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A review by frootjoos
The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship by Jeffrey Zaslow
5.0
I didn't think I would like this book half as much as I did. I am not a non-fiction reader; I like my non-fic in magazine-article doses, preferably out of Entertainment Weekly. Better yet, just give me a list, just the top ten.
I found myself keeping a finger stuck between the pages that show the Girls' photos, and every time something in particular about their story resonated for me, I'd flip to the front and look at the Girl or Girls in question. I felt myself wanting to know them, to look them in the eye.
Through this book, in an infinitesimal way, you can meet them. I say infinitesimal because you and I cannot have the 40+ year history they have with each other. You had to have been there. But I am so glad for this peek into their lives and the friendship they share. In a way, they offer a glimpse into understanding myself.
Jeff Zaslow, you've got balls to venture into this territory. ^_^ Great writing, and I can't imagine how excruciating the research into this emotional minefield must have been.
A woman at my store told me she did not think this book would appeal to her 16-year-old daughter and left hurriedly before I could reply. Any girl who has had a friend, or wanted one; any girl who has had a sister, or wanted one; any woman who knew her mother or daughter well, or never knew her at all, or wished she knew her better; any girl who has ever felt alone and needs to know she isn't or doesn't have to be, can relate to and enjoy this book. I didn't think it would appeal to me (not being an upper-middle class Midwestern housewife) but I have been all of these girls at one point or another. From childhood crushes to familial heroes, from mean-girl intrigues and girlfights to crying sessions and group hugs, from courtship to marriage--I've been at some of those same intersections of life. And I can see the first blips of other life milestones of theirs that I will pass too: career changes, motherhood, maturity, illness, and all the grief, joy, and beauty that is to come. Thanks, Girls. I'm looking forward and backward at the same time.
I found myself keeping a finger stuck between the pages that show the Girls' photos, and every time something in particular about their story resonated for me, I'd flip to the front and look at the Girl or Girls in question. I felt myself wanting to know them, to look them in the eye.
Through this book, in an infinitesimal way, you can meet them. I say infinitesimal because you and I cannot have the 40+ year history they have with each other. You had to have been there. But I am so glad for this peek into their lives and the friendship they share. In a way, they offer a glimpse into understanding myself.
Jeff Zaslow, you've got balls to venture into this territory. ^_^ Great writing, and I can't imagine how excruciating the research into this emotional minefield must have been.
A woman at my store told me she did not think this book would appeal to her 16-year-old daughter and left hurriedly before I could reply. Any girl who has had a friend, or wanted one; any girl who has had a sister, or wanted one; any woman who knew her mother or daughter well, or never knew her at all, or wished she knew her better; any girl who has ever felt alone and needs to know she isn't or doesn't have to be, can relate to and enjoy this book. I didn't think it would appeal to me (not being an upper-middle class Midwestern housewife) but I have been all of these girls at one point or another. From childhood crushes to familial heroes, from mean-girl intrigues and girlfights to crying sessions and group hugs, from courtship to marriage--I've been at some of those same intersections of life. And I can see the first blips of other life milestones of theirs that I will pass too: career changes, motherhood, maturity, illness, and all the grief, joy, and beauty that is to come. Thanks, Girls. I'm looking forward and backward at the same time.