Words for Wednesday: The Girls From Ames

(June 15)

I finished Freedom and though the ending seemed abrupt, I reccomend it.

I started to move to a book about some children in India but realized I was tired from the massive-ness of Freedom and from a weekend dancing, so I switched to the lighter read, The Girls from Ames.

Now I will start by saying two things.  One, I started this book on Tuesday and will probably finish it by Friday despite working two jobs and being social.  So I am enjoying it.  Two, despite being a good read, it is not what I expected at all and I am a little disappointed.

When I first got this book I assumed there would be a lot about growing up in Ames and a lot of, "Oh I know about that," due to the fact that I am from Iowa where Ames is.  I also imagined the book to be more about crazy adventures- like the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

However, this book seems to be more about the women's personal experiences and then how the group reacts to those experiences, rather than experiences as a whole.  Part of that is due to the fact that the book is about 11 different woman and there is just not the room or time to go in-depth about them all.  Also, the women lived in the same city in high school and then moved away to go to different colleges and have different lives.  So we get a lot of, This happened to so and so and then everyone called/emailed/ though about it...  While the book has plenty of interesting stuff in it (I will admit to not being able to put it down), I feel like we aren't getting the whole picture.  I am well over half-way through it and yet I keep waiting for it to "start."   I struggle to place each name with each personality.  Every time a name is mentioned I find myself returning to the opening page that contains a list of pictures and main facts about each girl.  I guess what I am trying to say is that I think the book would be better if it had focused on just a few girls, rather than a whole clique/army of them.  Of course part of the books selling point is about how unusual it is today to find 11 women who are still friends.  Most people only keep in touch with one or two, but these women have managed to keep up with all of each other.

Another thing is that the book is un-even.  We get extremely in-depth coverage on some girls (what their parents did for a living, what their house looked like, etc) and then others are just merely side parts.  I assume the author got more from some so he used more from some, but it feels like we are missing out.

I also feel that it would be more interesting if there were less "facts" and "statistics" thrown in.  For example...

           "In recent years,  women's health proponents have signaled out women like Marilyn as frontline soldiers in the battle against depression.  Though 70 percent of women in a 2004 nationwide survey said they felt, "depressed, stressed, anxious or sad," in the previous twelve months, only 27 percent of them talked to their doctors about this.  So who do most of them talk to?  Their girlfriends."

That is great and all, but I would rather just read straight up about the experiences these women share and then from my own opinions about why theirs is a bond that has lasted so long. I guess in starting this book I assumed it would a memoir, not a study.  It was written by a Wall Street Journal columnist.

All that aside, it is actually a good book and I recommend it.  It definitely makes you think and contemplate your own friendships and what you do in life to maintain those bonds.  And the parts that do describe being a kid in the early sixties in Iowa are fascinating.  However, I kind of have the urge to write my own book, "The Other Girls from Ames," and focus on my mom and her college roommate, Anne.  Instead of critically looking into why they were friends, I would just write about all of the things they did, experienced, shared as friends.  I think it would be more entertaining and just as useful...