Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir

6/8/2023 Date of original post which has been updated several times since the death of Matthew Perry.

Matthew Perry died on October 28, 2023. It is not known if drugs were the cause. People on Reddit theorized that someone had cleaned up the scene by removing any drugs. Even if no drugs were involved, I think a lack of selfcare and healthcare can be as destructive as some of the drugs ingested by addicts. In the book it is noted that the time “he died for five minutes”, can not be as alarming as dying permanently.

Updated 12/15/2023 Ketamine is found as his cause of death. The reason no drugs at the scene could be because he consumed them all. This is so tragic.

Original Book Review Below:

I just finished the Matthew Perry book and I wanted to write about it well I still had it fresh in my mind. I analyzed his problem. It’s more than the drugs.  He has an overall complete lack of disregard for his physical health. He doesn’t exercise he smokes (he wasn’t able to quit smoking) he doesn’t eat right. Even if he hadn’t taken all the drugs his health still would not be good right now. He talks a lot about different Hollywood actors, but the thing he needs to understand about most Hollywood A Listers (like Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep) they take good care of their health. If he really wants to be on top with them, he needs to start taking care of his health. Of course that is a mute point because it’s really too late for him. I predict that his health is so run down that even herculean efforts will not be able to fix his health. He’s always going to be in poor health for the rest of his life.  He’ll never be able to give 100% to the craft of acting, writing, directing or whatever else the Hollywood types are getting up to. And then of course (along with everyone else on Reddit) none of us believe that he’s actually sober. His reason for quitting opiate type drugs such as oxycodone is actually a ridiculous reason. He said he would never take heroin but I’m not so sure. Matthew Perry doesn’t have to continue to be a tremendous drug addict to die. Death is just around the corner for him. I think he’s gonna die in less than five years.

The Odd Couple

I never watched Friends and I’m not a fan of the show.  If I had to pick a favorite character I would have picked Joey because I thought he was cute with his dark good looks. What I knew about Matthew Perry was the New Odd Couple 2015 which I really enjoyed.  I was sorry it was canceled. I felt really sorry for the guy who played Felix Unger. In the book Matthew Perry doesn’t even mention his name and doesn’t mention anything more about The Odd Couple other than one paragraph and just to say that he was sorry. As far as the other movies and other shows he was in I haven’t heard of any of them.  I would be interested in watching that Studio 60 series but I don’t want to pay $1.99 per episode on Amazon prime to watch it. Furthermore watching that show just to see Matthew Perry would only depress me when I now understand just how terrible his life is.

Matthew Perry keeps talking about how rich he is without ever saying why he’s still rich considering the ridiculous amounts of money he wasted on luxuries such as constantly changing houses to get a better view. And of course all the money he’s spent on not just drugs but on rehab. I heard the numbers of 7 to 9 millions dollars just on rehabs. I seriously doubt that he’s rich anymore, I bet he’s actually in debt. He said he had a Banksy artwork. I hope that he can sell that. But the very idea that he really cherishes his Banksy just shows you what a superficial person he is. Banksy artworks aren’t artistically good. People only like them because they’re expensive and prestigious. He is fooled by all the outer trappings of wealth and fame without giving consideration to inner qualities.

I felt a little bit guilty about getting the audio book from the Library App Libby, instead of buying it on Amazon Audible and Kindle. But then when I heard that he spent $175,000 to fly himself to Los Angeles from Switzerland in a private plane in order to obtain more opioid drugs, I felt no guilt after that. When he got to Los Angeles he couldn’t get drugs so he flew himself back to Switzerland and spent another $175,000. And then when he got back to Switzerland he still didn’t get the drugs that he wanted. This story actually sounds fishy because somebody like Matthew Perry would know how to get drugs from dealers in Los Angeles. So it makes absolutely no sense why he would fly himself back to Switzerland just to get more pills. So many people tried to help him and yet he blamed his dentist and his hypnotist because he couldn’t quit smoking. Smoking deprives your body of oxygen and it’s really bad for your teeth and gums. If your teeth are falling out it’s an overall sign of very poor health.

Relationships

Matthew Perry has dated many different women and he says all of them were wonderful but he broke up with all of them. (He did claim one of them broke up with him)  I believe drugs and alcohol were his first and only love. The reason he never got married and had children was because that would mean he would have to stop drinking and drugging because he would have been a bad influence on the children. I can’t believe that at the end of the book he actually put out a lonely hearts ad. He was looking for somebody and she should be five foot two and like pickleball. There is no woman who would be even slightly sane (having read what he does to women) who would want to have a relationship with him. Maybe she would just be some incredible masochist who knows she’s gonna give and give and give and then at anytime he’s going to dump her for absolutely no reason at all.

It took me a lot of time to research his many women. Jamie Tarses was an Executive Producer. I think the way he broke up with her was probably the most cruel. She sat by his bedside in the hospital night after night. As soon as he got well he broke up with her so he could keep his options open and sleep with more women. If he really was the one to break up with Julia Roberts (which I don’t actually believe it was him) she is probably thankful that she dodged that bullet. Any woman who is gonna be with a man with health that bad is going to end up being his caretaker and nurse. There’ll be no going out having fun, dancing at clubs, going to restaurants and rubbing elbows of Hollywood elite. He’s a sick man, there’s gonna be lots of staying home and watching television. It’s not just that he doesn’t like to go out and wants to stay in because he’s reclusive, it’s because he doesn’t want to be taking all these drugs and photographed in public it would be too embarrassing.

But in spite of all this I really enjoyed the book. I was really spellbound. I got addicted to the book. I literally couldn’t stop listening to it. I might be watching TV in the evening and think I should just pause this TV and go back and listen to this incredible audiobook. Anytime I review the book (in spite of what a terrible person I think Matthew Perry is) I give the book my highest recommendations. I think everyone should read it just so you can see what kind of life a drug addict has and how many justifications they do on a daily basis just to continue to be taking these drugs. Please leave a comment and I will reply.

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