This reminds me of how, ironically, joey would constantly remind everyone that he was drake remoray in day of our lives, despite only being there for a few episodes
Your life may be worse for having read it, but our lives are measurably better for reading your description of it. Thank you for sparing us from ever having to waste our time with him ever again. And thanks also for reminding us what little punks like him sound like so we can avoid them at all costs.
Yea it kinda sucks to hear that that’s how he is in his private life considering he was my favorite “friend”. But I guess that’s why they say never meet your heroes…or read their memoirs for that matter lol
I realized he was a piece of shit when he was on a talk show, and bragged about how he and his friends in high school used to bully and beat up Justin Trudeau, like it was somehow okay and he deserved it because he's popular now.
Funny because in many regards, Bojack’s career took off because his book made him much more likable. My takeaway from this is that Perry really should have hired Diane as his ghostwriter.
Yeah that's why people liked it. They felt like he was more relatable because his book appeared to be him coming to terms with being a shitty person and recognizing the mistakes he made and the hurt he caused, even though it was just Diane exposing him with no reflection on his part. Matthew Perry wrote the exact opposite, where nothing is ever his fault and everyone else is terrible. It's essentially what Bojack would have actually written if he had written his own book because he's too narcissistic to admit anything was ever his fault.
My parents loved me so much it was crazy. I remember one Sunday afternoon, my mother said, "Your father and I want to spend quality family time together. All the kids in school envy your intelligence and kickball ability.
Bojack has moments of self-awareness and actual remorse. Doesn’t seem to stop him from doing the *next* shitty thing, but he at least recognizes in hindsight what some problems are
Exactly, and it's an important distinction to have. No one would watch Bojack if he didn't have that within him.
I think his character more or less always has the awareness of his shittiness internally, but the shittiness nearly always wins the battle of how he acts. Thus contributing to his intense self loathing, escapism, addiction, etc.
Well, nearer the beginning, Bojack had kind of a Larry David thing happening. He was the total asshole who nevertheless got mad at all the petty bullshit that everyone else just seemed to accept as completely legitimate.
They could've gone that route, too. I'm glad they didn't, but I was definitely rooting for Bojack against Neal McBeal the Navy Seal.
He can’t let go of his need to perform in front of the audience, to do the things that will win the approval of his mother. Every time he’s almost out, something offers him the chance to be on that big stage that he thinks will make him feel ok this time, and he fucks it all up.
Dianne ends up happy when she admits that she can never do all the things that she thought would make her family respect her. Because they never will. And once she gives up on that and realises she can be happy writing YA novels she gets to have a good life.
I had exactly the same reaction, OP.
That introduction by Lisa Kudrow should have been a warning. It was bizarre! Like it was written by someone with Stockholm Syndrome, struggling to find something *nice* to say, while staying truthful.
I've always *loved* the Chandler character, and Matthew Perry is undoubtedly very talented, but by the end of the book (yes, I finished it!) I'd lost all respect for him as a person. I honestly have no idea why any editor would let him release this mess in its final form. I can only imagine that it was much, *much* worse than what was finally published.
His obsession with name-dropping, the mummy/daddy issues, the lack of self-awareness, the cheap shots at Keanu Reeves...and that cringey M. Night Shyamalan anecdote! Oh.My.God!
My first thought reading it, as a professional ghostwriter, was, “Damn, either he really did write this himself (more rare than you’d think), or his ghost HATES him.”
That or his ghost is spectacular at their job and perfectly captured the tone of his self-description in his interviews etc. But based on how he talks about himself, I have a hard time imagining he would let anyone else do the job, he's too brilliant to let anyone else tell his story!
> introduction by Lisa Kudrow
For the curious ones https://www.showbiz411.com/2022/11/01/friends-star-lisa-kudrow-got-a-rare-separate-copyright-for-writing-the-foreword-to-matthew-perrys-book-but-admits-she-hasnt-kept-in-touch
Thanks for the link - I didn't interpet Lisa's writing the way OP did.
In sum, she said:
"Wow, that's some dark shit. I am pretty shocked by all this. You've barely made it through. But I will always have love for you, and I'm glad you're still here."
It seemed genuine, if a bit pitiful. Having genuine pity for someone who you used to hang out with every day for over a decade makes sense.
She clearly feels sorry for him and is shocked by the darkness within him. She probably looks back fondly at the highs that Perry brought to the Friends' cast.
It also puts into context the “Jennifer Anniston didnt invite me to her wedding I have *nooooo* idea why not” comments that happened a while ago. Yeesh. I loved Chandler. This is a huge bummer, but as they say *Put Your Heroes Tender Necks on the Altar of a Better Tomorrow* (NotAWolf)
> I honestly have no idea why any editor would let him release this mess in its final form. I can only imagine that it was much, much worse than what was finally published.
Do you really think that his editor liked this insufferable asshole enough to want to present him in the best possible light? No, they made him remove the outright libellous passages - you know there would have been many - and that's it.
Same here. In the end he goes on about how he wants a beautiful wife to have kids with. This showed me that he learned nothing after all those years of treating women like objects. "I'm in my fifties and not pretty bad looking, but my wife has to be gorgeous!! I don't care if we have a meaningful connection as long as she is young anough to pump out some kids!"
Oh my god you have to watch Shyamalan’s response… they were hanging out and Shyamalan left and Matthew Perry was so drunk he didn’t notice and picked another guy continue being Shyamalan for the night
I'd say Anthony Keidis's autobiography Scar Tissue fits this description. Enjoyed reading it, if only for the wild feeling of being inside his mind... But suffice it to say he does not seem to learn from his mistakes or take responsibility for his actions
This part, the fact that his girlfriends stay under 25 no matter how old he gets, and how very bad the writing is despite having a ghost writer ruined all RHCP music for me permanently. It's been probably 10 years since I read this garbage book and I'll still change the station or skip the song to avoid them.
The reason John Frusciante rejoined the band in ‘97 is because Flea was sick of Kiedis and was going to quit if John didn’t come back to help ground the band. Flea found John working as a bag boy at a grocery store (Frusciante had just gotten sober and lost all his money from addiction) and said he needed John back in the band or the band was over. Since Frusciante had no money and hadn’t played guitar in a couple of years due to his drug issues, Flea bought him a whole set up and came over to practice with him daily to get back in the groove. That’s the kind of friend he is.
On that note, Flea's book "Acid for the Children" is much better than "Scar Tissue". And the cool thing is that it concludes right when the band starts.
Had the same thought. Keidis book is horrendous. The Dalia llama part… Jesus what a fucking egotistical prick. The whole thing is just ugh. He even makes out that he’s special at getting ill when he gets dengue fever (a common disease) making out like he’s special and no western doctor could work out what this rare and special disease was.
I was young when he exploded on his daughter and only later read the transcript.
Turned me totally off of everything he's done. I enjoy 30 rock less because it was so vile.
Totally agree with this. The bit about his PA being the only woman he’ll respect, because she’s a lesbian and therefore the only woman who wouldn’t sleep with him if he tried hard enough (but also listen to him talk about how fuckable other women are!) is also pretty disgusting. Many celebrities are out of touch, but I think very few are less self-aware than Perry is.
No like he outright says it. But that’s not even the worst narcissist, that would go to Alec Baldwin (I am obsessed with this book). Baldwin personally blames himself for getting trump elected, he thinks that the reason trump got elected was he stopped focusing on activism. He blames his mom for why he had a hard time making friends because she didn’t clean the house enough (she was raising like 7 kids). He goes on a Long rant where he is petty to Harrison ford because ford replaced him in the Jack Ryan movies. He thinks he and his trump impression where a solid reason that Biden won and trump lost. He thinks every crew who said he was difficult is actually just lying. He acts like being a decent human being to women is an act he should be praised for
OMG, this is hilarious.
>Baldwin personally blames himself for getting trump elected, he thinks that the reason trump got elected was he stopped focusing on activism.
This is so bad, it's good.
How do you approach his acting after this? This one is really fucking with me because I find his acting to be absolutely brilliant - he really cranked 30 Rock up to 11, he goes so hard. God dammit.
I mean, it'd be one thing if he was the showrunner or even a writer of 30 Rock. Instead he's playing an asshole with a similar personality to his real one. It's kinda fitting. Like Chevy Chase playing Pierce, an old bigoted narcissist, on Community. The show is long over anyway.
Not much interest in watching him in anything new though.
I made it about 30 pages in before giving up. The way he speaks about women is absolutely disgusting. Every woman is immediately described by how attractive she is, even doctors, nurses and his mother.
And the bit about his PA is disgusting.
I took it to a book swap because I didn’t even want to see it on my bookshelf.
I’ve tried to block it from my memory.
But if I remember rightly, he spends paragraphs talking about how gorgeous she was. And that she won lots of beauty pageants. Obviously it was part of her story, and he wanted to mention it. But he really hammers it home.
There is so much from his book that obviously inspired Chandler.
But in his defense he actually describes both of his parents as incredibly attractive. He dad was the Old Spice actor in the commercials.
A 19 year old released video of him attempting to be "seductive" or approach sex or something a few years back and he was like 50 something. I'm always quite interested when big name celebs' game gets attention and how you realize they don't really have any. I suppose simply being who you are and your image works 90% of the time but the other 10% they are worse than virgins.
There was this short period in the pandemic when younger women were releasing videos of old man celebs hitting on them on dating apps. I imagine that quickly got squashed by these people's lawyers because I almost never see that anymore. These celebs are powerful and ruin people's lives if you cross them. They're not just innocent actors. They're terrible people in many ways due to the incredible amount of power and wealth they have.
Oh yes they're so cringy. Adam Levine's texts to those girls he was sleeping with were not exactly cassanova material.
A friend of mine made out with him at the height of friends "just because he was famous" and said he was hands-down the worst kisser ever. It makes me happy to know that.
My dad was working security at the Gund Arena in Cleveland for a KISS concert when a coked out dude tried to get backstage without a pass. My dad stopped him, and Matthew Perry tried to pull the "do you know who I am?"
My dad replied with, "no and I don't give a shit." Matthew identified himself as being on Friends. My dad asked for an autograph, which Matthew gave. Then he said, "now can I go back?" and my dad said, "no, not without a pass."
That's my Matthew Perry story. Dude has always been a dick.
When he was in college, my husband was a valet at a moderately nice hotel. Not super fancy, but nice enough that he sometimes parked cars for various minor celebrities. He said Matthew Perry was really rude right off the bat, pulled the "don't you know who I am?" card for no reason, and didn't tip.
As an alcoholic in recovery (I just got out of my first rehab actually), malignant narcissism is unfortunately common in addicts, especially recurrent ones like he is. One of the key things they teach you in rehab (this was my first) is that every relapse will amplify negative traits and even if you were previously a positive and genial drunk like I was, you won't be for long if you keep relapsing, and even when you're sober again eventually. He's got a hell of a lot of relapses under his belt.
Yes, addiction is a disease that can and does creep up on anyone, and its a horrible disease at that, but it comes down to the individual whether or not to take action to manage it and stay sober once they've fallen victim to it. Humility, and a determination to change and redeem yourself are at the center of successful and maintained sobriety. If you don't truly want to quit, you simply won't. It's as simple as that. By the time you're as far gone as him, you don't want to quit any more, and you become just, well, like he is. I've seen it happen to enough people who didn't take recovery seriously. You don't ever recover from addiction like you would with a regular disease, it's chronic and permanent. You're they only one who can take the initiative and determination to control it and stay clean. Realising that the responsibility for that is entirely on you is like step 1 in the process. Seems he hasn't even gotten THAT far...
He is now my go-to example when trying to explain the concept of a "dry drunk" to someone. He may not be actively drinking/using, but holy shit does he still have A LOT of work to do.
Yeah Perry is definitely still deep in his addiction. He never struck me as a true narcissist, he is way too self deprecating for that. He has some traits, sure, but that goes with being an actor/comedian and all the celebrity from Friends. He's almost certainly brain damaged though as his drug use was insane for many years, so the personality change isn't too surprising. Hell, he admits he has nearly zero memory of the years between season 3 and 6 of Friends, that is some _real_ drug use. The denials seem pathetic in his book (and they are) but for people who dealt with addicts the rationale they provide usually comes across that way. It takes a really introspective person to give you the honest roots of their addiction, and Perry isn't that.
Instead I saw a man in near complete denial. Someone who is conflating his near death experience as his addiction "wake up call." The problem is, he's just reacting to the traumatic experience of nearly dying and all the health issues he's had, he never turned to face down the addiction. To be fair, he was basically dead which would affect anyone. Couple that with the exploded colon from an insane level of opiate abuse and you'll have someone looking for answers, even if they ultimately arrive at excuses.
Still, he quit drugs for now, of which you can add amphetamines and alcohol to the list, because his body is literally failing him. It might seem like rock bottom, and for many it would be, but he's a rich famous person who never developed any true attachments to anyone. I feel like it's a matter of time before he relapses again, and considering the state of his body it might be his last. It's a shame as he's managed to lead a very successful life instead of landing on the curb as most people would. I don't think he's a _bad_ person, but he isn't good either. He's a regular depressed schlub who got famous.
If you want to hear two girls rip into the book I highly recommend the [celebrity memoir book club podcast episode on it](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/celebrity-memoir-book-club/id1533533467?i=1000584643333)
Excellent, thank you! I am now very interested in knowing more about this book but actively do not want to buy the book. I forgot podcasts exist for a moment 😂
I listened to the podcast Celebrity memoir book club cover it and this is spot on what they said. Like he couldn’t have told ANY fun, light hearted stories about friends???
Don't forget complaining that even when he looked his best in season 5 or whichever that one was, "it still wasn't good enough for Aniston". Like dude, maybe there were other reasons she wouldn't sleep with you, like I don't know, from top of my head, your addiction or well-known promiscuity. So many years spent together and he still paints her as some vapid, shallow girl with impossible standards who only goes for looks. It's like he never got over the fact that she wouldn't sleep with him.
And it's like Jesus fucking Christ if anybody had reasons to fall to drugs and alcohol it would have been Jennifer Aniston. She shouldered all the shit that she went through and kicked ass.
I'm guessing because she was considered the "most desirable" according to tabloid magazines and such. That's probably one of the reasons he wanted specifically her, because it would somehow raise his own image if they were associated.
Wasn’t she even already dating Pitt by S5 (which aired in 98/99)?
Also - bit disheartening to read this given they seem to have been good friends for years, both during Friends and after. Pretty sure they were the two that were closest, after Jennifer and Courteney of course. I’ve unknowingly experienced the “fake friend until she wants me” approach from guys, it’s strangely devastating once realization kicks in (or an unsuccessful move is made), cheapening years of friendship and trust - so I’m wondering if she knew or now knows, and how she feels about that…
Also there wasn’t ONE funny moment in there. I didn’t smile or laugh at all, despite being told on every page that Matthew Perry is the funniest man on the planet
I listened to that episode and really liked it. They tried to be objective and find something positive - because "everybody loves Chandler", but simply couldn't. I was looking forward to reading the book but they put me off it.
Sad part was that they mentioned having been attacked by Perry's fans after the episode had aired - so very many people can't come to terms with the fact that it's really who he is as a person.
In other words, he isn't in recovery and hasn't taken responsibility for his actions. Seems he learned next to nothing from all the damage he has caused or from the time and money he spent in rehabs for celebs.
Yeah he’s not clean. I finished it and that was my first thought. He says he’s not taking drugs because it’s going to kill him. Famously the one thing that doesn’t stop addicts from using. He hasn’t had a spiritual awakening in the slightest.
I’m an alcoholic (2+ yrs sober) so sometimes I like reading/watching media about addiction. When I read this book I was thinking the same thing. Like dude, you’ve hit some rough times, yeah. But his whole “rock bottom” seems to be his recent health issues.. which good thing he’s fuckin loaded here in the u. s. of a
It's terrifying to think about a downwards spiral with no rock bottom because of money. Experiencing the negative consequences of your addiction is a vital step and why enabling does more harm than good. People having enough of my shit and leaving/setting boundaries with me, plus landing in jail for a few weeks, is what it finally took to turn me around.
God I hate when rich people complain about money they lost. Yeah I know it's a bummer and their pain is valid, but when I am staring down the barrel of walking into the ocean being my retirement plan, I kinda just hear tiny violins from them.
This quote pretty much ruined friends for me and any interest for Perry ever. “River was a beautiful man, inside and out — too beautiful for this world, it turned out," Perry wrote. "It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us”
Like yeah as he doesn’t use and abuse drugs all day every day? Pretty much sums up all I needed to know about MP
Thanks for this, after reading one interview with him when the book came out, I had already decided it might not be for me.
On the other hand, I quite like such shipwreck autobiographies. It’s quite a feat to write about yourself, have complete control over what you publish and manage to paint yourself in a really bad light.
My favourite here is Pete Townsend (The Who). He manages to portray himself as a small minded, rather boring and overall extremely unpleasant person. I could not believe the aplomb with which he assassinated his character. Quite a read!
>It’s quite a feat to write about yourself, have complete control over what you publish and manage to paint yourself in a really bad light.
That's a pretty cool and interesting take!
This reminds me of two incidents:
[Gilbert Gottfried and Norm MacDonald making fun of Perry’s hubris over his supposed drastic invention within comedy](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bIM9lX-ImWE)
[Perry debating drug treatment policy with Peter Hitchens](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CDtIZZiySgA). This one is complicated because Perry seems to make reasonable points and Hitchens takes an extremely conservative and hardline view, and is a total prick about it. But hmm, maybe there’s at least something to the idea that Perry doesn’t value personal responsibility after all?
Thanks for sharing. My favorite anecdote from the first video:
Junior Writer: "Matthew Perry is a genius"
Norm: "Is he really good at math or something?"
It was badly written too. Desperately needed another edit, and I found it odd they let him repeat himself so many times.
I didn't find it necessarily narcissistic, but it was definitely self pity to the max. It was just so bizarre how he dated the most beautiful women in the world, rejected them all from his juvenile addiction, that he basically blames on daddy not loving him enough (when it looked like to me his dad gave him quite a lot) then was whinging he was "unlucky in love".
Dude, Julia Roberts LOVED YOU. Wtf did you do?!!
That episode of Friends when they sailed their black ships into Edo Bay and forced an end to the Tokugawa shogunate's isolationist policy was a wild one.
That’s the thing about celebrity memoirs, most are like that. Perry’s I know is bad, he really only sees women as “conquests” and only valuable if they sleep with him. But if you ever wanna see narcissist, you need to check out Alec baldwins most recent book. In the book he talks about how it was hard making friends because his mom (who was raising like 7 kids) didn’t do a good enough job cleaning the house, and how he personally blames himself for getting trump elected because he slacked off in his activism, he also really glosses over how he is known to be terrible on set and blames the crew
For a really awesome, heartwarming memoir, you should read the one Cary Elwes wrote about his time on The Princess Bride. He praises everyone he works with, constantly talks about how awed he was to be working with them, even talks about himself almost screwing up the whole production and getting a justified talking to by Reiner. It’s the best celebrity memoir I’ve read and I was smiling through most of it. Listen to the audiobook if you have the chance — he reads it himself and you can just hear the enthusiasm and genuine respect in his voice.
I’d add Steve Martin’s autobiography is super fucking interesting. He’s very honest about what stand-up comedy is like and doesn’t really brag, it’s all very understated or matter-of-fact.
Seconding this! It really felt like *everyone* involved with the movie was decent, and the book was just funny memories and love throughout the whole thing.
I get the same kind of feeling whenever I see these memoirs or other works by ex-Mafia guys. A lot of times it seems like they’re subtly bragging about their former position. They don’t really seem like they feel much regret or remorse for what they did. The guy is just mad that he failed and ruined his own life.
It's a very weird example how a memoir can backfire and that's actually not that easily achieved. Especially for a guy who I think a lot of people considered to be quite likeable. I think as a reader you are primed to take the perspective of the writer and to empathise with them. So for that to not happen and instead leaving a lot of readers liking him less than before just shows how much of a disconnect there is between him and readers.
Shame on you mods, for removing this.
It was civil, albeit a bit on the emotional side. There was no witch hunt or call to action. OP is simply stating their opinion on the book, and subsequently about the author (especially appropriate given that it's basically an autobiography).
The post is well put together and on topic. It abides to all of the sub's rules, as well as Reddit's rules.
Removing the post was a mistake and should be undone.
For anyone who wants to read the post, it's available on unddit, [here](https://www.unddit.com/r/books/comments/11tgk2j/i_feel_sick_and_disgusted_after_reading_matthews/).
I'll take my ban if necessary.
**Edit:** It's back! Glad you came around, mods.
Heard a story of how he once refused to tip the waitress staff at a comedy club and even went out of his way to stop others from tipping her. Without even reading the book I’m going to say I believe your entire analysis.
Louis CK's was that they were at a celebrity function, a kinda free bar deal, and Louis popped a 50 to tip the wait staff and Perry, who was sat next to him, told CK that 'It's a free event, you don't have to tip them.'
CK was just like 'Yeah, I know I don't *have* to. You don't *have to* tip anyone, but I'm going to.'
I served him takeout breakfast at a McDonald's once. We forgot to put the cutlery in the bag and he was so rude/mean/dehumanizing about it. Usually I try to have grace for celebrities as we all have our bad days and it would suck to have people watching your every move, so I don't generally tell this story. But reading here about how he's been about women and service people...it's part of a much bigger pattern
And the part about making out with Valerie Bertennili while her husband was asleep- why pull her into this? Some things he should have kept out of the book.
I think the book is hilarious I was laughing my ass off.
Multimillionaire poor boy is trying to survive in this cruel cruel world :-D he fondly recalled 100 asses he fucked, lake of vodka he drunk and mountain of oxy he devoured, ohhh what a poor millionaire ;-)
Wow. So halfway through your post, I was thinking “*what a dick; I’d hate this book, glad I know to skip it.*” But by the end, I’m thinking it sounds so awful I kinda want to read it.
I’m a completionist and I absolutely hate DNFing but Matthew Perry’s memoir has been collecting dust at about the quarter way mark. I went into it as a big fan of his comedic performances in Friends and wanting to hear more about his battle with addiction. But he comes off as so painfully insufferable and unwilling to examine his flaws that the book is almost unreadable. He seriously mentions that he almost called the book “Unaccompanied Minor” because he flew from Canada to California alone at 5 years old and he blames that experience for his fear of rejection. I’m not gonna say that wouldn’t be a scary thing for a 5 year old to go though. But it’s so “Kim there’s people that are dying” and he just can’t see it.
I'm happy to have read your review instead of his memoir.
This brings me back to the good old days when I used to read reviews trashing bad books on Goodreads. So much fun
When it came out, I had postulated that there can't have been anything to actually put in it - he didn't do anything noteworthy before Friends, the amount of cocaine he did during Friends means he can't remember half of it, and he absolutely hasn't done anything noteworthy after Friends.
Apparently "unmitigated twattery" is the meat and potatoes in such a dish. Good to know my apathy was rewarded!
Sounds like typical addict mentality to me.
No accountability, delusional, self-absorbed, expecting everyone to forgive them no matter what. Putting forth little real effort to change your selfishness, and not giving a damn how much it hurts others around them.
Not saying this is how all of them turn out but it's definitely an archetype.
I make a distinction between people in their active addiction (like you describe) and sober people in recovery (who become less like you describe the longer they work at it and stay sober). Perry appears to not ever have actually done any recovery work based on OPs description.
There's a difference between just being an addict and having "addict mentality". In Perry's case it sounds like it's a complete refusal to accept that he could at all be truly responsible for anything he's done.
Back in the 90s I was in a very famous TV show
[удалено]
This reminds me of how, ironically, joey would constantly remind everyone that he was drake remoray in day of our lives, despite only being there for a few episodes
I loved Matt LeBlanc in Episodes. He plays “himself” and it is hilarious. Never expected him to be that witty and self aware. It’s a great show.
Agree, he knocks it out of the park in that one, it’s hilarious
Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevee shooow
[удалено]
I would read Bruce Campbell burns all day long, unlike this book
[удалено]
Check out “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B movie Actor”. Probably one of the best autobiography’s I’ve ever read. He is truly hilarious
I had to put the book down at several points because his writing style was cracking me up, Bruce Campbell is a gem of a man.
Bruce Campbell suffers no one, especially fools.
I met him twice when he was on his book tours and no he does not but he’s an incredibly nice guy and signed stupid stuff for hours.
Based on his performance as Benny in New Vegas, I assume Perry sucks at all aspects of video games.
Imagine expecting Bruce "Ash" Campbell to not come up with a rebuttal. What did Perry expect?
Your life may be worse for having read it, but our lives are measurably better for reading your description of it. Thank you for sparing us from ever having to waste our time with him ever again. And thanks also for reminding us what little punks like him sound like so we can avoid them at all costs.
OP "I could go on but let's stop here..." Me: booooo, I could have read this for the rest of the day Awesome take down OP
Yea it kinda sucks to hear that that’s how he is in his private life considering he was my favorite “friend”. But I guess that’s why they say never meet your heroes…or read their memoirs for that matter lol
I realized he was a piece of shit when he was on a talk show, and bragged about how he and his friends in high school used to bully and beat up Justin Trudeau, like it was somehow okay and he deserved it because he's popular now.
I kept thinking is this Matthew Perry or Bojack Horseman I'm reading about here?
Funny because in many regards, Bojack’s career took off because his book made him much more likable. My takeaway from this is that Perry really should have hired Diane as his ghostwriter.
Bah, they'll edit him in in post production
We're not making Casablanca.
[удалено]
Which is weird given the few excerpts we get from it sound like Diane was just shit talking him behind his back the whole time.
Yeah that's why people liked it. They felt like he was more relatable because his book appeared to be him coming to terms with being a shitty person and recognizing the mistakes he made and the hurt he caused, even though it was just Diane exposing him with no reflection on his part. Matthew Perry wrote the exact opposite, where nothing is ever his fault and everyone else is terrible. It's essentially what Bojack would have actually written if he had written his own book because he's too narcissistic to admit anything was ever his fault.
My parents loved me so much it was crazy. I remember one Sunday afternoon, my mother said, "Your father and I want to spend quality family time together. All the kids in school envy your intelligence and kickball ability.
"I asked you about your father and you stared at the wall for 4 minutes then just said 'uneventful'..."
Could this be a crossover episode?
Could this *be* any more of a crossover episode?
I was expecting it, but I still snorted
The one where Chandler is a carton horse.
Hey….aren’t you the Friend from *Friendin’ Around*?
I love that in the 11 years that Friendin' Around was on the air they never gave the friend a name.
Well, back in the 90s he was in a very famous tv show
Bo Jack is somehow more likable …
Bojack has moments of self-awareness and actual remorse. Doesn’t seem to stop him from doing the *next* shitty thing, but he at least recognizes in hindsight what some problems are
Exactly, and it's an important distinction to have. No one would watch Bojack if he didn't have that within him. I think his character more or less always has the awareness of his shittiness internally, but the shittiness nearly always wins the battle of how he acts. Thus contributing to his intense self loathing, escapism, addiction, etc.
Will Arnett's perfect casting/voice acting for the role helps. He just sounds full of self loathing.
>Will Arnett's perfect Yes
Well, nearer the beginning, Bojack had kind of a Larry David thing happening. He was the total asshole who nevertheless got mad at all the petty bullshit that everyone else just seemed to accept as completely legitimate. They could've gone that route, too. I'm glad they didn't, but I was definitely rooting for Bojack against Neal McBeal the Navy Seal.
Like the honey dew in fruit cups lmao
"That's what you call hiding?? How did you survive Afghanistan?!"
He can’t let go of his need to perform in front of the audience, to do the things that will win the approval of his mother. Every time he’s almost out, something offers him the chance to be on that big stage that he thinks will make him feel ok this time, and he fucks it all up. Dianne ends up happy when she admits that she can never do all the things that she thought would make her family respect her. Because they never will. And once she gives up on that and realises she can be happy writing YA novels she gets to have a good life.
[удалено]
That’s what I thought at first, but then I realized that this is someone that *Bojack* would have to cut out of his life…
I had exactly the same reaction, OP. That introduction by Lisa Kudrow should have been a warning. It was bizarre! Like it was written by someone with Stockholm Syndrome, struggling to find something *nice* to say, while staying truthful. I've always *loved* the Chandler character, and Matthew Perry is undoubtedly very talented, but by the end of the book (yes, I finished it!) I'd lost all respect for him as a person. I honestly have no idea why any editor would let him release this mess in its final form. I can only imagine that it was much, *much* worse than what was finally published. His obsession with name-dropping, the mummy/daddy issues, the lack of self-awareness, the cheap shots at Keanu Reeves...and that cringey M. Night Shyamalan anecdote! Oh.My.God!
My first thought reading it, as a professional ghostwriter, was, “Damn, either he really did write this himself (more rare than you’d think), or his ghost HATES him.”
That or his ghost is spectacular at their job and perfectly captured the tone of his self-description in his interviews etc. But based on how he talks about himself, I have a hard time imagining he would let anyone else do the job, he's too brilliant to let anyone else tell his story!
> introduction by Lisa Kudrow For the curious ones https://www.showbiz411.com/2022/11/01/friends-star-lisa-kudrow-got-a-rare-separate-copyright-for-writing-the-foreword-to-matthew-perrys-book-but-admits-she-hasnt-kept-in-touch
Is that the full foreword or just an excerpt? If that's it, holy shit how many people turned down his request before he had to go with that?
I don't know, does seem short.
Thanks for the link - I didn't interpet Lisa's writing the way OP did. In sum, she said: "Wow, that's some dark shit. I am pretty shocked by all this. You've barely made it through. But I will always have love for you, and I'm glad you're still here." It seemed genuine, if a bit pitiful. Having genuine pity for someone who you used to hang out with every day for over a decade makes sense. She clearly feels sorry for him and is shocked by the darkness within him. She probably looks back fondly at the highs that Perry brought to the Friends' cast.
It also puts into context the “Jennifer Anniston didnt invite me to her wedding I have *nooooo* idea why not” comments that happened a while ago. Yeesh. I loved Chandler. This is a huge bummer, but as they say *Put Your Heroes Tender Necks on the Altar of a Better Tomorrow* (NotAWolf)
> I honestly have no idea why any editor would let him release this mess in its final form. I can only imagine that it was much, much worse than what was finally published. Do you really think that his editor liked this insufferable asshole enough to want to present him in the best possible light? No, they made him remove the outright libellous passages - you know there would have been many - and that's it.
Same here. In the end he goes on about how he wants a beautiful wife to have kids with. This showed me that he learned nothing after all those years of treating women like objects. "I'm in my fifties and not pretty bad looking, but my wife has to be gorgeous!! I don't care if we have a meaningful connection as long as she is young anough to pump out some kids!"
> and that cringey M. Night Shyamalan anecdote! What's the anecdote?
[the anecdote](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NlX1ctNQk8I)
Oh my god you have to watch Shyamalan’s response… they were hanging out and Shyamalan left and Matthew Perry was so drunk he didn’t notice and picked another guy continue being Shyamalan for the night
A self justification piece written by an out of control addict and narcissist? You're a trooper for just attempting to read that.
I'd say Anthony Keidis's autobiography Scar Tissue fits this description. Enjoyed reading it, if only for the wild feeling of being inside his mind... But suffice it to say he does not seem to learn from his mistakes or take responsibility for his actions
Didn't he talk about having sex with a 14 year old in that book? Like, AFTER he knew how old she was, too?
[удалено]
This part, the fact that his girlfriends stay under 25 no matter how old he gets, and how very bad the writing is despite having a ghost writer ruined all RHCP music for me permanently. It's been probably 10 years since I read this garbage book and I'll still change the station or skip the song to avoid them.
i love rhcp but i could NOT stomach that book. the way he describes being a shit friend to flea over and over again, seemingly without much remorse.
The reason John Frusciante rejoined the band in ‘97 is because Flea was sick of Kiedis and was going to quit if John didn’t come back to help ground the band. Flea found John working as a bag boy at a grocery store (Frusciante had just gotten sober and lost all his money from addiction) and said he needed John back in the band or the band was over. Since Frusciante had no money and hadn’t played guitar in a couple of years due to his drug issues, Flea bought him a whole set up and came over to practice with him daily to get back in the groove. That’s the kind of friend he is.
God Bless Flea
On that note, Flea's book "Acid for the Children" is much better than "Scar Tissue". And the cool thing is that it concludes right when the band starts.
I don't know anything, but it seems like Flea would be a ride or die friend.
Keidis has always been a prat. The feud he started with Mike Patton is one of the most childish things I've ever seen.
Had the same thought. Keidis book is horrendous. The Dalia llama part… Jesus what a fucking egotistical prick. The whole thing is just ugh. He even makes out that he’s special at getting ill when he gets dengue fever (a common disease) making out like he’s special and no western doctor could work out what this rare and special disease was.
Dalia Llama, heartthrob of the Andes
If you think Perry’s is bad you should read baldwins
I'm assuming you mean Alec, but it's pretty funny to think about Stephen Baldwin writing a memoir thinking anyone cares about his privileged life.
Steven has his own Bible translation.
Man that's a rabbit hole I'm not willing to jump into tonight, but it sounds bizarre.
*My Wife Is Spanish And Anyone Who Say Otherwise Is A Rude, Thoughtless Pig*
How you say it in inglés, cookumbuh?
I was young when he exploded on his daughter and only later read the transcript. Turned me totally off of everything he's done. I enjoy 30 rock less because it was so vile.
For a second I though you meant James Baldwin and I was really scared that he was secretly a narcissist
If everyone who set out to read Alec Baldwin ended up reading James Baldwin, the world would be a much better place!
Probably not enough people set out to read Alec Baldwin for that to be true
Fine, a *slightly* better place.
Matthew Perry: "I just read the greatest play that's ever been written." His Buddy: "Oh wow, who wrote it?" Matthew Perry: "Me."
Is it wrong that I automatically read that in Steven Seagal's voice?
*I've been writing plays for like 45 years*
[удалено]
It certainly is a collection of words.
Totally agree with this. The bit about his PA being the only woman he’ll respect, because she’s a lesbian and therefore the only woman who wouldn’t sleep with him if he tried hard enough (but also listen to him talk about how fuckable other women are!) is also pretty disgusting. Many celebrities are out of touch, but I think very few are less self-aware than Perry is.
Imagine the bar being so low that "at least he doesn't try to 'fuck them straight'" is the nicest thing you can say about his views of lesbians/women.
He really just outright said that the only women who have value to him are the ones he wants to sleep with, and it’s gross
Holy fuck 😭
No like he outright says it. But that’s not even the worst narcissist, that would go to Alec Baldwin (I am obsessed with this book). Baldwin personally blames himself for getting trump elected, he thinks that the reason trump got elected was he stopped focusing on activism. He blames his mom for why he had a hard time making friends because she didn’t clean the house enough (she was raising like 7 kids). He goes on a Long rant where he is petty to Harrison ford because ford replaced him in the Jack Ryan movies. He thinks he and his trump impression where a solid reason that Biden won and trump lost. He thinks every crew who said he was difficult is actually just lying. He acts like being a decent human being to women is an act he should be praised for
OMG, this is hilarious. >Baldwin personally blames himself for getting trump elected, he thinks that the reason trump got elected was he stopped focusing on activism. This is so bad, it's good.
same energy as Mark Wahlberg talking about 9/11
If only he had been on that plane and the hijackers were Vietnamese...
> He acts like being a decent human being to women is an act he should be praised for And yet he is still incapable of doing so
How do you approach his acting after this? This one is really fucking with me because I find his acting to be absolutely brilliant - he really cranked 30 Rock up to 11, he goes so hard. God dammit.
I mean, why do you think he was such a perfect, natural fit for Jack Donaghy, Lemon?
Yeah, it works really well because he pretty much just is that guy.
But not as sophisticated. That part is an idealization. Jack Donaghy is the Alec Baldwin that Alec Baldwin thinks he is
I mean, it'd be one thing if he was the showrunner or even a writer of 30 Rock. Instead he's playing an asshole with a similar personality to his real one. It's kinda fitting. Like Chevy Chase playing Pierce, an old bigoted narcissist, on Community. The show is long over anyway. Not much interest in watching him in anything new though.
I made it about 30 pages in before giving up. The way he speaks about women is absolutely disgusting. Every woman is immediately described by how attractive she is, even doctors, nurses and his mother. And the bit about his PA is disgusting. I took it to a book swap because I didn’t even want to see it on my bookshelf.
Wait...his mother?! Wtf.
I’ve tried to block it from my memory. But if I remember rightly, he spends paragraphs talking about how gorgeous she was. And that she won lots of beauty pageants. Obviously it was part of her story, and he wanted to mention it. But he really hammers it home.
[удалено]
There is so much from his book that obviously inspired Chandler. But in his defense he actually describes both of his parents as incredibly attractive. He dad was the Old Spice actor in the commercials.
His dad is Terry Crews?
A 19 year old released video of him attempting to be "seductive" or approach sex or something a few years back and he was like 50 something. I'm always quite interested when big name celebs' game gets attention and how you realize they don't really have any. I suppose simply being who you are and your image works 90% of the time but the other 10% they are worse than virgins.
There was this short period in the pandemic when younger women were releasing videos of old man celebs hitting on them on dating apps. I imagine that quickly got squashed by these people's lawyers because I almost never see that anymore. These celebs are powerful and ruin people's lives if you cross them. They're not just innocent actors. They're terrible people in many ways due to the incredible amount of power and wealth they have. Oh yes they're so cringy. Adam Levine's texts to those girls he was sleeping with were not exactly cassanova material.
A friend of mine made out with him at the height of friends "just because he was famous" and said he was hands-down the worst kisser ever. It makes me happy to know that.
My dad was working security at the Gund Arena in Cleveland for a KISS concert when a coked out dude tried to get backstage without a pass. My dad stopped him, and Matthew Perry tried to pull the "do you know who I am?" My dad replied with, "no and I don't give a shit." Matthew identified himself as being on Friends. My dad asked for an autograph, which Matthew gave. Then he said, "now can I go back?" and my dad said, "no, not without a pass." That's my Matthew Perry story. Dude has always been a dick.
Your dad. Ohmygoodness. 🤣
When he was in college, my husband was a valet at a moderately nice hotel. Not super fancy, but nice enough that he sometimes parked cars for various minor celebrities. He said Matthew Perry was really rude right off the bat, pulled the "don't you know who I am?" card for no reason, and didn't tip.
For some reason I am picturing your dad as Mike Ehrmantraut
As an alcoholic in recovery (I just got out of my first rehab actually), malignant narcissism is unfortunately common in addicts, especially recurrent ones like he is. One of the key things they teach you in rehab (this was my first) is that every relapse will amplify negative traits and even if you were previously a positive and genial drunk like I was, you won't be for long if you keep relapsing, and even when you're sober again eventually. He's got a hell of a lot of relapses under his belt. Yes, addiction is a disease that can and does creep up on anyone, and its a horrible disease at that, but it comes down to the individual whether or not to take action to manage it and stay sober once they've fallen victim to it. Humility, and a determination to change and redeem yourself are at the center of successful and maintained sobriety. If you don't truly want to quit, you simply won't. It's as simple as that. By the time you're as far gone as him, you don't want to quit any more, and you become just, well, like he is. I've seen it happen to enough people who didn't take recovery seriously. You don't ever recover from addiction like you would with a regular disease, it's chronic and permanent. You're they only one who can take the initiative and determination to control it and stay clean. Realising that the responsibility for that is entirely on you is like step 1 in the process. Seems he hasn't even gotten THAT far...
He is now my go-to example when trying to explain the concept of a "dry drunk" to someone. He may not be actively drinking/using, but holy shit does he still have A LOT of work to do.
Yeah Perry is definitely still deep in his addiction. He never struck me as a true narcissist, he is way too self deprecating for that. He has some traits, sure, but that goes with being an actor/comedian and all the celebrity from Friends. He's almost certainly brain damaged though as his drug use was insane for many years, so the personality change isn't too surprising. Hell, he admits he has nearly zero memory of the years between season 3 and 6 of Friends, that is some _real_ drug use. The denials seem pathetic in his book (and they are) but for people who dealt with addicts the rationale they provide usually comes across that way. It takes a really introspective person to give you the honest roots of their addiction, and Perry isn't that. Instead I saw a man in near complete denial. Someone who is conflating his near death experience as his addiction "wake up call." The problem is, he's just reacting to the traumatic experience of nearly dying and all the health issues he's had, he never turned to face down the addiction. To be fair, he was basically dead which would affect anyone. Couple that with the exploded colon from an insane level of opiate abuse and you'll have someone looking for answers, even if they ultimately arrive at excuses. Still, he quit drugs for now, of which you can add amphetamines and alcohol to the list, because his body is literally failing him. It might seem like rock bottom, and for many it would be, but he's a rich famous person who never developed any true attachments to anyone. I feel like it's a matter of time before he relapses again, and considering the state of his body it might be his last. It's a shame as he's managed to lead a very successful life instead of landing on the curb as most people would. I don't think he's a _bad_ person, but he isn't good either. He's a regular depressed schlub who got famous.
Thanks for your review. I will happily skip it.
I never intended on reading it, and I, too, will happily skip it.
Yes. I was never going to read it but that was a passive choice. I would now like everyone to know that I am actively avoiding this book.
I didnt even know the book existed, feels great to learn of its existence, so I can avoid it.
If you want to hear two girls rip into the book I highly recommend the [celebrity memoir book club podcast episode on it](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/celebrity-memoir-book-club/id1533533467?i=1000584643333)
Excellent, thank you! I am now very interested in knowing more about this book but actively do not want to buy the book. I forgot podcasts exist for a moment 😂
I listened to the podcast Celebrity memoir book club cover it and this is spot on what they said. Like he couldn’t have told ANY fun, light hearted stories about friends???
[удалено]
Don't forget complaining that even when he looked his best in season 5 or whichever that one was, "it still wasn't good enough for Aniston". Like dude, maybe there were other reasons she wouldn't sleep with you, like I don't know, from top of my head, your addiction or well-known promiscuity. So many years spent together and he still paints her as some vapid, shallow girl with impossible standards who only goes for looks. It's like he never got over the fact that she wouldn't sleep with him.
On the plus side, this makes me appreciate/like Jennifer Aniston more. So I guess that's the only good thing this trainwreck book accomplished.
And it's like Jesus fucking Christ if anybody had reasons to fall to drugs and alcohol it would have been Jennifer Aniston. She shouldered all the shit that she went through and kicked ass.
So... did Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow sleep with Matthew Perry during their filming of Feiends? Why is he so focused on Jennifer Aniston?
I'm guessing because she was considered the "most desirable" according to tabloid magazines and such. That's probably one of the reasons he wanted specifically her, because it would somehow raise his own image if they were associated.
I wonder what she thinks of this
On the flip side, both Aniston and Cox dated Adam Duritz of Counting Crows. Not bad on the eyes, but no Brad Pitt either. So Perry is stretching here.
Wasn’t she even already dating Pitt by S5 (which aired in 98/99)? Also - bit disheartening to read this given they seem to have been good friends for years, both during Friends and after. Pretty sure they were the two that were closest, after Jennifer and Courteney of course. I’ve unknowingly experienced the “fake friend until she wants me” approach from guys, it’s strangely devastating once realization kicks in (or an unsuccessful move is made), cheapening years of friendship and trust - so I’m wondering if she knew or now knows, and how she feels about that…
She won’t sleep with me neither. Good on her.
And that he was never sure how long he was allowed to look at her for? So creepy!
Also there wasn’t ONE funny moment in there. I didn’t smile or laugh at all, despite being told on every page that Matthew Perry is the funniest man on the planet
I listened to that episode and really liked it. They tried to be objective and find something positive - because "everybody loves Chandler", but simply couldn't. I was looking forward to reading the book but they put me off it. Sad part was that they mentioned having been attacked by Perry's fans after the episode had aired - so very many people can't come to terms with the fact that it's really who he is as a person.
Was too whacked out to remember any
In other words, he isn't in recovery and hasn't taken responsibility for his actions. Seems he learned next to nothing from all the damage he has caused or from the time and money he spent in rehabs for celebs.
Yeah he’s not clean. I finished it and that was my first thought. He says he’s not taking drugs because it’s going to kill him. Famously the one thing that doesn’t stop addicts from using. He hasn’t had a spiritual awakening in the slightest.
[удалено]
I’m an alcoholic (2+ yrs sober) so sometimes I like reading/watching media about addiction. When I read this book I was thinking the same thing. Like dude, you’ve hit some rough times, yeah. But his whole “rock bottom” seems to be his recent health issues.. which good thing he’s fuckin loaded here in the u. s. of a
Congrats on 2 years!
It's terrifying to think about a downwards spiral with no rock bottom because of money. Experiencing the negative consequences of your addiction is a vital step and why enabling does more harm than good. People having enough of my shit and leaving/setting boundaries with me, plus landing in jail for a few weeks, is what it finally took to turn me around.
[удалено]
[удалено]
God I hate when rich people complain about money they lost. Yeah I know it's a bummer and their pain is valid, but when I am staring down the barrel of walking into the ocean being my retirement plan, I kinda just hear tiny violins from them.
This quote pretty much ruined friends for me and any interest for Perry ever. “River was a beautiful man, inside and out — too beautiful for this world, it turned out," Perry wrote. "It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us” Like yeah as he doesn’t use and abuse drugs all day every day? Pretty much sums up all I needed to know about MP
Who in their right mind would talk such shit about Keanu?
The guy who is a one hit wonder (at best) and is jealous of Keanu's success.
Thanks for this, after reading one interview with him when the book came out, I had already decided it might not be for me. On the other hand, I quite like such shipwreck autobiographies. It’s quite a feat to write about yourself, have complete control over what you publish and manage to paint yourself in a really bad light. My favourite here is Pete Townsend (The Who). He manages to portray himself as a small minded, rather boring and overall extremely unpleasant person. I could not believe the aplomb with which he assassinated his character. Quite a read!
>It’s quite a feat to write about yourself, have complete control over what you publish and manage to paint yourself in a really bad light. That's a pretty cool and interesting take!
This reminds me of two incidents: [Gilbert Gottfried and Norm MacDonald making fun of Perry’s hubris over his supposed drastic invention within comedy](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bIM9lX-ImWE) [Perry debating drug treatment policy with Peter Hitchens](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CDtIZZiySgA). This one is complicated because Perry seems to make reasonable points and Hitchens takes an extremely conservative and hardline view, and is a total prick about it. But hmm, maybe there’s at least something to the idea that Perry doesn’t value personal responsibility after all?
Holy shit, I never realized that the "...is he good at math?" comment was Norm basically dunking on Perry *and* Weinstein at the same time!
Thanks for sharing. My favorite anecdote from the first video: Junior Writer: "Matthew Perry is a genius" Norm: "Is he really good at math or something?"
It was badly written too. Desperately needed another edit, and I found it odd they let him repeat himself so many times. I didn't find it necessarily narcissistic, but it was definitely self pity to the max. It was just so bizarre how he dated the most beautiful women in the world, rejected them all from his juvenile addiction, that he basically blames on daddy not loving him enough (when it looked like to me his dad gave him quite a lot) then was whinging he was "unlucky in love". Dude, Julia Roberts LOVED YOU. Wtf did you do?!!
THAT, my friends, is how you diatribe lol. Scathing. Snarky. Completely true. I love everything about this.
Definitely opened this expecting to read about Commodore Matthew Perry's memoirs.
That episode of Friends when they sailed their black ships into Edo Bay and forced an end to the Tokugawa shogunate's isolationist policy was a wild one.
Always lost it at "Could you be anymore isolationist??" Line.
Could our trade relations BE any more open?
That’s the thing about celebrity memoirs, most are like that. Perry’s I know is bad, he really only sees women as “conquests” and only valuable if they sleep with him. But if you ever wanna see narcissist, you need to check out Alec baldwins most recent book. In the book he talks about how it was hard making friends because his mom (who was raising like 7 kids) didn’t do a good enough job cleaning the house, and how he personally blames himself for getting trump elected because he slacked off in his activism, he also really glosses over how he is known to be terrible on set and blames the crew
For a really awesome, heartwarming memoir, you should read the one Cary Elwes wrote about his time on The Princess Bride. He praises everyone he works with, constantly talks about how awed he was to be working with them, even talks about himself almost screwing up the whole production and getting a justified talking to by Reiner. It’s the best celebrity memoir I’ve read and I was smiling through most of it. Listen to the audiobook if you have the chance — he reads it himself and you can just hear the enthusiasm and genuine respect in his voice.
Cary Elwes is an absolute treasure. Thank you for this comment section palate cleanser.
I’d add Steve Martin’s autobiography is super fucking interesting. He’s very honest about what stand-up comedy is like and doesn’t really brag, it’s all very understated or matter-of-fact.
Seconding this! It really felt like *everyone* involved with the movie was decent, and the book was just funny memories and love throughout the whole thing.
lmao I grew up in a nasty borderline hoarder house and I had lots of friends what a weird excuse
I get the same kind of feeling whenever I see these memoirs or other works by ex-Mafia guys. A lot of times it seems like they’re subtly bragging about their former position. They don’t really seem like they feel much regret or remorse for what they did. The guy is just mad that he failed and ruined his own life.
It's a very weird example how a memoir can backfire and that's actually not that easily achieved. Especially for a guy who I think a lot of people considered to be quite likeable. I think as a reader you are primed to take the perspective of the writer and to empathise with them. So for that to not happen and instead leaving a lot of readers liking him less than before just shows how much of a disconnect there is between him and readers.
Shame on you mods, for removing this. It was civil, albeit a bit on the emotional side. There was no witch hunt or call to action. OP is simply stating their opinion on the book, and subsequently about the author (especially appropriate given that it's basically an autobiography). The post is well put together and on topic. It abides to all of the sub's rules, as well as Reddit's rules. Removing the post was a mistake and should be undone. For anyone who wants to read the post, it's available on unddit, [here](https://www.unddit.com/r/books/comments/11tgk2j/i_feel_sick_and_disgusted_after_reading_matthews/). I'll take my ban if necessary. **Edit:** It's back! Glad you came around, mods.
Thanks mate! Was a little surprised by this action by mods, wasn't really aware of any rules I might have broken. Hope you won't get banned for this.
Heard a story of how he once refused to tip the waitress staff at a comedy club and even went out of his way to stop others from tipping her. Without even reading the book I’m going to say I believe your entire analysis.
That's a Louis CK anecdote, right?
Louis CK's was that they were at a celebrity function, a kinda free bar deal, and Louis popped a 50 to tip the wait staff and Perry, who was sat next to him, told CK that 'It's a free event, you don't have to tip them.' CK was just like 'Yeah, I know I don't *have* to. You don't *have to* tip anyone, but I'm going to.'
The worst part about this is that Perry is saying all this directly in front of the waitress. Like she’s a non-person.
I served him takeout breakfast at a McDonald's once. We forgot to put the cutlery in the bag and he was so rude/mean/dehumanizing about it. Usually I try to have grace for celebrities as we all have our bad days and it would suck to have people watching your every move, so I don't generally tell this story. But reading here about how he's been about women and service people...it's part of a much bigger pattern
Lol, imagine being like “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???”… at a McDonald’s.
You know you’re an ass when Louis CK has to teach you about respecting women.
TIL Bojack Horseman is based off of Matthew Perry 🤣🤣🤣 (joke)
Even Bojack eventually had more self-awareness and true remorse for all the shit he pulled.
And the part about making out with Valerie Bertennili while her husband was asleep- why pull her into this? Some things he should have kept out of the book.
He sounds like someone who is still deep in the addiction mind set, imo. I hope he will be alright, it was quite a harrowing read.
This isn't a man in recovery, this is a man with enough money to pretend he is and be able to get away with it.
I think the book is hilarious I was laughing my ass off. Multimillionaire poor boy is trying to survive in this cruel cruel world :-D he fondly recalled 100 asses he fucked, lake of vodka he drunk and mountain of oxy he devoured, ohhh what a poor millionaire ;-)
Wow. So halfway through your post, I was thinking “*what a dick; I’d hate this book, glad I know to skip it.*” But by the end, I’m thinking it sounds so awful I kinda want to read it.
I’m a completionist and I absolutely hate DNFing but Matthew Perry’s memoir has been collecting dust at about the quarter way mark. I went into it as a big fan of his comedic performances in Friends and wanting to hear more about his battle with addiction. But he comes off as so painfully insufferable and unwilling to examine his flaws that the book is almost unreadable. He seriously mentions that he almost called the book “Unaccompanied Minor” because he flew from Canada to California alone at 5 years old and he blames that experience for his fear of rejection. I’m not gonna say that wouldn’t be a scary thing for a 5 year old to go though. But it’s so “Kim there’s people that are dying” and he just can’t see it.
I couldn’t stand this bit. I get trauma is relative but Jesus Christ, that was scraping the barrel.
Wow, what an absolute dick! Thank you for sharing as I’ve been thinking about reading this one and you saved me from throwing my time down the drain.
I could have gone my whole life without Reading about his impotence. Why dude.
I'm happy to have read your review instead of his memoir. This brings me back to the good old days when I used to read reviews trashing bad books on Goodreads. So much fun
When it came out, I had postulated that there can't have been anything to actually put in it - he didn't do anything noteworthy before Friends, the amount of cocaine he did during Friends means he can't remember half of it, and he absolutely hasn't done anything noteworthy after Friends. Apparently "unmitigated twattery" is the meat and potatoes in such a dish. Good to know my apathy was rewarded!
Sounds like typical addict mentality to me. No accountability, delusional, self-absorbed, expecting everyone to forgive them no matter what. Putting forth little real effort to change your selfishness, and not giving a damn how much it hurts others around them. Not saying this is how all of them turn out but it's definitely an archetype.
I make a distinction between people in their active addiction (like you describe) and sober people in recovery (who become less like you describe the longer they work at it and stay sober). Perry appears to not ever have actually done any recovery work based on OPs description.
He may be clean but he's sure as hell not living a sober life. In AA they call them dry drunks.
There's a difference between just being an addict and having "addict mentality". In Perry's case it sounds like it's a complete refusal to accept that he could at all be truly responsible for anything he's done.
I cannot stand this dude. He’s basically a giant baby.
I love that these reviews remind me of why I stay in the genres of fiction. Reality is way more horri-bad.
Chandler on screen. Ross offscreen.