I Know Just What You Mean: The Power of Friendship in Women's Lives

Rating:
Summary: Women's Friendship
Review: As a friend with friends, I found this book a warm and readable affirmation about loyalty and compassion among women. I am a fan of Ellen Goodman's, and this book add yet another fascinating dimension to her work.

Rating:
Summary: Too Much of a Good Thing
Review: I enjoyed this book for the first 40 pages...at which point it became disappointingly repetitive. I continued to plow through the book, hoping for some less obvious observations and insights, but they never really came. If you have a best friend (especially one you've had for a long time), most of what you read in this book will be obvious to you, and not very new or thought-provoking. That's unfortunate, because I usually enjoy the finely-honed insights of both of these authors. There are two tests of friendship that I wish the authors had addressed in more depth: What do you do when your best friend marries a man you can't stand? And what do you do when your best friend's parenting approach and values turn out to be completely different from yours? In the end, I'm not sure who the real audience is for this book - it's not women who've maintained long-term friendships, and it's not really women who haven't, and if the authors' assessment of men's relationships is correct, it's not really men, either.

Rating:
Summary: The Heat of Woman's Friendships
Review: I have been blessed by some wonderful friendships. I have muddled through conflicts in others. I have always thought that friendship was a powerful relationship that gained far too little attention. In this book I found women who describe feelings and needs and situations I have been trying to express for years.

We sacrifice friends too easily, not giving ourself permission to care deeply enough. In the chronicling of their own path and those of others Ellen and Pat have given all women a priceless gift. The possibilities of a deep and meaningful friendship unfold, and the pitfalls that can hamper growth are discussed in words that welcome and are easy to read.

If this book is widely enough shared, perhaps our daughters will be able to develop friendships earlier and avoid the destructive nature of middle-school cliques, or falling into the arms of the wrong man to satisfy their need for a friend.

Rating:
Summary: The Heat of Woman's Friendships
Review: I have been blessed by some wonderful friendships. I have muddled through conflicts in others. I have always thought that friendship was a powerful relationship that gained far too little attention. In this book I found women who describe feelings and needs and situations I have been trying to express for years.

We sacrifice friends too easily, not giving ourself permission to care deeply enough. In the chronicling of their own path and those of others Ellen and Pat have given all women a priceless gift. The possibilities of a deep and meaningful friendship unfold, and the pitfalls that can hamper growth are discussed in words that welcome and are easy to read.

If this book is widely enough shared, perhaps our daughters will be able to develop friendships earlier and avoid the destructive nature of middle-school cliques, or falling into the arms of the wrong man to satisfy their need for a friend.

Rating:
Summary: Great Idea
Review: I heard Pat O'Brien and Ellen Goodman interviewed on the radio and was very excited to read this book. I guess I was hoping to read their stories and anecdotes about how their friendship grew and thought I would see my own relationship with my best friend reflected here. I thought it would read more like a novel but actually it reads like a John Gray self-help book. Women's friendships are so fun and intense and silly and interesting and I think they've left all of that out in favor of a redeeming social revelation which we've all read before. They had a great idea but I'm sorry to say they missed the mark with this book.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Friendship Book
Review: I read this in one weekend. I loved the relationship between the two women. It came to me that the relationships that a woman holds with her female friends is so important. I felt that this was such an important book to share with friends that I bought and sent this to my two best friends

Rating:
Summary: Women and friends.
Review: This book legitimized the importance I also place on friendships. I am looking forward to discussing it at my September book group. The concept of "friends of the road" and "friends of the heart" as mentioned in the book is a clarifying way of looking at serial relationships. It helps relieve some guilt I have felt when I have moved on and not looked back. I also valued the chapter on men's friendships - no judgements just exploration of the differences.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Friendship Book
Review: This book was extremely repetitious...this book was extremely repetitious...this book was....I think you get my point. I wanted to give this book a 2 rating, but it had a wonderful story about Oprah and her sidekick Gayle. As for the other stories, they were quite boring. Buy this book for the Oprah story and then discard it.