Status
Available
Publication
St. Martin's Press (2009), Edition: 1, 288 pages
Description
A woman can always count on her friends--right? But what if those friendships are hurtful, harmful, even toxic? Barash explores the 10 types of female friends and shows why and how women get stuck with the worst kinds, the ways to get unstuck, and how to recognize a true friend.
User reviews
LibraryThing member dk_phoenix
I received Toxic Friends as a review book for an author’s promo tour, and thought it would be really interesting to get this perspective on friendship after recently reading The Friends We Keep by a Christian author. I figured I’d probably get two very different takes on friends, and I was
Toxic Friends does less philosophizing about women and friendships and more categorizing. I know, I know, that doesn’t sound great at first – why put labels on people? – but in this case it works.
Barash spends her time looking at the different types of women there are ‘out there’ and what kind of friends they become, everyone from The Doormat to The Misery Lover to The Leader of the Pack, plus the variations within these groups.
I was shocked to discover that I could finally verbalize the actions of certain friends in the past – it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just them. They were acting in ways that were typical of certain types of women, and it actually helped me to understand them better. If I ever reconnect with those women – doubtful, but you never know – I’ll be more prepared to communicate with them and relate to them.
And, above all, I think this book will help to identify those types of women if they appear in my life in the future. That doesn’t mean I’ll be psychoanalyzing every person I meet… rather, it means that I’ll have a better awareness of my relationship to certain people and which people to politely and gently excuse myself from spending time with. Something I honestly can say I wish I knew a long time ago… I could have avoided a lot of heartache that way.
Recommended to women with friends. Yes, that’s a broad recommendation – but I honestly believe the book is helpful… and you may even discover a bit more about yourself and how you relate to your female friends too!
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right – but it was a good thing.Toxic Friends does less philosophizing about women and friendships and more categorizing. I know, I know, that doesn’t sound great at first – why put labels on people? – but in this case it works.
Barash spends her time looking at the different types of women there are ‘out there’ and what kind of friends they become, everyone from The Doormat to The Misery Lover to The Leader of the Pack, plus the variations within these groups.
I was shocked to discover that I could finally verbalize the actions of certain friends in the past – it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t just them. They were acting in ways that were typical of certain types of women, and it actually helped me to understand them better. If I ever reconnect with those women – doubtful, but you never know – I’ll be more prepared to communicate with them and relate to them.
And, above all, I think this book will help to identify those types of women if they appear in my life in the future. That doesn’t mean I’ll be psychoanalyzing every person I meet… rather, it means that I’ll have a better awareness of my relationship to certain people and which people to politely and gently excuse myself from spending time with. Something I honestly can say I wish I knew a long time ago… I could have avoided a lot of heartache that way.
Recommended to women with friends. Yes, that’s a broad recommendation – but I honestly believe the book is helpful… and you may even discover a bit more about yourself and how you relate to your female friends too!
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
288 p.; 6.37 inches
ISBN
0312386397 / 9780312386399