Some of My Best Friends - by Emily Bernard (Paperback)

From the Back Cover

In this unusually honest book of essays and other writings, Emily Bernard examines the complexities of interracial friendships: Latino and white, black and Asian, black and Jewish. In essays from such celebrated writers as Pam Houston, Darryl Pickney, Luis Rodriguez, and Susan Straight, among many others, you'll meet a young Italian American college student who rooms with a sophisticated young black man who can trace his college-educated elders back several generations; a second-generation Korean American from the "hood" who is more comfortable with Latinos and blacks than with Korean kids who grew up in the suburbs; and a Jewish man who reflects on his friendship with a black opera singer. Though culturally and ethnically at odds, perhaps, they call each other friends; working together, playing together, opening their homes and hearts, even when they have every reason not to.

Sometimes controversial, sometimes funny, but always thought-provoking, Some of My Best Friends is a timely work on a subject that has yet to be fully explored.

Review Quotes

"Meticulously annotated...a textured, ribald and frequently poignant interracial friendship between two remarkable talents." - New York Times Book Review on Remember Me to Harlem
"You can't afford to miss this book." - Vibe on Remember Me to Harlem
"One of those rare books that you don't know you want, need, and will love reading until you open its pages. What an expansive, disturbing, provocative, funny and profoundly honest discussion of race and friendship, friendship and race, and the need for connection and community. There are no false steps here." - Jill Nelson, author of Volunteer Slavery and Sexual Healing
"Heartfelt essays [exploring] ...what makes some [friendships] last a lifetime and others collapse at the first sign of strain." - Booklist
"What a wonderful and much-needed contribution to the great American conversation. In these pages, we are forced to look past the glossy images of ebony and ivory thrust at us from Gap ads and buddy flicks, to examine the more difficult reality of befriending 'the other.' With humor and candor, these writers show us how hard, rewarding, and transformative friendship across the color line can be." - --Danzy Senna, author of Caucasia and Symptomatic
"What a wonderful and much-needed contribution to the great American conversation." - Danzy Senna, author of Caucasia and Symptomatic