Life of Wry

Took only a day to start and finish this book.. started yesterday afternoon, finished today. It was an immensely heartbreaking read. Everything I knew about Matthew Perry came from clips of Friends episodes that have populated my social media feed for about a year now. I never saw the show, but the clips are fun, funny, and pull you into a cute little world of people a generation below me. Through the clips, I’ve pretty much sussed out most of the salient storylines of the 10-year series (1994-2004) and came to enjoy the Chandler Bing character (and a couple others).

I’m drawn to tragic stories and his real life story is certainly that. Incredibly frustrating to follow the ups and downs (mostly downs) of his life of addiction. In spite of his obvious intelligence, talent, fame and substantial fortune, in spite of global affection, so many friends and pretty much anything money could buy, he was trapped in cycles of drug and alcohol abuse that were just jaw dropping. I can’t tell you how many times I had to just pause and gather myself after reading that he’d used again.. after a years-long, hard-won bout of sobriety. Truly breathtaking.

Lots of interesting glimpses into Hollywood life, and of course addiction. Def worth the read. Will be eager to hear the outcome of the latest round of investigations (hit the news last week) about the causes of his death (last October). It was an overdose of Ketamine, a weak heart, and subsequent drowning in his hot tub, but the hows are now in question.