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Friendkeeping: A Field Guide to the People You Love, Hate, and Can't Live Without
by
Julie Klam (Goodreads Author)
From the beloved and bestselling memoirist comes a funny and affecting look at making the most of our friendships in an age of isolation.
With her inimitable wit and disarming warmth, Julie Klam shares with us her experiences, advice, and insight in Friendkeeping, a candid, hilarious look at some of the most meaningful and enjoyable relationships in our lives: our friendshi...more
With her inimitable wit and disarming warmth, Julie Klam shares with us her experiences, advice, and insight in Friendkeeping, a candid, hilarious look at some of the most meaningful and enjoyable relationships in our lives: our friendshi...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
October 25th 2012
by Riverhead Hardcover
(first published April 10th 2012)
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potentially interesting subject but a boring book. "one of the funniest writers I know" per the Dayton Daily News blurb, but I guess my taste differs. I didn't dislike her, and I could tell there were phrases or sentences meant in a lighthearted or facetious manner, but I can't say that I laughed even once.
As to the "field guide" part, it's modest. Some people are good at keeping up with long-distance friends, and some are not. The author's mom was closest to her sibs, but the author is not clos...more
As to the "field guide" part, it's modest. Some people are good at keeping up with long-distance friends, and some are not. The author's mom was closest to her sibs, but the author is not clos...more
i don't know. it was okay? a lot of the less positive review on goodreads say that it was fluffy & lacked substance. can't say i disagree! i was kind of relieved by that, because i have so little time or brainpower for reading thick, heavy books these days (i've been working on andrew solomon's "far from the tree" for literally months). so it was kind of pleasant to just tear through a book in a few hours, like i used to before i had a baby. but i just read it a couple of days ago & i al...more
I ordered this for my Kindle and was able to finish it in one day. This nonfiction look at women's friendships was at the same time hysterically funny, bitingly sarcastic, and witty while bittersweet and poignant. Julie Klam examines friendships from toddlerhood, when our children engage in parallel play but closure to their relationships occurs with the change of scenery, through adulthood, when we are challenged by life issues such as illness, marriage, divorce, children, etc. My friendships h...more
While Julie Klam is not a friend of mine, I've come to know her a little through Twitter and Facebook. What I've seen tells me she is an exceptionally kind person, kind to humans and kind to dogs. When I saw she'd written a book about friendship, I figured, hey, I should read this. And I'm glad I did. This is a woman who should have a PhD in being a friend. She is so understanding about so many things that it amazes and – dare I say it – exhausts me. Unlike Julie, I am the sort of person who wri...more
This is a very cute read. I have enjoyed it - Julie Klam has a razor sharp wit, and a self-honesty I found very refreshing. I'd thoroughly enjoy being her friend, because she has enough of them that I wouldn't fear being overly needed. I don't cope well with being needed. I love her confession that she is at the lousy end of the "keeping in touch" scales, famed for making dinner dates, and then cancelling them. And when people move out of town, she considers that a form of abandonment and betray...more
This was a fairly light read, which is about all I can manage at this particular moment in my life, but I can't say that I was impressed. The author's tongue in cheek sarcasm and efforts to poke fun at herself fell flat, and instead of making me laugh, I closed the book feeling like she was rather shallow and perhaps a little neurotic. She goes from one vignette to another, when what I'd have preferred was a deeper exploration of friendship. I didn't really feel like knew anything about anyone i...more
I so thought this book would be right up my alley, because it touches on so many things that I spend a lot of time thinking about, caring about, trying to be better at: maintaining friendships as a central core of one's life, how to be a good friend, blah blah. Plus, it's a humor book, and me and humor? ARE LIKE THIS. But ultimately it was too meandering for me. Like, she has a chapter about maintaining friendships when you're in a different life stage than your pals (they have babies and you do...more
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It's not really an advice book as I was hoping. It's more of a collection author's personal relationships with her friends. Some of the stories are repeated, which I thought was a bit odd for such a small book. Overall, as a woman, I can still relate and gather advice through her personal anecdotes. It definitely made me reflect on a few of my friendships, and made me feel better about one in particular that has really changed. The book made me realize that it's often no one's "fault" when frien...more
Awful in ways I can't even begin to describe. It's a Cosmo article that someone thought was worthy of stretching to book length, which it makes, barely, thanks to huge margins and only about 50 words per page. This book makes Jonathan Livingston Seagull look heavy.
The entire purpose of the book, as far as I can tell, is to impress us with the sheer volume of friends the author has, what a wonderful person she is to allow such a variety of people into her life, what a wonderful mother she is to...more
The entire purpose of the book, as far as I can tell, is to impress us with the sheer volume of friends the author has, what a wonderful person she is to allow such a variety of people into her life, what a wonderful mother she is to...more
Jan 27, 2013
Ldrhc
marked it as unable-to-finish
I just won this book in a book give-away. Can't wait to receive it and read it.
*I won this in a Goodreads First Reads Contest*
There are all types of friends; childhood friends, school yard friends, friends that you've had forever, the friends that got away and the friends that drain every last ounce of life from you. Julie Klam covers it all. This is a step by step guide how to navigate, keep and let go of the people that come into your life forever, for a season and/or for a moment.
Using first hand accounts, life stories and hilarious analogies such as the remora's, Frie...more
There are all types of friends; childhood friends, school yard friends, friends that you've had forever, the friends that got away and the friends that drain every last ounce of life from you. Julie Klam covers it all. This is a step by step guide how to navigate, keep and let go of the people that come into your life forever, for a season and/or for a moment.
Using first hand accounts, life stories and hilarious analogies such as the remora's, Frie...more
A wonderful book I won through Goodreads.
It's taken me a while to get through the books I've won through the site but I'm glad I started with this one. Not knowing at all what the book was going to be about, I dived right in and was pleasantly surprised by the author's humor and the many tales about her good friends and the lessons she learned throughout her relationships with all of them.
This book is uplifting and reminds you just how important friends are. About halfway through the book I ha...more
It's taken me a while to get through the books I've won through the site but I'm glad I started with this one. Not knowing at all what the book was going to be about, I dived right in and was pleasantly surprised by the author's humor and the many tales about her good friends and the lessons she learned throughout her relationships with all of them.
This book is uplifting and reminds you just how important friends are. About halfway through the book I ha...more
Just want to start by saying I won this novel through a GoodReads Giveaway.
I have mixed feelings about this novel. On the one hand it's taught me some things about friendship and how I should hold onto my friends. Heck, there's this girl I've been friends with for a 3 years from my old part-time job and we never really hung out, but when we were at work, we were really close. I wished her a happy birthday at the beginning of January through Facebook and she just contacted me back. We exchanged c...more
I have mixed feelings about this novel. On the one hand it's taught me some things about friendship and how I should hold onto my friends. Heck, there's this girl I've been friends with for a 3 years from my old part-time job and we never really hung out, but when we were at work, we were really close. I wished her a happy birthday at the beginning of January through Facebook and she just contacted me back. We exchanged c...more
Consisting mostly of anecdotes from her own life, Julie Klam’s celebration of friendship is forthright, funny, and sweet; full of stories about friends and frenemies that everyone can relate to. My only criticism of the book was occasional repetition, which makes me wonder if these were initially separate essays. If I were not Jancee Dunn’s #1 fan, I might need to be told three times how she and the author met, but since I am I had it down cold on page 8.
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...more
I'm not a dog person, at all, yet I have read two dog books by Julie Klam because I love her humorous writing style so, so much. Now she has a book on friends--wait! I have friends! I love friends! I can read a Julie Klam book and relate to it! This book made me think about all of my own friendships, the new ones and the old ones, the ones forged by real life connections or online connections, and reminded me to be grateful for them. Love!
I loved, loved, loved this book. Could not put it down. Almost missed my book club discussion because it was tempting to stay home to finish it. Some of the reviews were negative, but I am so glad I disregarded them. Before finishing the book, I phoned a friend I hadn't seen or talked to in over 10 years. We picked up righT where we had left off and it was a treat for both of us. It was also her birthday so the timing was perfect.
Quick read, hilarious author . . . grabbed it at the library and thought it was a humorous and insightful look into women and the bonds of friendship we form with one another and why they are so important. I liked it, not really loved it (became a little redundant and plodding during the 2nd half), but would recommend for a reminder to keep those friendships thriving and strong.
Okay, it's cute. That's about it. Little snippets from the life of a NYer that lives what most of us would believe to be the jet set life. She knows people who know Madonna. That sort of thing. Sex in the City meets How to Make Friends. I learned really nothing from this book, but it was a good distraction for a few hours. Moral of the story? Friends are awesome - find a few.
I received this book in a Goodreads First-Reads giveaway. Thanks so much...I enjoyed the book! Julie Klam has a great sense of humour; it was fun, and easy to read. There were lots of great observations and insights about female friendships that I think most women can relate to, but I think I was looking for more. What about the loss of a friend? How to cope? When a friend ends your friendship with no explanation, how do you deal with that? How do women cope with the death of a life-long friend?...more
I loved this book & read it in about 3 sittings. It's just what I wanted it to be. A celebration and reminder of why friends matter & how to celebrate mine in big and small ways. And the surprising bit is the humor. Klam is funny. And her name is Klam which I delight in - in my dirty mind way. So I'm gonna go get in touch w. my friends now while the moment is ripe.
I really enjoyed this memoir about adult friendships and what makes them tick. Many parts of thIs book had me laughing out loud but I didn't feel that the humor detracted from the author's very poignant observations about the many aspects of friendship. I'd recommend both this book and Linda Holme's discussion of the book on NPR's "Monkey See" blog.
Fun and breezy to read. Loved that she noted that the Obamas chose to have no new friends after 2003 to make sure the people that they socialized with had no agendas. I guess he will make new friends again after 2016. And I wonder how they handle this rule with their children?
She even discusses friends on Goodreads!
She even discusses friends on Goodreads!
Just picked this book up at the library because it was "new" and looked interesting. It was a quick read and I enjoyed the topic of friendships and how to keep them. I only rated it a 3-star because I wanted it to delve deeper into the subject matter to be considered a "field guide". The subtle humor made it worth the read.
This was an amusing look at friendship. I read this book because I almost bought it for a very good friend, but did not want to give her a book I hadn't read yet because I try to be very careful in my recommendations. It would have been okay to give to her, but I chose a different book that I think was better for my friend.
I read about this book in People magazine and thought I'd give it a read because it sounded interesting. It wasn't really what I was expecting--I think I was expecting it to be more of a how-to on maintaining friendships, when really it was more like essays about Klam's relationships with her friends. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed it. It was a fast, light read and I found myself agreeing with a lot of what the had to say and relating to the author. That being said, it wasn't anything groundbreaki...more
This author has such a lovely conversational style that you are half-way through the book before you realize that you have spent the day next to a babbling brook. There is nothing original, new, inspirational, funny or interesting in this book (at least not in the first half---maybe it picks up later on.)
How lucky is Julie to get a bunch of stories about friends published and make some money from it? This book really didn't do much for me as far as being a field guide. I don't think she even wrote about people she hates or couldn't live without. Maybe one friend. I was hoping it would be more insightful.
A fast, light read. I identified with many of the author's insights on friendship; although the book seemed all over the place with many memories overlapping in multiple chapters. So, while I love the topic of this book, I wasn't the biggest fan of its structure. I do appreciate the authors honesty and recommend it for those looking for a light hearted friendship memoir. But, in the end I was looking for a bit more.
loved this book.Julie had me laughing out loud and relating to her neurotic behavior while appreciating her love for her friends even though she would rather call or email then actually get together.really a beautiful book about women and the importance of friendship in our lives
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Julie Klam grew up in Bedford, NY. She has been a freelance writer since 1991, writing for such publications as “O, The Oprah Magazine,” “Rolling Stone,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” “Glamour,” and “The New York Times Magazine”.
A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she was a writer for VH1’s Pop-Up Video, where she earned an Emmy nomination for Special Class Writing.
Please Excuse My Daughter, her m...more
More about Julie Klam...
A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she was a writer for VH1’s Pop-Up Video, where she earned an Emmy nomination for Special Class Writing.
Please Excuse My Daughter, her m...more
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Dec 05, 2012 03:47am