Matthew Perry's memoir resurges on Bestseller List: A candid chronicle of addiction and legacy
Matthew Perry’s memoir “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” published in November last year returns to the top spot after his sudden death on Saturday, once again topping the Amazon’s Best Sellers List.
The book, which was an instant New York Times bestseller after it was initially released detail’s Perry’s life and career including his struggles with addiction.
Perry, a beloved figure recognised worldwide as Chandler Bing from Friends, who would always be seen cracking jokes with his captivating smile addressed “the big terrible thing” candidly as he struggled behind the scenes, trying to manage the highs and lows of his career while living with it.
In an interview during his book launch, Perry was quoted saying: “I say in the book that if I did die, it would shock people, but it wouldn’t surprise anybody”. He also said he wanted to be remembered beyond his character in Friends.
"The best thing about me, bar none, is that if somebody comes to me and says, 'I can't stop drinking, can you help me?' I can say 'yes' and follow up and do it.
"When I die, I don't want 'Friends' to be the first thing that's mentioned. I want (helping people) to be the first thing that's mentioned, and I'm gonna live the rest of my life proving that,” he said.
And this, was exactly what he had been doing. Reports have surfaced that Perry had been in the early stages of setting up a foundation dedicated to assisting people dealing with substance abuse-related issues.
According to TMZ, the Emmy nominee was planning to establish an organisation similar to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in an effort to fund addiction recovery treatments. Following his death, it is said that his friends agreed to continue his mission and set it up in his memory.
Back in 2015, Perry was honoured for his advocacy by the treatment centre Phoenix House, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “You can’t have a drug problem for 30 years and then expect to have it be solved in 28 days”.
In the book, the 54-year old recalls his near death experience in 2019 after his colon burst as a result of opioid overuse.
He underwent emergency surgery for seven hours, in which his family was told he had a two percent chance of making it through the night. “I will have to live out the rest of my days knowing that my mother and others heard those words,” Perry writes.
Although Perry survived the night, the actor said he landed in a two week-long coma, followed by a five month hospitalisation where he had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
“I had realised that my greatest fear had come true, which is that I did this to myself,” he said, adding that he underwent 14 more surgeries after.
Perry also wrote about spending more than USD$7 million trying to get sober and has been in rehab 15 times.
He also shared how he struggled when Friends came to an end, saying that he “felt nothing”. He wrote he could not tell if that was “because of the opioid buprenorphine I was taking, or if I was just generally dead inside”.
He recalls waking up the morning after the finale was filmed, thinking about what he was going to do next. “With no ridiculously high paying, dream-come-true kind of job to go to, and no special someone in my life, things slipped fast,” Perry writes.
“In fact, it was like falling off a cliff,” he said.
Things looked promising for him for a while until he agreed to film a sequel for the box office smash “The Whole Nine Yards” titled “The Whole Ten Yards”. Unlike the 2000 classic, the sequel bombed at the box office.
“That was the moment Hollywood decided to no longer invite Mr Perry to be in movies,” Perry writes.
This led him seeking for more dramatic roles, and was eventually offered the lead in “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” While the show initially did well, it was canceled after one season. He began working on writing his own projects. “Mr. Sunshine” premiered in 2011, but was canceled after one season, which was then followed by “Go On,” which was also quickly canceled.
“I wasn’t devastated by the lack of success — as I said, I knew a hit TV show couldn’t fill my soul,” he writes.
Perry ends the book talking about ‘the big terrible thing’ on how he was told to quit drugs or having to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. He states that he has not been interested in taking drugs since and have not needed to “automatically” light up a cigarette with his morning coffee anymore.
Perry completes the final chapter thanking his friends and family, and naming the "one thing (he) got right."
"I never gave up, I never raised my hands and said, ‘That’s enough, I can’t take it anymore, you win,” Perry writes. “And because of that, I stand tall now, ready for what comes next”.
Perry died on Oct 28 at his Pacific Palisades home after an apparent drowning. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office lists the case as open, with the cause of death deferred pending additional investigation.It was reported that sources said first responders were called to the residence for cardiac arrest, and that no illicit drugs were found at the scene.
