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A review by hmatt
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Ann Friedman, Aminatou Sow
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This was a big "buyer beware" for me, because it is very much more memoir than sociology/anthropology. It is advertised as this, but I think I let what I wanted the book to be crowd out what it is. I was hoping for a deep dive on the science of friendship and the value of close friendships, whereas this is a deep dive on one particular friendship with some fun facts thrown in.
In that light, my comments on how the book feels a bit heteronormative are mostly moot. There isn't a lot of discussion on diverse gender friendships, but I suppose that's because the authors are not involved in one. There is a large section about diverse racial friendships, though, which I found insightful. I appreciate the call out for Angela Chen's book Ace, but I was left wanting more on the nuances of platonic vs. romantic relationships... and on a bunch of topics, honestly.
This was a quick audiobook listen for me, and I recommend that format. The authors narrate, and when they are quoting others they have that person read their own quote, which is super fun. For a low-stakes read, this was interesting, but I'm left wanting a lot more on this topic.
In that light, my comments on how the book feels a bit heteronormative are mostly moot. There isn't a lot of discussion on diverse gender friendships, but I suppose that's because the authors are not involved in one. There is a large section about diverse racial friendships, though, which I found insightful. I appreciate the call out for Angela Chen's book Ace, but I was left wanting more on the nuances of platonic vs. romantic relationships... and on a bunch of topics, honestly.
This was a quick audiobook listen for me, and I recommend that format. The authors narrate, and when they are quoting others they have that person read their own quote, which is super fun. For a low-stakes read, this was interesting, but I'm left wanting a lot more on this topic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Medical content
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Racism