{ "item_title" : "See Friendship", "item_author" : [" Jeremy Gordon "], "item_description" : "A sharp and affecting meditation on the contours of friendship, the seams of our digital lives, and the elasticity of memory. Wickedly funny and deeply impactful. . . . It's a literal triumph.--Bryan Washington, author of Memorial and LotAstonishingly intelligent. . . . A stunning first novel. --Brandon Taylor, author of The Late AmericansAt heart a millennial's take on grief-inflected nostalgia. . . . See Friendship rejects catharsis in favor of the diffuse grays of extended mourning. . . . The final chapter decenters Jacob in order to unfold outward -- wonderfully so, like its own small metaphor of the internet. Gordon's smart novel on the warping effects of nostalgia and technology asks us to follow some Forsterian advice from a century ago: Only connect. -- The New York Times Book ReviewCritic Jeremy Gordon makes his literary debut with this whip-smart novel of contemporary fiction about a young man who learns the devastating truth behind his friend's death, propelling him on an odyssey of discovery into the nature of grief in the digital age, the meaning of friendship, and the limits of memory.Amid the ongoing decimation of media, Jacob Goldberg, a culture writer in New York, knows what will save him: a podcast. And not just any podcast, but something that will demonstrate his singular thoughtfulness in an oversaturated, competitive market. When Jacob learns the true, tragic circumstances behind the mysterious death of Seth, one of his best friends from high school, his world is turned completely upside down. But when the dust settles, he realizes he has an idea worth digging into--a search for the truth about friendship and memory.Of course, it's not so simple. Learning the truth--or at least, the beginning of it--sends Jacob spiraling. His increasing obsession ultimately leads him back home to Chicago in this complex coming of age story, where he tracks down Lee, a once up-and-coming musician who probably knew Seth best at the end of his life. As his investigation deepens, Jacob's drive to find out the truth--and whether there's a deeper story to be told about the fault lines of our memories, life and death on the internet, and the people we never forget--grows into a desperation to discover whether it even matters.A poignant and funny work of literary fiction about grief, loneliness, memory, and the unique existential questions inherent to the digital age, See Friendship introduces a new voice in fiction--a writer known for his pitch-perfect cultural criticism, with a depth of literary talent.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers2.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/06/337/509/0063375095_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "17.99", "online_price" : "17.99", "our_price" : "17.99", "club_price" : "17.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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Complex and authentic, Jeremy Gordon’s See Friendship challenges the heart and mind with truths about friendship and memory. Jacob Goldberg, a 30-something culture writer for a website of medium renown, is trying to stay relevant in the increasingly competitive media world. While brainstorming ideas for a podcast series, Jacob learns new details about the unexpected death of Seth Terry, one of his best friends from high school. Shocked by the revelation that Seth overdosed, Jacob fixates on the events leading up to the well-liked Seth’s death, which he decides to make the subject of his podcast. Jacob pieces together a narrative through interviews with former classmates, investigating what part Lee—Seth’s friend and drug dealer—played in Seth’s demise. See Friendship is a nuanced, layered story. In his interviews, Jacob delves into the shared past of all Seth’s former acquaintances, unearthing the complexities of those relationships, as well as Jacob’s own demons and regrets. Through Jacob’s eyes, readers also glimpse the world of journalism, witnessing the evolution of his work on the story from a professional project about the legacy of a dead classmate into a personal reckoning. Jacob’s concerns are relatable, as he balances the demands of his precarious career with the desire to treat his friend’s story with humanity. A thought-provoking and stirring exploration of the lasting impact of connection, See Friendship may resonate with those who enjoyed The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. Gordon’s writing is both sensitive and grounded, skillfully capturing the complex emotional responses to loss through keen and evocative observations. He masterfully explores the capricious nature of memory—how certain moments resurface with ease, while others remain elusive—revealing the fluid, and often unreliable, ways we process the past.