Bad Friend - by Tiffany Watt Smith (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A smart and thought-provoking memoir, history, and cultural critique about the turmoil and complexity of female friendship Our culture today is inundated with narratives about the strength of female friendship, whether through images of girl power, BFFs, or work wives. Yet cultural historian Tiffany Watt Smith has always found her own life much messier. She has had dramatic friend breakups, friendships that felt like too much or not enough, friendships that drifted into silence, and friendships built on convenience rather than a meeting of minds. And there are older cultural scripts to contend with: the competitive rival, the jealous backstabber, the underminer, the fair-weather friend. We have all been bad friends. It's impossible to be a perfect one; as Watt Smith points out, women's friendships have long been magnified, scrutinized, praised, and admonished, creating a legacy of impossible ideals. In Bad Friend, Watt Smith reflects on her own experience and thoroughly mines the rich cultural history of female friendship to look for a new paradigm that might encompass the struggles along with the joy"--

Book Synopsis

A smart and thought-provoking memoir, history, and cultural critique about the turmoil and complexity of female friendship

Our culture today is inundated with narratives about the strength of female friendship, whether through images of girl power, BFFs, or work wives. Yet cultural historian Tiffany Watt Smith has always found her own life much messier. She has had dramatic friend breakups, friendships that felt like too much or not enough, friendships that drifted into silence, and friendships built on convenience rather than a meeting of minds. And there are older cultural scripts to contend with: the competitive rival, the jealous backstabber, the underminer, the fair-weather friend.

We have all been bad friends. It's impossible to be a perfect one; as Watt Smith points out, women's friendships have long been magnified, scrutinized, praised, and admonished, creating a legacy of impossible ideals. In Bad Friend, Watt Smith reflects on her own experience and thoroughly mines the rich cultural history of female friendship to look for a new paradigm that might encompass the struggles along with the joy.

Review Quotes

"Cultural historian Smith explores fraught relationships between women in this insightful blend of memoir and history... a moving and incisive analysis of an oft-discussed subject."
--Publishers Weekly

"With this book, Watt Smith provides us with a blueprint for how to sustain friendships that are flawed, and sometimes painful - but more meaningful because they are real."
--The Guardian

"Watt Smith deftly takes us across time and space to show how female bonding has often weathered cultural backlash to emerge intact, albeit sometimes changed, on the other side."
--The Los Angeles Times

"Tiffany Watt Smith's fascinating book asks why friendships are less valued by society than conjugal or familial relationships...she holds a bright light to the subject."
--The Financial Times

About the Author

Tiffany Watt Smith is a cultural historian and author of The Book of Human Emotions and Schadenfreude. Her TED Talk, "The History of Human Emotions," has been viewed more than 4.5 million times. She is associate professor (emerita) of cultural history at Queen Mary University of London, where she ran the Centre for the History of the Emotions. Her academic research has been supported by numerous awards and prizes, including from Wellcome Trust, the British Academy, and as a recipient of the distinguished Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2018. She is a BBC New Generation Thinker and in 2024 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.