Bookstrapping: Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
This book is for you if you want to know the real story of Chandler, the sitcom character from Friends, who made jokes when he was uncomfortable. Our reviewer picks five things that stood out for her in actor Matthew Perry's memoir. Bookstrapping rating: 3.5.
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You see a book cover with 'Chandler Bing' on it and the popular Friends tune starts humming in your head... 'coz no one told you life was gonna be this way!'
No one told Matty (short for Matthew Perry) that for sure. "At 49, I was still afraid to be alone," he says in a sentence so matter-of-fact that you get sucked into the book!
Is the book tragically funny? Funnily tragic? Tough toss that one! Here are five things that stood out in the book:
1. The book is replete with sentences where Perry lays his heart bare. Here's one -"when someone is really sick, a kind of disconnect happens--a God only gives you, what you can handle kind of thing kicks in." Rings quite true, especially if you've ever cared for someone really sick.
2. You don't want to miss the part about how he almost missed getting the show 'Friends.'
3. This book is thumping proof that the language in which books are written has truly evolved. Truly! Not just sentences ending in prepositions, liberal use of the 'F' word, or shorter sentences for emphasis- but an unabashed adaptation of conversational lingo is here!
4. Matty talks about the feeling of being on a set where everyone knows you're going to deliver a hit - and how it's different. The scenes from the set etc; in the book are relatable because all of us have seen them come to life!
5. Funny always wins, says Matty in the book. So he keeps you in splits even through his darkest episodes. Is that a good thing though? You decide. There's also a part where he explains that after his coma, he did not want to know what had happened because he was too afraid that it was his fault! Hmmm.
I was sold on the harmless fun though! Like "I'm no Matthew McConaughey and when I take a shower, I just make sure to keep my eyes closed."
Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ On Twitter @OfficialReetaRG.
