Friendship

By: Emily Gould

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Bev Tunney and Amy Schein have been best friends for years; now, at 30, they're at a crossroads. Bev is a Midwestern striver still mourning a years-old romantic catastrophe. Amy is an East Coast princess whose luck and charm have too long allowed her to cruise through life. Bev is stuck in circumstances that would have barely passed for bohemian in her mid-20s. Amy is still riding the tailwinds of her early success, but her habit of burning bridges is finally catching up to her. And now Bev is pregnant. As Bev and Amy are dragged, kicking and screaming, into real adulthood, they have to face the possibility that growing up might mean growing apart.

Friendship, Emily Gould's debut novel, traces the evolution of a friendship with humor and wry sympathy. This is a story about the way we speak and live today, about the ways we disappoint and betray one another. At once a meditation on the modern meaning of maturity and a timeless portrait of the underexamined bond that exists between friends, this exacting and truthful novel is a revelation.

©2014 Emily Gould (P)2014 Tantor

IMPORTANT

PAY ATTENTION:
This reading was grossly miscast. This woman apparently narrates a lot of lusty romance novels for ladies, and that makes sense; her voice is half Siri half sex-line operator. She did not understand the tone of this book and it was very distracting. Classifying this book as Chick Lit was a mistake and must have led to this incompetent reading. Its not all Amy Rubinate's fault. Eventually I got used to it, but kept wishing it was the author reading instead.

Friendship is an OK story about a pair of youngish straight white girls trying to MAKE IT as writers in NEW YORK CITY, but they kinda want babies and/or husbands to make their lives seem meaningful, even if they feel guilty about wanting these things since they are educated feminists and whatnot. Its a female friendship novel that takes cues from the 1990s rom-coms starring Meg Ryan, but its set in the 2010s (central plot point revolves around iMessage, not AOL.)

These gals are supposed to be literary but from what I remember, no specific books they read or liked were ever mentioned. This is essential; when trying to get to know someone, the first questions a person asks another person are "what books/movies/music do you like?" One assumes they don't actually read--maybe Gould wants to give that impression, another failing in their crummy, phony lives.

Friendship in all is fairly pleasant and is aiming at something real in friends' relationships, but is totally bourgeois and comes off sort of frivolous. More Nora Ephron than Chris Kraus, but Gould has obviously read I Love Dick. Its mostly inoffensive. I really like You've Got Mail.

Decent, well narrated

Great narrator, but the characters were kinda irritating. Something about it drew me in though, so would recommend

Narrator is awful

I couldn't get through the first chapter. Her voice and weird delivery were intolerable. Just read it. It's not the best story, but a decent beach read.

Readers voice wasn't fitting for the story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The reader's voice was sort of breathy and didn't work with a story about friendship.

Trite characterization + non-ending

Headline says it all. Waste of a powerful title. Male characters are especially one dimensional.

The reader killed this book for me.

I've not even finished because I could not bear the reader. This seems like it's a great story--I'll probably go buy the actual book. This narrator is my least favorite ever in my years of Audible membership. So disappointing...