BFF: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found

Written by Christie Tate

Narrated by Christie Tate

* “A love story about the miracle of friendship.” —Maggie Smith * “Fearless and unflinching.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *

From the author of Group, a New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Pick, a poignant, funny, and emotionally satisfying memoir about Christie Tate’s lifelong struggle to sustain female friendship, and the extraordinary friend who changed everything.

After more than a decade of dead-end dates and dysfunctional relationships, Christie Tate has reclaimed her voice and settled down. Her days of agonizing in group therapy over guys who won’t commit are over, the grueling emotional work required to attach to another person tucked neatly into the past.

Or so she thought. Weeks after giddily sharing stories of her new boyfriend at Saturday morning recovery meetings, Christie receives a gift from a friend. Meredith, twenty years older and always impeccably accessorized, gives Christie a box of holiday-themed scarves as well as a gentle suggestion: maybe now is the perfect time to examine why friendships give her trouble. “The work never ends, right?” she says with a wink.

Christie isn’t so sure, but she soon realizes that the feeling of “apartness” that has plagued her since childhood isn’t magically going away now that she’s in a healthy romantic relationship. With Meredith by her side, she embarks on a brutally honest exploration of her friendships past and present, sorting through the ways that debilitating shame and jealousy have kept the lasting bonds she craves out of reach—and how she can overcome a history of letting go too soon.

“An outstanding portrait of self-excavation” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), BFF explores what happens when we finally break the habits that impair our ability to connect with others, and the ways that one life—however messy and imperfect—can change another.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Feb 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781797152349

Christie Tate

Christie Tate is the author of the New York Times bestseller Group, which was a Reese’s Book Club selection. She has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and elsewhere, and she lives in Chicago with her family.

Reviews for BFF

[Heather · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reuniting with Christie after her first book, Group, was like reuniting with a friend. I’m in awe, inspired, and gutted by her fierce bravery to speak so honestly about so many hard things.

This book really goes there and it’s going to make you go there, too, so buckle up. That’s the gift of it. It’ll remind you of your truth, challenge you to share it, and inspire you to have friendships that can meet you in it.

Thank you, Christie. I’m profoundly moved and changed.

[Parisa Eithne Roohipour · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So strangely relatable. I love how open and quirky the author is as tells the truth about what's happening inside so many of us when it comes to our friendships.