Book Review of "A Brief History of Time"

Even though I found “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking to be fascinating and filled with multiple jaw-dropping “wait what!” moments, it is not an easy book to read. Especially the chapters about string theory and quantum mechanics made my brain wonky and I had to re-read some portions to somewhat wrap my mind around it (and I am sure I have still missed some key points). Full disclosure, don't expect a casual, bed-side read, but definitely enjoyable if you are ready to put in some work. 

Book Review of "Matthew Perry Autobiography - Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing"

“You have to get famous to know that it’s not the answer. And nobody who is not famous will ever truly believe that.”

Be warned - it is not at all a pleasant experience to read (or listen to) this book - it chronicles how horribly Matthew Perry's life has been wrecked countless number of times by addiction to alcohol and opioids.

On one hand, because of being an absolute FRIENDS fanboy (I don’t think I’ll ever stop randomly binging a couple of episodes once in a while) and Chandler being one of my favorite characters - I was looking forward to this book (I remember being sad when I heard that “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” was canceled after the 1st Season). But on the other hand, knowing that this was about Matthew Perry’s addiction and his struggles and his countless rehab stints - I was a little apprehensive too. The usual “never meet your heroes” kind of unease. I went for the audiobook version simply because it is narrated by Matthew Perry himself. But it did not help much - this is a difficult and sobering book to listen to.

Definitely credit to Matthew Perry for being honest and literally bearing it all about his struggles. That being said though, it does get a bit icky in some parts - especially when he repeatedly tries to place the blame on his parents or when he bad mouths the rehab doctors and nurses who were trying to help him to the best of their abilities and also the unnecessary digs at Keanu Reeves. If nothing else, Matthew Perry is smart and not delusional at all about how he is perceived. For example - he clearly admits that he doesn’t expect anyone to feel sorry for someone who was earning upwards of a million dollars per episode for the last 3 seasons of FRIENDS. 

Many of us are guilty of reacting in a judgmental way to an addict’s story. But I like to think that this book has given me some semblance of an idea of how horrendous & terrible a disease addiction really is. And that is credit to Matthew Perry - regardless of how the book is.

“I think you actually have to have all of your dreams come true to realize they are the wrong dreams.”