Into the Tangle of Friendship: A Memoir of the Things That Matter [Hardcover]

Beth Kephart (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH); [1st] edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618097929
• ISBN-13: 978-0618097920
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,167,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Following the publication of five memoirs and FLOW, the autobiography of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River, I've had the great pleasure of turning my attention to young adult fiction. UNDERCOVER and HOUSE OF DANCE were both named a best of the year by Kirkus and Bank Street. NOTHING BUT GHOSTS, A HEART IS NOT A SIZE, and DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS were critically acclaimed. In October YOU ARE MY ONLY will be released by Egmont USA. Next summer, Philomel will release SMALL DAMAGES. I am at work on a prequel to DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS, a novel for adults, and a memoir about teaching. Please visit my blog: http://beth-kephart.blogspot.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A provocative meditation on the meaning of friendship, September 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Into the Tangle of Friendship : A Memoir of the Things That Matter (Hardcover)

This beautifully written book inspired me to look back over a lifetime's worth of friendships, and to finally see all of these relationships in a whole new light. Beth Kephart is amazingly honest about the joys and pains of frienship, especially between women--the ways we support each other, and the ways we sometimes let one another down. When I finished this courageous, deeply felt memoir, I felt compelled to take the time to really reach out to those people who have proven themselves to be my own true friends. It is so easy to take our friends for granted, to let friendship turn into quick phone calls, or two-line emails. But our friends are so much more important, and they deserve more from us, as Beth Kephart reminds us in this richly woven tapestry of friendships of many colors and textures. She has not just been lucky in friendship, she has given deeply of herself, and she has been blessed in return with soulmates who have stood by her through thick and thin. This is a book for friends to give, to share, to read together; it's the beginning of an important conversation; a reminder to pay attention to the people who really matter in our lives.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book for the head and heart, October 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Into the Tangle of Friendship : A Memoir of the Things That Matter (Hardcover)

I was astonished by the beauty of this book. The prose is luminous, and the subject matter is certainly universal, but Beth Kephart takes such a refreshing and unorthodox approach to the topic of friendship that I was startled in the best sense of the word. I'd never really thought about how strange, how oddly buoyant, friendships are. I've given this book to several friends (close and not so close) and the response has been electric. We have all succeeded and failed at friendship. Now that I've read Kephart's book, I will, I hope, never again be timid in the face of a difficult relationship. I will carry Kephart's wisdom and generosity with me always.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Friendship, the words we don't have, April 14, 2001

By 

Carol Lieto (Granite Springs, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Into the Tangle of Friendship : A Memoir of the Things That Matter (Hardcover)

Beth Kephart's book, _Into the Tangle of Friendship_, is a wonderful book that should be given to every friend we have in our own unique circles. It is not a suspense novel, and not a book to be taken lightly. Kephart gives words to the emotions we all have and feel about our friends. She manages to do the impossible, give voice to our emotions. Friendship is an indefinable part of our lives, and each friend provides, as Kephart says, a unique thread towards the fabric of the quilt that defines our lives. This is more a sociological treatise than a novel, and readers who buy this book must realize that fact. It is a wonderful book that can be read whenever, chapter by chapter. Each chapter can be read independently, though together the book follows a logical sequence. Thank you, Beth, for giving us the words that do not flow easily from our hearts. The poetic language and the allusions to literature are just one added bonus to the gift of words given to the reader by this author.