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The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship |  | Author: Jeffrey Zaslow
Publisher: Gotham
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy Used: $2.84
as of 7/29/2010 21:00 CDT details
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Seller: goHastings
Rating:  113 reviews
Sales Rank: 8528
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1St Edition
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 1592404456
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.40922777546
EAN: 9781592404452
ASIN: 1592404456
Publication Date: April 21, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From the coauthor of the million-copy bestseller The Last Lecture comes a moving tribute to female friendships, with the inspiring story 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 moved 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 story, The Girls from Ames is a testament 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 often with great laughter, their sweeping and moving story 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 those who have committed to them.
The Girls from Ames is the story 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 relate to and be inspired by.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 113
 40 years of friendship March 10, 2009
Marilyn T. Schoberg (Elkhorn, WI USA)
90 out of 95 found this review helpful
What first drew me to this book is the fact that I had cousins in Ames, and all through my growing up years, spent time there. It was fun to see the names of places I recognized and, upon contacting my relatives, finding out that they were friends with some of the families mentioned in the book. The personal connection aside, I found the book well done and very interesting. The author writes a column for the Wall Street Journal called "Moving On", and one piece dealing with turning points in women's friendships yielded an e-mail from one of the "Ames Girls", telling about their group of 11 who had remained friends since childhood until now, in their forties. He decided to do a year-long study of that friendship which results in this book. We get a good look at each of the girls as they're growing up and as they become adults. Amazing to me is the diversity of these women and the fact that they could all stay close for this many years. That's the beauty of the book, and of the friendship. In spite of different life philosophies, political leanings, and careers, through thick and thin (and there are plenty of life crises among them), they are always there for each other, regardless of geographic distances. Whether physically, emotionally, or both, they are there. The author does a bit of comparison with men and their close friendships, and how they differ so completely from women's friendships. But this doesn't come off as a "study". It comes off as an accolade to these women, who have been so blessed to have each other.
Zaslow Touches Hearts Again March 16, 2009
Bingo-Karen Haney (Florida)
26 out of 34 found this review helpful
Anyone who knows how expertly Jeffrey Laslow helped tell the poignant story of THE LAST LECTURE of Randy Pausch, will know right away that THE GIRLS FROM AMES has to be a wonderfully written story.
Zaslow tells the inspiring story of the lives of eleven girls who grew up in their small hometown of Ames, Iowa. The tale of how these girls grew up and became friends shows how they formed emotional bonds that would last them a lifetime. Even though they moved away eventually to 8 different places, they were able to maintain their friendship through marriages and divorce, births and death, careers and college.
The coming of age of these girls takes place as they grow up in the chaotic 60s, and mature in the feminism of the 70s, and age gracefully on into the new century. These women have a story of relationships and loyalties while the author writes a book that all women will be able to relate to and be inspired by. This is the kind of book women will want to read and discuss with their closest friends. A bonding story if ever there was one.
I loved this story and compared it to Kristin Hannah's FIREFLY LANE and the feel of THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS. Readers who enjoy that kind of female bonding story will find this an excellent book they will talk about for a long time.
Heartwarming..... March 21, 2009
A Reader
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
When the Vine list arrived I picked many selections that were already taken and so I ended up half-heartedly selecting "The Girls from Ames" at first thinking I wouldn't find it interesting or hold my attention. Boy, was I mistaken. I could not put this book down! I grew up in the generation before the Ames girls (born in 1951) so I am 10 years older than they are. Many of their childhood stories are familiar and I experienced many of the cultural girl-things they did as well. But I don't think common ground is a reason anyone needs to enjoy this wonderful story. The core of this book is a very universal story. A story of friendship and the close bonds of female friendship that make the world a better place for those that experience them. The Ames girls have freindship bonds in spades and their lives are richer for having them.
The Ames girls 40 yr. friendship is probably not something many women have experienced in their lives on this level. So, this story is unique and showcases a rare case of friendship between many women but given their numbers of 10, they raise friendship to new heights. Their devotion to one another from childhood to womanhood through life's ups and downs, tragedies, celebrations, is not only heartwarming but life affirming. The Ames girls have a lot to teach the world about loyalty.
I have to admit that I cried a fair amount while reading their story. I also had pangs of envy as well. I had no idea that this book while taking a journey though 40 years of the lives of strangers would be quite so touching or emotional but it was. (Warning, you will want 9 friends like these women when you finish this book if you don't already have them.)
The other thing I had a hard time wrapping my brain around was that this book is written by a man! At times, I would have to remind myself of that fact because Jeffrey Zaslow the author, wrote this book as if he completely understands the female heart. This man should be cloned or at least set us seminars for men and teach them what he knows.
I refrain from going into too much detail about the story here because I believe that each reader should open this book and discover it themselves as it unfolds. That is the way it was for me and I think I enjoyed it more that way. It was surprisingly more interesting and quite emotional than I could have imagined.
I look forward to Mr.Zaslow revisiting and writing about the Ames girls lives in 20 years or so and so will you. You won't forget them once you put this book down. It's almost like a cliffhanger and I think readers will want to know how they are doing as life progresses. I know I do.
Grew on me! April 21, 2009
Tonya Speelman (Goldendale WA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Women and friendships. I was very skeptical at first about reading a book written by a man about women and their friendships. He has a lot of studies quoted, likes the math part, which wasn't endearing to me, but it grew on me and I couldn't put this book down.
He understood what was it about these women's friendships that was so interesting. At one time you might be close with this person and not get along so well with another one. That might change later.
Through all of their years, way back then, when you wanted to communicate with everyone, send out 10 letters. Now they are accessible at the touch of the keyboard, reply all.
Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion (from my favorite movie Steel Magnolias) is what you will get when reading this wonderful book about these 10 women who will be friends for a lifetime.
Friends Forever March 17, 2009
Amy Leemon (North Fond du Lac, WI)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
If you're lucky enough to still be friends with someone from your childhood, you (and your friend) will love this book.
The girls from Ames (Iowa) became friends as children and 40 years later are still close. Their lives have gone many different ways but the friendships formed in Ames have stayed strong.
One of the most interesting chapters in the book is the one where they talk about their husbands. They don't name names but I'll bet it will make for some interesting discussions at home!
It's a great book about the importance of friendships. You'll probably want to share this one with your friends.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 113
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