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A review by realadhdoug
Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make and Keep Friends as an Adult by Marisa G. Franco
4.25
First, I’ll mention what made this book seem less than perfect in my view—it was just too long. The chapters were so densely packed with anecdotes, examples, and citations that I kind of lost track of the larger point the author was making at various moments. And some of the supporting evidence didn’t always seem particularly relevant. The book could have been half the size and made twice the impression, in my opinion.
All of that aside, the broader theme and many of the supporting stories and studies brought up by the author throughout the book are both fascinating and useful. The book toggles seamlessly between being a pop psychology treatise on how friendships work and being a self-help manual on how to *make* friendships work. The language is accessible and the author’s cadence makes it very easy to read. Some of the suggestions seem like common sense, but the inclusion of the psychological theory behind them gives the advice a bit more of a robust feel.
I’m not sure if this is gonna help me make more friends or if it’s just gonna help me understand why I’m not going make anymore friends, LOL. But it gave me a lot of things to think about and a few things to try out. I suspect if I read it again in a few years, I might pick up a few more things because there’s just so much here. If you’re interested in the psychology of relationships and—to a slightly lesser extent—interested in improving your own relationships, I suggest giving this book a shot.
All of that aside, the broader theme and many of the supporting stories and studies brought up by the author throughout the book are both fascinating and useful. The book toggles seamlessly between being a pop psychology treatise on how friendships work and being a self-help manual on how to *make* friendships work. The language is accessible and the author’s cadence makes it very easy to read. Some of the suggestions seem like common sense, but the inclusion of the psychological theory behind them gives the advice a bit more of a robust feel.
I’m not sure if this is gonna help me make more friends or if it’s just gonna help me understand why I’m not going make anymore friends, LOL. But it gave me a lot of things to think about and a few things to try out. I suspect if I read it again in a few years, I might pick up a few more things because there’s just so much here. If you’re interested in the psychology of relationships and—to a slightly lesser extent—interested in improving your own relationships, I suggest giving this book a shot.