Friends, friends, friends.
Welcome back to Teatime Reading where there are books in progress.
When I first saw a memoir about making friends, I was a little tickled. I’ll admit that my first reaction was not directly connected to the larger relevance of this subject, but to the idea that a middle-aged man wrote a book with the kitschy title We Need to Hang Out.
However, as I started to listen to Billy Baker narrate this book, I realized that there was a shocking level of loneliness in the world and this book was a poignant and deeply personal look at one normal man’s struggles with rediscovering friendship, camaraderie and belonging.
We Need to Hang Out was not the most difficult book to read (or listen to, in my case). It flowed easily and focused on Baker’s experiences. From an epic treasure hunt to a re-enactment of a senior ditch day and more, the author took brave stabs at rejuvenating his old friendships as well as building new groups for connection and friendship.
I think that part of the intrigue of this book is that I’ve never felt the desperate need to bring a hyper-masculine ‘ball-busting’ version of masculinity into my friendships. It was interesting to see that even the most quote-unquote ‘manly’ types of friendships (whatever that means) could ignore the challenges of loneliness and isolation.
I think that it is fair to say that We Need to Hang Out is much more of a memoir than a self-help book. That doesn’t mean that some people won’t get some benefit from it, but it does mean that it was never intended to be a rigorous, intense book to break down the barriers between a person and their quests for friendship.
I know that I’ve been a better person since finding my tribe in early 2020. As I type this, I’m in Atlanta with some of that tribe and it’s been really nice to have that experience. Finding friends is not easy, especially after school, and it’s been a breath of fresh air to have found some great ones over the last few years.
That’s what this book did so well. Not the nitty-gritty science-y stuff, but rather, capturing the human longing for friendship.
I hope you give it a go.
That’s all for today. Until next time, keep your bookmarks close.
Peace, Love, Pages.
Note: As Always, Affiliate Links are here for your convenience at no cost to you. All reading was at my own expense.