Reviews
Friendkeeping: A Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can't Live Without by Julie Klam
melissakuzma's review against another edition
3.0
This was ok. I wish I liked it more than I did. It had its moments, but overall I just felt "meh" about it. Extra points given for the author being a crazy dog-lover.
dana_in_denver's review against another edition
2.0
I thought this book was too light to be meaningful. I read a review that said this book was like an article for Cosmo painfully stretched out in to a book. I sort of agree with that!
jaclynday's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve yet to find a book that really gets its hands around the complexity of adult friendship, but Friendkeeping is a valiant effort. (It’s still better than the frustrating MWF Seeking BFF.) Klam goes the anecdotal route, discussing various aspects of friendship in a funny, memoir-ish way that doesn’t tie things up neatly into a bon mot, self-help tone at the end of each chapter. That’s fine—but the book seems to be marketed differently. The tagline for example: A Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can’t Live Without. This really isn’t a field guide to anything except Klam’s personal friendship history.
While not a great book, it was still an entertaining way to pass the time and some chapters were better than others. The section on online friendships was good and the latter chapters of the book—which deal with long-distance friendships—were especially poignant for me. (My best friend lives in Dubai.)
One thing Klam does right is talk about how proximity is the best ingredient for maintaining an adult friendship. Without physical proximity, the lines of communication become less intimate and more intermittent. That’s why adults so often have the coworker friend or the gym friend or the book club friend or even the blog-turned-real-life friend. When you’re young, friendship is as simple as having a desk next to someone else in class, living a few houses down from a girl or boy your age or, later, getting close to your college roommate. Post-college friendships require more maintenance than any you’ve had before, but the irony is that there are more demands on your time than ever before too. Proximity helps that. Klam does a great job of explaining how hard it can be for her to maintain friendships when they’re not easily accessible for her. I think that’s something most people can relate to.
If you’re stuck in a book rut, this is a good little palette cleanser. It’s not too long and it’s light-hearted (and occasionally funny).
While not a great book, it was still an entertaining way to pass the time and some chapters were better than others. The section on online friendships was good and the latter chapters of the book—which deal with long-distance friendships—were especially poignant for me. (My best friend lives in Dubai.)
One thing Klam does right is talk about how proximity is the best ingredient for maintaining an adult friendship. Without physical proximity, the lines of communication become less intimate and more intermittent. That’s why adults so often have the coworker friend or the gym friend or the book club friend or even the blog-turned-real-life friend. When you’re young, friendship is as simple as having a desk next to someone else in class, living a few houses down from a girl or boy your age or, later, getting close to your college roommate. Post-college friendships require more maintenance than any you’ve had before, but the irony is that there are more demands on your time than ever before too. Proximity helps that. Klam does a great job of explaining how hard it can be for her to maintain friendships when they’re not easily accessible for her. I think that’s something most people can relate to.
If you’re stuck in a book rut, this is a good little palette cleanser. It’s not too long and it’s light-hearted (and occasionally funny).
bethreadsandnaps's review against another edition
3.0
I expected a bit more, perhaps what the title suggests. Still, it had some parts where I cracked a smile. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny though. It came across more like a self-indulgent collection of memories than a field guide.
kwugirl's review against another edition
3.0
A light book of various essays about friendship. Not particularly structured. You can read one of the essays on Salon here to get a sense of what her writing style is like. There were some good and funny observations, but not really like rofl and I also had a bit of trouble trying to figure out timelines from one piece to another (one essay starts off with talking about her best friends from 5th grade and breaking up with them in college...but I guess later they're still friends since there are references to the same people from now?). Maybe not a problem if you're less of an obsessively linear person like me, though.
jillbd's review against another edition
2.0
The author of this book even mentioned she is on Goodreads, so I don't want to say anything mean. She seems like a very nice person and a very good friend!
However, I didn't really care for this book. I was expecting something different, like some practical advice on how to wrangle my shithead friends into hanging out more often (you know who you are.)
However, I didn't really care for this book. I was expecting something different, like some practical advice on how to wrangle my shithead friends into hanging out more often (you know who you are.)
dolorsitamet's review against another edition
2.0
*1.8
I don't think the title accurately describes this book. It wasn't particularly interesting, and the author seemed more interested in telling the story of all her friends in short anecdotes. It wasn't horrible, but in hindsight I would rather not have taken the time to read it.
What I got from it: A) I should be extraordinarily thankful [and I am] for all of my amazing friends [unlike all this drama she went through!] but also that B) things can get a lot more complicated in the future...I hope they don't.
I don't think the title accurately describes this book. It wasn't particularly interesting, and the author seemed more interested in telling the story of all her friends in short anecdotes. It wasn't horrible, but in hindsight I would rather not have taken the time to read it.
What I got from it: A) I should be extraordinarily thankful [and I am] for all of my amazing friends [unlike all this drama she went through!] but also that B) things can get a lot more complicated in the future...I hope they don't.
noramjenkins's review against another edition
3.0
Very cute book about friends and how important they are, particularly to women. It's cool that the author is friends with Jancee Dunn, another author I enjoy.
writergirl70's review against another edition
5.0
Great read! Parts of this book are Laugh out loud funny, while others will bring tears to your eyes. Reading it was like having a long conversation with a good friend.
rachl27r's review against another edition
2.0
Meh, I was expecting more insights into women's friendships and what makes them tick and instead it was really just a bunch of antidotes and stories of the author's friendships. Interesting enough in the beginning, but I found myself losing interest about halfway through.