? His ego is as big as his wallet, which is, we’re reminded of, numerous times, huge.

He comes across as greedy, always wanting more. Bigger roles, more money, more women, more drugs. He seems almost boastful at the amount of drugs and drink he could handle, and women he’s slept with. It’s a shame he never settled down because it seems he had some wonderfully kind female figures over the years.

His odd jibes towards Keanu Reeves were very strange, and nasty, quite frankly (was he high when he wrote part of the book?). I had to google if they had some kind of argument that wasn’t mentioned, but seemingly not.

The timeline jumps back and forth a bit, making it difficult to work out what part of his life you’re at, which was a bit confusing at times.

If you’re going in to this book loving Matthew and wanting to know more about him, I’m not sure it’s for you. Hold on to the wonderful memories of Chandler Bing, because you might change your mind on him if you read this. I ordered it because, as someone that’s struggled with substance abuse, I was interested in his story. I understand and sympathise with the selfish nature of addiction, but part of me is embarrassed at some of the similarities between us.

Whilst he does make some apologies, they don’t feel half as genuine as his love for drugs. You can feel the excitement through the pages when he talks about his habit, the substances that were his favourite, how they made him feel, how many he was taking and the pain when he had to go without.

“I think you actually have to have all of your dreams come true to realize they are the wrong dreams”

Rest in peace, Matthew, may you finally be free from your demons.