Bad friend : how women revolutionized modern friendship / Tiffany Watt Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watt Smith, Tiffany, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Female friendship.

Friendship.

Women--Communication.

Women.

Physical Description:

288 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Celadon Books, 2025.

Summary:

"A smart and thought-provoking memoir, history, and cultural critique about the turmoil and complexity of female friendship. Our culture today is inundated with narratives about the strength of female friendship, whether through images of girl power, BFFs, or work wives. Yet cultural historian Tiffany Watt Smith has always found her own life much messier. She has had dramatic friend breakups, friendships that felt like too much or not enough, friendships that drifted into silence, and friendships built on convenience rather than a meeting of minds. And there are older cultural scripts to contend with: the competitive rival, the jealous backstabber, the underminer, the fair-weather friend. We have all been bad friends. It's impossible to be a perfect one; as Watt Smith points out, women's friendships have long been magnified, scrutinized, praised, and admonished, creating a legacy of impossible ideals. In Bad Friend, Watt Smith reflects on her own experience and thoroughly mines the rich cultural history of female friendship to look for a new paradigm that might encompass the struggles along with the joy"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Author's note

Prologue

Part One: Entanglements, 1900-1940. Crushed Bad company

Outsider

Part Two: Separations, 1940-1980. Commitment-phobe

Mum clique

Traitor

Part Three: Pacts, 1980-2020. Meddler

The coven

Ghost

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781250870216

1250870216

OCLC:

1452441155