Will Schwalbe

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

Schwalbe's memoir shines . . . Written like a true friend

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.

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

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

The Story of An Unlikely Friendship

By the time Will Schwalbe was a junior at college, he had already met everyone he cared to know. He also knew exactly whom he wanted to avoid: the jocks. The jocks wore backwards baseball caps and moved in packs, filling boisterous tables in the dining hall, and on the whole seemed to Will another species, one he might encounter only at his own peril. 
 
All this dramatically changed when he collided with Chris Maxey, known to just about everyone as Maxey. Maxey was physically imposing, loud, a star wrestler-and under the strangely liberating circumstances of a little-known secret society at Yale, the two forged a bond that has remained a mainstay of their lives for forty years and counting. 
 
We Should Not be Friends tracks an extraordinary friendship over decades of challenge and change. Will Schwalbe's marvellous new work is a testament to the miracle of human connection and to all we have to gain when we let go of first impressions and see one another for who we truly are.

Will Schwalbe

Praise for We Should Not Be Friends

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 Schw ...

Schwalbe's memoir shines . . . Written like a true friend

Moving

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 Schw ...

Schwalbe's memoir shines . . . Written like a true friend

Moving

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 Schw ...

Schwalbe's memoir shines . . . Written like a true friend

Moving

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter