My book of the month, January 2024
I can resist anything, except temptation. Well said, Oscar Wilde. I, for one, gave in to the new year’s temptation of making resolutions, including that to resume my ‘book of the month’ series. Truth be told, three of those five loyal followers of mine did inquire after a long radio silence, and it was good to know my reviews stimulated someone else to entertain again that old fashioned act of reading.
Matthew Perry knew a few things about temptations.
I have always been a huge fan of Friends. I know most punchlines by heart, I find similarities in real life situations (and end up giggling for no apparent reason), and it probably planted the seed of my love for Greenwich Village in New York (despite having been filmed in California and mostly indoors). ‘The Last One’ turned 20 this month. The finale was recorded on January 23 2004 and aired on May 6, bringing over 50 million Americans to tears. It was the most watched television episode of the 2000s, closing a remarkable decade of successes and handing over to generations what many consider the best sitcom ever produced. For the six main actors it meant fame, money (lots of money: 1 million $ per episode), the opportunity to live glorious, comfortable lives ever since, while remaining friends as demonstrated in ‘The Reunion’ of 2021. At that point, Perry had recovered from the latest and most brutal health effects of his life-long addictions, a 2019 incident that almost killed him. He was also writing this memoir, released on November 1 2022, an exact year before his death on October 28 2023.
It is honest, candid, and authentic to the point of being difficult to read at times, saved by Perry’s uncanny sense of humour and world-class wit. One can’t help but ‘hearing’ Chandler Bing’s voice reading the lines. Could life be more of an emotional roller coaster?
I have never experienced addiction personally, and I am lucky enough to have never encountered this struggle with close friends or family members. The book helped me understand the mindset and dynamics of this vicious circle of cravings, withdrawal, relapse, mistakes, pain, sorrow, and suffering. It must have been at the same time liberating and horribly difficult for Perry to use precious moments of sobriety and abstinence and reflect through the details of his life, to open them up for the world to read, in their naked misery, maybe knowing some would have been shaking their head because of the false assumption that happiness comes as an inevitable consequence of wealth and fame. The author himself denies this a couple of times, still admitting that nobody who hasn’t gone through this disillusionment will believe anyone rich and famous when they say that it doesn’t.
My bottom line is a newly appreciated value of mental health. I admit having found easier to feel for someone suffering from a physical accident, a disease to the body – Perry recalls his close friend Bruce Willis; while at the same time I was tempted to discard mental issues as the ‘disease of the rich and famous’. Addictions as the indulgence to the forbidden, the exaggerations of a lavishly decadent life fuelled by easy-earned money. Perry’s ‘message from the beyond’ definitely changed my perspective. His memoirs turned eulogy. His ‘and I should be dead’ stings as a needle spurting up from the page. After 40 years of struggles, he graciously bows goodbye with an apologetic recognition that his addictions were not the results of childhood traumas, or his parents’ inadequacies, or his friends’ bad examples, or any other external issues.
Knowing how one of those funny guys cracking jokes at Central Perk was fighting his inner demons and self-sabotaging his life has forever compromised my careless and childish joy of watching Friends (I was once the subject of many a weird look on board a Geneva-bound plane for bursting in otherwise unexplained, loud laughter). May this book help others overcome their addicitions, as Perry hoped it would. May we all develop that ‘acquired taste for reality’. And may Chander Bing rest in peace knowing he gave millions a reason to smile.
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What else I have been reading this month
Oliver K?ster, Pietro Mazzocchi and Corrado Passera thoughtful research on Spencer Stuart's portal about the transition to Private Equity for Chief Procurement Officers. Two parts series, Jan and Apr 2022 https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/how-to-succeed-as-a-chief-procurement-officer-in-private-equity
A McKinsey candid article on burnout. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-burnout?stcr=69BB7228348048BF878A7CBBDC1573FA&cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hlkid=63d27eb091da4b3c80c131bd04a8777e&hctky=10424725&hdpid=a1fad3fc-6a70-404e-b49e-f02562b559ab
and their 2023 perspective on Global Energy
Global Marketing Leader | Building Iconic Brands | Strategic Marketing, Innovation & Sustainability | Passionate about Social Impact
1 年And finally the books’ reviews are back! ????
Founder of Digital Procurement Now | Previously Source to Pay Digital Transformation Lead at P&G
1 年Well written review! I also liked the article on what it is to work for Private Equity as CPO. Forwarded that to a few friends who are in that position.
I add value to brands by executing product launches and improving processes to elevate company performance. Product & Category Manager | Strategic Sourcing | Brand Strategy
1 年Thanks for sharing this review, definitely want to read this!