âThe characters in Best Friends...are...recognizably human in their weaknesses and their destinies. It is Berger's genius as an observer and storyteller that we never, for a moment, take our eyes off them.ââJeffrey Frank, The Washington Post Book World
A moving story about childhood friendships falling under the strain of adulthood quickly becomes so much more in this tale that is as absurd as it is true to life from the author of Little Big Man.
Roy Courtright and Sam Grendy have been best friends for as long as either of them care to remember. As far as theyâre concerned, theyâre brothers, but sans the mess of a sibling rivalry. That theyâre complete opposites has never mattered. Until now.
After Sam suffers a heart attack, Roy and Samâs wife Kristen both find themselves wishing they had said moreâto Sam, and to each other. Just as Roy begins to grapple with these new feelings for Kristen, things go from bad to worse. The woman Royâs been meaning to break up with has been murdered.
What starts off as the charming tale of an oddball friendship quickly becomes a feast of shocking twists, heartbreak, and vengeance that only Thomas Berger could weave.
Additional Praise for Best Friends:
âBergerâsâŚstyle [is] at once elegant and casual, with his usual mix of sweetness and cynicism.ââLos Angeles Times
â[Bergerâs] precise and exquisite dialogue [are] entertaining, even when the plot is ridiculous. And his deeply ironic view of the world we live in is refreshing, especially these days when irony is in short supply.ââMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
âIncorrigibly subversive.ââThe Hollywood Reporter
â[Best Friends] is, in fact, a compact accomplished novel of ideas. That Bergerâs take on adultery, loyalty, friendship and myriad other intangibles is both deeply satirical and deeply felt is perhaps the bookâs real wonder.â âLA Weekly
âNo other writer can build a symphony of seriocomic confusion with such a sure touch. Bergerâs terrific plot takes several unforeseen and unsettling turns en route to its savage denouement. And itâs capped by an absolute killer of a final sentence. Nobody writes them like Thomas Berger. Not to be missed.ââKirkus Reviews
âThe characters in Best Friends...are...recognizably human in their weaknesses and their destinies. It is Berger's genius as an observer and storyteller that we never, for a moment, take our eyes off them.ââJeffrey Frank, The Washington Post Book World
A moving story about childhood friendships falling under the strain of adulthood quickly becomes so much more in this tale that is as absurd as it is true to life from the author of Little Big Man.
Roy Courtright and Sam Grendy have been best friends for as long as either of them care to remember. As far as theyâre concerned, theyâre brothers, but sans the mess of a sibling rivalry. That theyâre complete opposites has never mattered. Until now.
After Sam suffers a heart attack, Roy and Samâs wife Kristen both find themselves wishing they had said moreâto Sam, and to each other. Just as Roy begins to grapple with these new feelings for Kristen, things go from bad to worse. The woman Royâs been meaning to break up with has been murdered.
What starts off as the charming tale of an oddball friendship quickly becomes a feast of shocking twists, heartbreak, and vengeance that only Thomas Berger could weave.
Additional Praise for Best Friends:
âBergerâsâŚstyle [is] at once elegant and casual, with his usual mix of sweetness and cynicism.ââLos Angeles Times
â[Bergerâs] precise and exquisite dialogue [are] entertaining, even when the plot is ridiculous. And his deeply ironic view of the world we live in is refreshing, especially these days when irony is in short supply.ââMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
âIncorrigibly subversive.ââThe Hollywood Reporter
â[Best Friends] is, in fact, a compact accomplished novel of ideas. That Bergerâs take on adultery, loyalty, friendship and myriad other intangibles is both deeply satirical and deeply felt is perhaps the bookâs real wonder.â âLA Weekly
âNo other writer can build a symphony of seriocomic confusion with such a sure touch. Bergerâs terrific plot takes several unforeseen and unsettling turns en route to its savage denouement. And itâs capped by an absolute killer of a final sentence. Nobody writes them like Thomas Berger. Not to be missed.ââKirkus Reviews