Friendaholic: Confessions of a Friendship Addict

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Delivery with Standard Australia Post usually happens within 2-10 business days from time of dispatch. Please be aware that the delivery time frame may vary according to the area of delivery and due to various reasons, the delivery may take longer than the original estimated timeframe. As a society, there is a tendency to elevate romantic love. But what about friendships? Aren't they just as – if not more – important? Joan herself also has an age-difference friendship, with an older man called Max, now in his 90s. She said, when I asked her about it, that Max was who she turned to whenever she was “deeply troubled”. Max escaped the Holocaust and his son married a 9/11 widow so, in Joan’s words, “he has seen it all”. When Donald Trump was elected president, Max was the first person Joan (a lifelong Democrat) called. She said she always sought his counsel in those moments, at “the hinges of history”. A drop-off point at the Royal Festival Hall (30 metres) has been created for visitors who are unable to walk from alternative car parks. Our Access Scheme And also Day brings her lovely writing style of honesty and humour which meant I devoured this in just a few days!

Until recently Elizabeth Day wasn’t simply passionate about friendship, she was addicted to it. This isn’t just a figure of speech. She describes a physical and emotional dependence so strong that it had her pursuing platonic relationships to the point of damaging her own physical and psychological health. This book speaks my soul. Love every word in this book and really feel like I learnt things about myself and what makes friendships my most favourite thing.If you want to be a mother, Elizabeth, you will find a way,” she said. “And if it doesn’t happen, you can, in the fullness of time, be at peace with that, too.” Day describes herself as 'addicted' to friendship, and determined to be a 'good friend' because '...having lots of friends meant you were loved, popular and safe.' But the result of this was that she was exhausted (because she said 'yes' to everyone), and her personal boundaries were constantly tested. This lead her to consider the difference between quality and quantity. She goes on to explain how she rebalanced her friendships, alongside an exploration of the evolution of friendships, and the types of friendships we might have (the fun-night-out friend, the frenemy, and so on).

Then, when a global pandemic hit in 2020, she was one of thousands of people forced to reassess what friendship really meant to them.

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Why was this? Could she rebalance it? Was there such a thing as... too many friends? And was she the friend she thought she was? I found the topic interesting but I was not a fan of the writer. I couldn't relate to her upper middle class select group of well connected "bright young things" type friends. I loved the structure of the book, with chapters about societal change e.g. "double tap to like" and "ghosting" interspersed with interviews with friends about friendship e.g. "Clemmie: Can friendships withstand big life shifts". It seems like a sad indictment of society that we even need to try and analyse friendships but the author sums it up herself….”We don’t have the terminology and until we sneak it into existence, it is difficult to express what we mean with any precision”