First published 2022
Matthew Perry begins his story with stark honesty: he should be dead. The beloved Chandler from Friends takes readers through his journey from a five-year-old shuttling between divorced parents in Montreal and Los Angeles to becoming a nationally ranked teenage tennis player in Canada. At twenty-four, he landed the role that would define his career on the pilot originally titled Friends Like Us. Perry reveals how his fractured upbringing and hunger for recognition propelled him to stardom, yet left an emptiness that fame couldn't fill. He chronicles his repeated hospital stays and rehabilitation attempts while sharing behind-the-scenes stories about his castmates and fellow celebrities. With characteristic wit and brutal self-awareness, Perry examines what drove his addiction despite outward success. He also describes finding peace in sobriety and reflects on the enduring impact of Friends. This memoir serves as both an intimate portrait of struggle and recovery and an outstretched hand to others battling similar demons.
Genres: addiction, autobiography, contemporary, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, redemption
Setting: Canada, Los Angeles, Montreal
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
250 pages · Hardcover · Flatiron Books
Content warnings: addiction, substance-abuse