The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship
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- ISBN13: 9781592404452
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
From the coauthor of the million-copy bestseller The Last Address comes a moving tribute to female friendships, with the inspiring tale of eleven girls and the ten women they became.
Meet the Ames Girls: eleven childhood friends who formed a special bond growing up in Ames, Iowa. As young women, they stirred to eight different states, yet managed to maintain an enduring friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, a child’s illness and the mysterious death of one member of their group. Capturing their remarkable tale, The Girls from Ames is a tribute to the deep bonds of women as they experience life’s joys and challenges — and the power of friendship to triumph over heartbreak and unexpected tragedy.
The girls, now in their forties, have a lifetime of memories in common, some evocative of their generation and some that will resonate with any woman who has ever had a friend. Photograph by photograph, recollection by recollection, occasionally with tears and regularly with fantastic laughter, their sweeping and moving tale is shared by Jeffrey Zaslow, Wall Street Journal columnist, as he attempts to define the matchless bonds of female friendship. It demonstrates how close female relationships can shape every aspect of women’s lives – their sense of themselves, their choice of men, their need for validation, their relationships with their mothers, their dreams for their daughters – and reveals how such friendships thrive, rewarding persons who have committed to them.
The Girls from Ames is the tale of a group of ordinary women who built an extraordinary friendship. With both universal insights and deeply personal moments, it is a book that every woman will tell to and be inspired by.
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Quick service and a fantastic product. Well worth the $9.00. Book came quickly and in fantastic shape.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
In The Girls from Ames, Jeffrey Zaslow gives us a lovely picture, in both words and photos, of enduring friendships that have carried nearly a dozen women (Karla, Kelly, Marilyn, Jane, Jenny, Karen, Cathy, Angela, Sally, Diana, and Sheila) through thick and thin. Zaslow’s storytelling in The Girls from Ames is a perfect example of first-rate lifewriting. Not only do we get a glimpse into the long history of the girls’ friendships, from grade school to their 40’s. We start to see how their town, families, and experiences shape their friendships, then how their friendships shape and enrich their lives. All the while, our lives and experiences are enriched by the telling of theirs. I lost track of how many times I dog-eared a page or noted a passage because it reminded me of one of my own friends or offered a new view of a friendship.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the book, especially after reading on the jacket notes that the leader is a journalist. I was apprehensive that an intricate web of relationships would be cut-rate to a dry, factual litany of causes and effects. But Zaslow’s narrative is so compelling that I couldn’t place it down. Zaslow reduces what must have been scads of material into only twenty chapters. I have to admit that when I selected up the book, I thought it would be too long; but, I got to the end of persons twenty chapters wishing there were more.
This book holds so many tiny insights and reminders that I am still feeling a buzz of nostalgia about the special women in my life. By themselves, life tales can be appealing studies of society and the human condition. What makes life tales powerful is when we see our own experiences and selves reflected in them. And isn’t that unique quality of honest and compassionate mirror what makes both our tales and our friends such treasured gifts? Don’t miss The Girls from Ames.
by Becca Taylor
for Tale Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
I just finished this book and have had slightly mixed feelings about it. I loved it, though there were moments when I felt it was moving a bit slowly. It struck me as a small like a soap opera. I sometimes felt frustrated with all the details and emotions but I was captivated by them at the same time. In the end though, I wanted more. I still do and would keenly buy a sequel.
This book is well written and simple to read. It follows the lives of eleven girlfriends, their individual beginnings, the challenges faced and accomplishments gained as young adults, up to their current mid-life situations. Most of the leader’s information was gathered through interviews during the more recent reunions of the friends. Also included are recollections from additional family tree members, friends, and acquaintances connected with the individual incidents. It is evident that the leader was reasonably thorough in his investigation and information gathering in an effort to present each person’s tale as authentically as possible.
Being an Iowan myself, I establish it simple to identify with many of the locations, situations, as well as the family tree values. “The Girls from Ames” was a touching tale of life long friendships as well as an simple and enjoyable read. I highly recommend it.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
A Tale of Friendship and Life’s Journeys…
I have to admit that if not for the message on the take in of this book, “coauthor of The Last Address,” I would not have otherwise known who Jeffrey Zaslow is. But because I was familiar with the profound and inspiring tale The Last Address, I chose that Zaslow’s new novel, The Girls From Ames, must have something special and it did. This book follows the lives of eleven girls and the forty-year friendship that followed them (minus one girl…). The novel travels deep in time to clarify how the girls met, their families, and unique characteristics of each girl. Their friendships are molded by their experiences and the novel describes this in such a way that every person reading it will be envious. What makes the book special is that it is a real and factual tale, and reminds us that life is full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and like and loss. Jeffrey Zaslow gets their tale right and represents their friendships completely. Women will cherish this tale because of their abilities to tell to these experiences and will be inspired to cherish their memories of their own personal friendships. In the tradition of Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, this novel presents a resemblance to care, life lessons, and togetherness. Therefore, I am very impressed by Zaslow’s ability to recreate lives of additional people, and allow the readers to feel like part of the relationships. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a down-to-planet tale that brings out personal emotions in an awe-inspiring way.
5/5 Stars
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
I ordered it quickly. And a first glance was to look for a bib — I wanted to see if Sue Allen Toth’s work was cited.
It was; in the text, not at the end. Some of these subjects had read it when “real girls.” I’m so very fond of SAT and her books — I guess I felt this one owed more to her – altho’ I know it really doesn’t. And I read JZ for years in WSJ.
I can judge this “gang” was not so well liked by additional students, maybe boys as well as girls. JZ tries to get at this w/the Nancy tale – and the “Intervention” chapter – but I’m not convinced we have reasonably a perfect view.
But, it is right this is an unusual – to some extent – situation, and it’s unlike most things I’ve read. These are courageous women; they come from a context which makes that believable. Stars, of a sort, “even in Ames.”
Brilliant book. Fantastic research. Fine non-fiction. Colleges who assign a common book for freshmen might consider this for a refreshing change. Maybe with “Budding.”
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5