Best Friends Forever - Irene S. Levine [0]
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 - UNDERSTANDING FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS
CHAPTER 2 - BEST FRIENDS: WE JUST CLICKED
CHAPTER 3 - WHY FRIENDSHIPS FALL APART
CHAPTER 4 - GETTING OVER GETTING DUMPED
CHAPTER 5 - SPOTTING A TOXIC FRIENDSHIP
CHAPTER 6 - FRIENDSHIPS IN FLUX
CHAPTER 7 - MAKING THE TOUGH CALL: MEND IT OR END IT
CHAPTER 8 - TIME TO SAY GOODBYE: ENDING A FRIENDSHIP THAT CAN’T BE FIXED
CHAPTER 9 - GETTING OVER THE MYTHS: LEARNING FROM LOSS
CHAPTER 10 - MOVING FORWARD
APPENDIX A - ABOUT THE FRACTURED FRIENDSHIP SURVEY
APPENDIX B - RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Acknowledgements
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
READING GROUP GUIDE
PRAISE FOR
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER
“For anyone who has ever had a friend, but especially for those who’ve ended close relationships, Irene Levine has written a beautiful guide to recovery and healing. It’s a book filled with honest reflections and heartfelt advice.”
—JEFFREY ZASLOW, New York Times bestselling author of The Girls from Ames and co-author of The Last Lecture
“The end of a friendship is painful and sad, regardless of the circumstances. Dr. Irene Levine explores this difficult subject with insight and heart, plus a look at the latest research. Her guidance is especially interesting and helpful regarding Facebook and other new developments that are changing the meaning of friendship in today’s world.”
—FLORENCE ISAACS, author of Toxic Friends/True Friends and What Do You Say When...
“Finally, a book that helps you get through the other type of breakup.”
—ANDREA LAVINTHAL and JESSICA ROZLER, authors of Friend or Frenemy?
“Dr. Irene Levine’s Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup with Your Best Friend should be every woman’s BFF! Written in a breezy yet thoughtful style and peppered with stories from real-life best friends, this guide shows that female friendships are rich, life-affirming, joyful—but often very complicated too. We women love our friends, but we feel completely alone and confused when those friendships get troubled or even disappear. In her unique self-help guide, Dr Levine gives essential advice and tips for navigating the ups and downs of female friendship.”
—JOANNE RENDELL, author of The Professors’ Wives’ Club and Crossing Washington Square
“Best Friends Forever explodes the myths about female friendships and is a readable, entertaining survival manual filled with practical advice for girls and women of all ages. The book reminds us that it is the nature of relationships to change over time, and helps us understand and cope with those changes. We don’t expect to marry our elementary school sweethearts, and it is equally rare for our best friends from childhood to be there for us forever. This book will help you navigate the choppy waters that complicate friendships, advise you on how to salvage the friendships that can and should be saved, and guide you to move on when necessary.”
—DIANA ZUCKERMAN, PhD, Psychologist, President, National Research Center for Women & Families
“A fractured friendship can be as painful as any other break-up, whether you’ve been jilted by a friend or been the one to do the jilting. Irene S. Levine understands the complications of friendship—the lulls, the obstacles, and yes, the dissolutions, and offers kind, practical and realistic tools to recover from a break-up and emerge strong, healthy and complete.”
—ALLISON WINN SCOTCH, New York Times bestselling author of Time of My Life
This edition first published in the United States in 2009 by
The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.
141 Wooster Street
New York, NY 10012
www.overlookpress.com
Copyright © 2009 by Irene S. Levine
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now
known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher,
except by a reviewer who wishes