Focus on FRIENDSHIP

Before Lena Dunham and Girls, Emily Books founder and blogger Emily Gould was the one talking about young women trying to find their bearings in life.

Now, Gould’s debut novel, FRIENDSHIP, about two girlfriends dragged, kicking and screaming into real adulthood is getting major media attention and landing on Summer Reading Lists from Glamour to the New York Post to the Boston Globe to Huffington Post and more.

Both Elle Magazine and the New York Times ran profiles of Emily Gould—the latter as the front page feature in the Sunday Styles section.

A New York Times Book Review coming this weekend (July 20) joins the glowing praise already in for FRIENDSHIP:

“Fans of Lena Dunham’s Girls should appreciate this funny first novel about two tech-savvy 30ish pals navigating work and what passes for love in modern-day New York City.” — People Magazine (July 14 issue)

“Bev and Amy are totally frustrating—they’re like Hannah and Marnie from Girls with a few more years of resentment between them. But the specificity of their struggles (peanut butter soup for dinner, anyone?) and Gould’s hyperaware voice lend the story of their friendship poignance and shades of relatability. A-” — Entertainment Weekly (July 1 issue)

“Whereas the blogs tended to create a self-portrait of the author as human word processor (automatically slicing, dicing and churning experience into prose), FRIENDSHIP isn’t the simple spewing (or venting or whining or knee-jerk reacting) of an obsessive oversharer. Rather, at its best, it points to Ms. Gould’s abilities as a keen-eyed noticer and her knack for nailing down her ravenous observations with energy and flair.” — Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times (June 30)

Additional praise for FRIENDSHIP:

“Perfect summer reading for people who’d rather stay in the city than go to the beach.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A savvy first novel that, in piercing prose, zeroes in on modern ennui and the catalysts that force even the most apathetic out of their complacency.” — Booklist

“Gould’s novel is admirably, readably realistic—she knows these girls and the world they live in (including the omnipresence of technology and the way that it pervades relationships)… Gould nails the complex blend of love, loyalty, and resentment that binds female friends. It is worth reading for the richness of its details (at one point, Amy is overwhelmed by the desire to put an engaged coworker’s wedding ring in her mouth), and it offers new insight into the experience of young women.” — Publishers Weekly