{"id":87,"date":"2023-01-15T18:21:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T18:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?post_type=rcno_review&p=87"},"modified":"2023-01-15T18:21:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T18:21:27","slug":"friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing","status":"publish","type":"rcno_review","link":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing","title":{"rendered":"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I love Matthew Perry.\u00a0 I loved this book.\u00a0 I almost *really* loved this book (see my thoughts below in the next section.\u00a0 They don\u2019t contain spoilers).<\/p>\n

It takes a lot of guts to open yourself up to a world that knows you, loves, you, and fully sees you as the hilarious Chandler Bing who can make you laugh until you cry simply by changing the emphasis of a random word in an otherwise insignificant rhetorical question.\u00a0 He shares (and over shares) about his tumultuous upbringing, tumultuous rise to fame, tumultuous love life, tumultuous struggle with alcohol and prescription drugs\u2026are we sensing a pattern here?\u00a0 He begins telling his life story about the unstable family life into which he was born and continues by describing his childhood where he never quite felt like he belonged in his mom\u2019s life or his dad\u2019s life.\u00a0 He catalogs his ascension to fame which was riddled with lots of opiates, lots of alcohol, lots of cigarettes, lots of women, lots of famous people, and lots and lots and lots of rehab.\u00a0 His story is as difficult as a breakup with Janice (if you know, you know), but it\u2019s his story to tell, and he does not hold back.\u00a0 (READ ON BELOW…I don’t give spoilers here)<\/p>\n

Trigger warnings: Language, drug use, sexual content, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I really struggled with deciding whether to give this a 4 star and not a 5 star rating.\u00a0 Matthew Perry shares and, in some cases, overshares; however, I can\u2019t fault him for oversharing because:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I fully believe writing this was a therapeutic and, dare I say it, necessary exercise for him on his bumpy road to recovery<\/li>\n
  2. The fact that knowing the behind the scenes of Chandler Bing making me slightly uncomfortable is on me and not him. I\u2019m a FRIENDS FANATIC with a capital F and a capital ANATIC.\u00a0 I still use quotes from FRIENDS in my everyday language.\u00a0 I still have friends with whom I send constant FRIENDS memes and gifs that seemingly apply in every one of life\u2019s situations.\u00a0 I love Chandler!\u00a0 But Chandler Bing isn\u2019t real.\u00a0 Matthew Perry is real, and this was his story.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What made this a *love* and not a *really love* is I was kind of confused about the timeline of the events he describes.\u00a0 He jumps back and forth\u2026a lot\u2026and even repeats himself.\u00a0\u00a0 On one or two occasions (maybe more?) he tells the same story in a different way.<\/p>\n

    Matthew Perry lived this, so all the details are worked out in his head.\u00a0 Given his extensive amount of drug use and alcohol abuse, and just considering his comedic ability to think quick and say what comes to mind the second it comes to mind, the way he tells his story is understandable (at least, in my opinion).\u00a0 While confusing to me, I fully believe it makes sense to him, and I respect that.<\/p>\n

    I have read a lot of negative reviews of this book based on what I described above.\u00a0 I guess I wasn\u2019t alone in my confusion.\u00a0 With that being said, does it really matter what we think of his \u201ctell-all?\u201d\u00a0 If I were to write a tell-all, not that anyone would read it because\u2026who cares\u2026haha, it would probably make sense to me and nobody else.\u00a0 I guess praise or criticism of the book depends on for what you were hoping to read.\u00a0 If you are wanting a work of literary genius with a clear beginning, middle, and end, then either proceed with caution before reading or skip it altogether.\u00a0 If you’re just looking for insight into Matthew Perry and his struggles, successes, and very dark battles, then read it on a surface level and try not to get caught up in placing everything he says into a neat timeline.\u00a0 I\u2019m admittedly biased because of my love for FRIENDS and the fact that I genuinely want him to find happiness and peace away from drugs and alcohol so, while I did notice what so many others are noticing in terms of timeline confusion and some repetition, I just can\u2019t fault him\u2026just maybe his editors!<\/p>\n

    Oh, and his love for and faith in God in the midst of his highest highs and lowest lows and a few times in between was a nice surprise!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I love Matthew Perry.\u00a0 I loved this book.\u00a0 I almost *really* loved this book (see my thoughts below in the next section.\u00a0 They don\u2019t contain spoilers). It takes a lot of guts to open yourself up to a world that knows you, loves, you, and fully sees you as the hilarious Chandler Bing who can … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[12],"tags":[],"rcno\/authors":[26],"rcno\/genres":[15,14],"rcno\/series":[],"rcno\/publishers":[],"class_list":["post-87","rcno_review","type-rcno_review","status-publish","hentry","category-memoir","rcno_author-matthew-perry","rcno_genre-autobiography","rcno_genre-biography"],"yoast_head":"\nFriends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Pretty in Print<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Pretty in Print\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I love Matthew Perry.\u00a0 I loved this book.\u00a0 I almost *really* loved this book (see my thoughts below in the next section.\u00a0 They don\u2019t contain spoilers). It takes a lot of guts to open yourself up to a world that knows you, loves, you, and fully sees you as the hilarious Chandler Bing who can … Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pretty in Print\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-15T18:21:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing\",\"name\":\"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Pretty in Print\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-15T18:21:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-15T18:21:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg?fit=182%2C277&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg?fit=182%2C277&ssl=1\",\"width\":182,\"height\":277},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reviews\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?post_type=rcno_review\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pretty in Print\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pretty in Print\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/logo7.jpg?fit=100%2C82&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/logo7.jpg?fit=100%2C82&ssl=1\",\"width\":100,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"Pretty in Print\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prettyinprint.blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Pretty in Print","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Pretty in Print","og_description":"I love Matthew Perry.\u00a0 I loved this book.\u00a0 I almost *really* loved this book (see my thoughts below in the next section.\u00a0 They don\u2019t contain spoilers). It takes a lot of guts to open yourself up to a world that knows you, loves, you, and fully sees you as the hilarious Chandler Bing who can … Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing","og_site_name":"Pretty in Print","article_modified_time":"2023-01-15T18:21:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing","url":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing","name":"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Pretty in Print","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-01-15T18:21:23+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-15T18:21:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg?fit=182%2C277&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Friends-lovers-and-the-Big-Terrible-Thing-Cover.jpeg?fit=182%2C277&ssl=1","width":182,"height":277},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?rcno_review=friends-lovers-and-the-big-terrible-thing#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reviews","item":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?post_type=rcno_review"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/","name":"Pretty in Print","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/#organization","name":"Pretty in Print","url":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/logo7.jpg?fit=100%2C82&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/logo7.jpg?fit=100%2C82&ssl=1","width":100,"height":82,"caption":"Pretty in Print"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/rcno\/reviews\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/rcno\/reviews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/rcno_review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/rcno\/reviews\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/rcno\/reviews\/87\/revisions\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87"},{"taxonomy":"rcno_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Frcno%2Fauthors&post=87"},{"taxonomy":"rcno_genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Frcno%2Fgenres&post=87"},{"taxonomy":"rcno_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Frcno%2Fseries&post=87"},{"taxonomy":"rcno_publisher","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettyinprint.blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Frcno%2Fpublishers&post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}