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

I bought the audio book, it comes on 8 CD's, in Matthew Perry's voice. It's very honest, direct, and open. If you know someone with an addiction or have an addiction, I highly recommend it. It provides an inside look, and how hard the struggle can be, and how hard the work is. It provides a lot of answers and perspective. It's A very brave and generous book. Hearing his journey in his voice is very powerful. God bless him and everyone touched by addiction.

Real life, true grit, raw and honest tests of strength through coming to know himself in uncharted territories. Definitely eye-opening awareness of how addiction can take over our lives. Beautiful that Matty can come to life's greatest treasures after learning what he must do to help himself. A strong testament of how living in fear can contort our lives away from what we truly seek but also lead us to it. Brave, Funny and Unexpected.
Thank you Mr. Perry for gifting your story to the world. Your resolutions are all that anyone could ask for. You are most definitely loved. Now to gift this to a man in my life that needs to know he's not alone with facing the big terrible thing.

Perry's book is well written and seems sincere, and he reads it well in the audio version. Unfortunately he seems, even in recovery, to be a pretty miserable person, and it was a rough read/listen.

This CD is a good listen especially for families struggling with addiction. Gives insight to what your loved one may be experiencing.

I would give Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir three and a half stars if the rating system would allow. Though I applaud Matthew Perry for his candor and frankness about his addictions, the book itself lacks in organization. The author spans decades in this memoir, often repeating, crossing wide spans of his life, and poking his finger at himself and others. Readers can clearly see the good and the bad of Matthew Perry's life - like many other great comedians, he definitely gets his sarcastic humor from his past.

As I was deciding what to write, I noticed another reviewer say that Perry should not blame the doctors for some of his troubles. I guess I was reading a different book because the professionals that should have been looking out for Perry did him a big disservice and even bordered on negligence at times. The treatment program that did not help him before his colon exploded should be sued/shut down and the doctors that gave him opiods to handle pain should also bear responsibility. Though I think that the author would have gotten the medication in other ways, the doctors did not listen to him or take his addictions seriously.

There is a fair amount of hubris written into this book and a great deal of self deprecating humor. Perry often says he is to blame for his problems and apologizes for his transgressions, but he does spend a lot of time almost bragging about his exploits. Overall, I wish the author well and hope that writing Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is cathartic and leads to bigger and better things.

This was a AWESOME book, very detailed and very honest!

Could it get any better!! hahaha

What a great book