Book Description Review “Accessible and enlightening…By highlighting the importance of human connection, Denworth has crafted a worthy call to action.” – Barbara King, Washington Post“[Denworth] has a solid command of the complex material before her and a seemingly effortless ability to make it not just digestible but engaging… [She] sticks to the science, calmly telling us the truth no matter what we need to hear. What else are friends for?” – Daniel Akst, Wall Street Journal“The power of friendship―in many ways the most essential of our relationships―has long been underestimated. It’s an absolute pleasure to see Lydia Denworth do it justice in this lovely, insightful, and important book.” – Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Poison Squad“Friendship was once mocked as a naive notion, irrelevant in our species and nonexistent in others. In her lively, personable style, Lydia Denworth reviews what we know about the benefits of close relationships and their long evolutionary history” – Frans de Waal, author of Mama’s Last Hug“The science of friendship has grown remarkably rich in recent years, with scientists studying everything from the chemicals that create bonds in our brains to the friendships animals make for years on end. There’s a deep evolutionary story to friendship now, and Lydia Denworth tells it in clear, lyrical prose.” – Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mother’s Laugh“Critical and convincing… Denworth’s work achieves the best of science writing by making complicated concepts clear. She uses intelligent observation, empathy, and curiosity to offer a friendship manifesto that will absolutely affect readers’ own personal approaches to friendship.” – Booklist (starred review)“In addition to examining the scientific underpinnings of friendship, Denworth capably demonstrates how loneliness…is truly a health- and life-threatening condition, and there are things to be done to avoid it. Convincing evidence that evolution endowed us with a need for friends, support, comfort, stimulation, and, ultimately, happiness.” – Kirkus Reviews“Denworth draws several striking conclusions…[Friendship] provide[s] an effective introduction to its subject.” – Publishers Weekly“A sweeping, precise, and engaging narrative about our primordial capacity for friendship. If you care about what really matters in life, read this fantastic natural history of human friendship.” – Nicholas A. Christakis, author of Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society“I can think of no better rebuke to today’s success-obsessed brand of parenting than Denworth’s clarion call for friendship. Her convincing narration of the science shows that for our kids to live happily ever after, and successfully too, we must let them spend many more afternoons with friends.” – Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of How to Raise an Adult Read more About the Author Lydia Denworth is the author of Friendship, I Can Hear You Whisper, and Toxic Truth, and a contributing editor for Scientific American and blogger for Psychology Today. Her work is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and she lives in Brooklyn, New York. Read more Customers Review: I pre-ordered this book after reading a glowing review by Daniel Akst in the weekend Wall Street Journal (Jan 24, 2020). Ms. Denworth handles the subject matter with just the right balance of personal anecdotes and scientific research. Her pithy personal stories are sprinkled very lightly throughout as a way to reinforce the scientific research which often focuses on animals. Her references to data, research and primary source interviews are artfully and fully explained. This book would make for a great episode on the Discovery Channel or National Geographic, and provides ample fodder for a lively book club discussion. Pick up a copy — and one for a friend.
This book is a must read! Both beautifully written and engaging, it makes a compelling case for why friends are critical to all aspects of our physical and emotional life. While this is a “science” book, it is one that, if you take its message to heart, will change your life in important and positive ways. Weaving personal stories together with a clear and interesting explanation of the science of friendship, the book is a pleasure to read. Given how important and timely this subject matter is, it is no surprise that it was named one of 6 must-read nonfiction books for Winter 2020 by the Next Big Idea Club (a.k.a. Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain and Dan Pink). Read this book, hug your friends and commit to being a better friend going forward–it will literally make you feel better.
It takes quite a bit of talent to weave a well-researched topic into a narrative that is welcoming and heartwarming. “Friendship” is the best of both worlds: detailed scientific investigation joined with real world examples that combine to tell a compelling story. In many ways, it is the ultimate self-help book – where answers are not found just with the self but through friendship with others. Highly recommended.
Few write about science with the warmth and humanity that Lydia Denworth’s prose captures. In this age of denial of scientific data and method, her voice is essential, a spoonful of sugar to help ingest the bitter—both difficult concepts and worldview defying truths. Substantively, the book weaves a rich tapestry of the needs we humans have of being social f needing and seeking connection. It is an antidote to the virus of “rugged individualism” and a helpful piece of the polarization puzzle.
FRIENDSHIP does something pretty awesome. On-the-ground reporting, comprehensive research reporting, and a deep sense of culture combine to let us understand our deepest emotional (and biological!) needs. And not just understand them, but see how the research can help us make choices that make us happier and healthier. Denworth does something even more amazing — the book is SO MUCH FUN to read. I haven’t enjoyed science writing this much since The Life of Henrietta Lacks. FRIENDSHIP is very much in this thrilling tradition of writing that braids the empirical, the emotional, the urgent, and the long view. Very very very very highly recommended.
Ok, so I never really understood how friendship works or why it matters so much… until this book. This book, the first book on the science of friendship, as opposed to the art of friendship, really lays out why it’s so important to shift our thinking on friendship.Denworth painstakingly researches every piece of scientific evidence around friendship and challenges assumptions, tests hypotheses, and picks apart conventional wisdom, like the belief that social media is all bad for relationships. She is the Jane Goodall of friendship science, having embedded herself with chimpanzees and other creatures of the wild to understand how we relate in a deep and meaningful way. If you run an organization, if you interact with humans, if your work relies on others and your well-being depends on it, please buy this book. You won’t regret it!
Lydia Denworth details the cutting-edge science of friendship in a relatable and beautifully written book that makes the case for its necessity – it is key to better health and to a longer life. And now, after reading this book, you’ll actually begin to understand why. She’s connected the dots in ways that are eye-opening and compelling. This is science, not self-help – but it is news that we can all use.
Reading Lydia Denworth’s Friendship book is so humbling, reminding me of how I felt when I read Naked Ape 50 years ago. Upon learning that humankind wasn’t the pinnacle of some benevolent creation, but can be seen as the by-product of millions of years of evolutionary tinkering, my world shifted. Lydia takes it to the next level however relating primates to us with a modern scientific understanding in a very approachable way. Her writing refreshingly opened my eyes and heart too. |
12 reviews