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A review by kfan
Friendship by Emily Gould
5.0
I loved this.
When I first heard about it I was like 'It's a book about 2 friends? In their 20s? Like, finding their way in life? How is that even going to be a book?"
But really right from the first chapter I was SUPER ON BOARD.
It is, like it says on the tin, about friendship. Not just about the ups and downs and breakups and reconnections we have with our friends as we make our way through life, although there's plenty of that, but also it's about how to learn to love yourself and your path through life. How to balance taking care of your needs while taking care of other people's, and figuring out what is your job and what is not your job, both literally and metaphorically.
There are 3 main characters, all women, and they have men in their lives to varying degrees, although the men all quickly fade into the background. And this is wonderful and great and just as it should be. And despite being a man I found so much to love, so much to identify with in this book, from the temping and the service jobs, to the quitting and walking out, to the knowing you should pick up the phone but not being able to, to the You don't get me or deserve me b/c of what I'm going through, to the wonder at the distances that grow between friendships, the sort of marveling at Wait, how the hell did you get all the way over there?
And it's sad and sweet and surprising but it's also SO funny, the writing is light but incredibly pointed, and the characterizations are so perfect, you can feel the weight of Amy & Bev's shared history so well.
Anyone comparing this to Lena Dunham, or Marie Calloway, or Miranda July: I don't get it and I don't see it. People who say the characters aren't likable, I also don't get it, although maybe I was too busy relating to stop and wonder about the implications of whether I would be a likable character. Probably not! Oh well!
When I first heard about it I was like 'It's a book about 2 friends? In their 20s? Like, finding their way in life? How is that even going to be a book?"
But really right from the first chapter I was SUPER ON BOARD.
It is, like it says on the tin, about friendship. Not just about the ups and downs and breakups and reconnections we have with our friends as we make our way through life, although there's plenty of that, but also it's about how to learn to love yourself and your path through life. How to balance taking care of your needs while taking care of other people's, and figuring out what is your job and what is not your job, both literally and metaphorically.
There are 3 main characters, all women, and they have men in their lives to varying degrees, although the men all quickly fade into the background. And this is wonderful and great and just as it should be. And despite being a man I found so much to love, so much to identify with in this book, from the temping and the service jobs, to the quitting and walking out, to the knowing you should pick up the phone but not being able to, to the You don't get me or deserve me b/c of what I'm going through, to the wonder at the distances that grow between friendships, the sort of marveling at Wait, how the hell did you get all the way over there?
And it's sad and sweet and surprising but it's also SO funny, the writing is light but incredibly pointed, and the characterizations are so perfect, you can feel the weight of Amy & Bev's shared history so well.
Anyone comparing this to Lena Dunham, or Marie Calloway, or Miranda July: I don't get it and I don't see it. People who say the characters aren't likable, I also don't get it, although maybe I was too busy relating to stop and wonder about the implications of whether I would be a likable character. Probably not! Oh well!