Friends forever
September 26th, 2009 Mary K. - Central
Jeffrey Zaslow is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal. One of his columns was about lifelong friendships that seem to exist primarily among women. The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship evolved from the responses he received, including one from the Ames group. The 10 women who were friends in high school (there were 11, but one died) and graduated in 1981 are now scattered throughout the country They have a reunion every year. Zaslow was invited to attend, and uses this time to update us on their current and past live. They have had tragedies, challenges and successes.
It is hard to describe exactly why this was a disappointing read. The 10 “girls”, now in their forties, seem personable enough and are very successful in their adult lives. And author Jeffrey Zalow (co-author of The Last Lecture), has a lot of facts about them, their childhoods in Ames and their lives since graduation. Perhaps the fact that Zaslow has all the details of their lives might be part of the problem. He is good at reporting but not as good at conveying feeling and emotions. Also for the most part these are ordinary middle class lives, and even though they are often eventful and rewarding, they are not that interesting to read about. A more general book about women’s friendships and how rewarding long term, life-long friendships can be would have been more interesting. Anyone else have a different response to the book?
Entry Filed under: Memoir & Biography, Nonfiction
2 Comments Add your own
1. Citizen Reader | September 26th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Good for you! (In finding this a disappointing read.) I can describe part of why it is a disappointing read:
1. This may be cynical of me to think, but Zaslow’s journalism seems to be of the type where he milks every sentimental story he can find for profit (he’s also the co-author of Randy Pausch’s bestselling memoir The Last Lecture)–and that sort of calculating manipulation comes through in the text;
and
2. He actually uses phrases like this: “As a clique, they had a reputation for being flirts–more social than academic, and more apt to tease boys than to please them. In reality, though, most of the Ames girls were very good students. And a couple of them actually pleased more than they teased.” (Yes, I actually wrote that line down in my own review of this book, it incensed me so. Not that there was anything wrong with the 1950s, but do we need books that sound like we’re still in them?)
There’s got to be better books on women’s friendships out there. A way better book about Iowa is Peter Feldstein’s photography book “The Oxford Project”–much more honestly moving than this one.
Sorry for the long ramble.
2. mary | September 28th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Thanks for mentioning the Oxford Project, that is a great book about a community that also has many life long connections, and it was done in a lot fewer words than “Girls”. I agree that there should be a better story of women;s friendships. Just yesterday at a family 80th birthday party, I saw my mother unite with 4 of her high school friends, women she has known for more than 60 years. Their story will never be recorded in a book, and their lives and connections are probably more interesting than the ones described here.
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