In his last year of university, Will thought he knew everyone he cared to know. A perm-haired, out gay young man, working at an AIDS helpline in the early days of the crisis, Will found community amongst the theatre students, artists and writers.
He also knew who he wanted to avoid: the jocks. Wearing sporty clothes and moving in boisterous packs, the jocks seemed to be a different species entirely, one Will might encounter only at his own peril.
All this changed dramatically when Will was brought into a secret society at Yale, aimed to bring together a group of opposites. On his first day, he was faced with Chris Maxey - a physically imposing, loud, star wrestler who seemed to be uncomfortable around Will and embodied everything he disliked and feared.
But through months of mandated dinners, and many beers, the two swapped life-stories and forged an unexpected bond that became a ballast in each other's lives for forty years.
A real-life The Breakfast Club story, We Should Not Be Friends is a testament to the miracle of human connection, if only we see past our differences.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241594612
Number of pages: 336
Weight: 440 g
Dimensions: 218 x 144 x 31 mm
One of the most important - and noble - human qualities is our ability to bond with people with whom we have absolutely nothing in common. It's pure fraternal love, entirely for its own sake. Will Schwalbe has written a gorgeous book on exactly this topic . . . what a pleasure to read about a human trait that might one day save, rather than destroy, the human race - Sebastian Junger
Schwalbe's memoir shines . . . Written like a true friend - Daily Mail
Moving - New York Times
We Should Not Be Friends focuses on the improbable, lifelong, life-changing-dare I say life-saving-bond between two men who met by chance in college with nothing in common and everything to teach one another. Here is a deeply compelling story that is uniquely their own-yet grows throughout the book to contain all the trials of finding one's way in an America that is, like these two men and their unlikely but important connection, constantly changing. This marvelous, warm, life-affirming book gave me a fuller understanding of the friendships that have sustained my life, and will make readers fiercely appreciative of their own chosen family. So many pages throughout human history have been devoted to romantic love, how wonderful to read a book about that other massively important emotion, the love of friendship. - Isaac Fitzgerald
We Should Not Be Friends is a funny, warm, brutally honest and entertaining as it is profound. It's unlike any memoir I've ever read - Louise Penny
Reading this beautifully written and generous book, you will find yourself thinking of your own friendships and the greatest gifts we can give one another: listening deeply and taking the risk of becoming - and offering - our true selves - Dani Shapiro
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