We Should Not Be Friends

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the best-selling author of The End of Your Life Book Club-a warm, funny, irresistible book that follows an improbable and life-changing friendship over the course of forty years.

In his last year of university, Will thought he knew everyone he cared to know. Openly gay and volunteering at an AIDS helpline at the start of the crisis, he had found community at a frightening time amongst the theatre students, writers, and visual artists.

He also knew who he wanted to avoid: the jocks.

Until one day Will was invited into a secret Yale society that brought opposites together. On his first day, he was faced with Chris Maxey - a physically imposing, loud, star wrestler who seemed to be uncomfortable around Will and embody everything he reviled 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.

From New Haven to New York City, from Hong Kong and London to a remote Bahamian island-through marriages and divorce, triumphs and devastating losses-We Should Not Be Friends tracks an extraordinary friendship through decades of challenge and change.

It is a testament to the miracle of human connection, if only we can see past our differences.

©2022 Will Schwalbe (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

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

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