Hal Ebbott

This is an astonishing portrayal of friendship and family ties which become undone due to the unacceptable actions of an adult man towards a sixteen year old girl. Why? Because he can, which is the basis of the #METOO movement, now sadly being compromised by the "masculinity crisis" of which we are firehosed with on a daily basis, due to this administration and its woman-hating sycophants. Adam, married to Claire and best friends with Emerson, shares the type of strong friendship that men show more reputedly find difficult to develop. There's a great deal of backstory on the miserable childhoods of both men, but they seem to have conquered and moved on to comfortable upper middle class lives - until Emerson makes a very harmful spontaneous decision. The responses of all the adult family members are startling and the ending provides a lesson in the horror of self-protection and entitlement. The writing can seem a bit heavy on the internal thoughts, but this is not a story which needs much dialogue. show less

If he learned anything–from life, from work–it was that you never knew when the light might change, when someone might shift, and you’d discover the angle that opened everything up. from Among Friends by Hal Ebbott

Ruthless in its dissection of the characters, whose inner lives are revealed with psychological depth, it was hard to put this novel down.

Amos and Emerson met at college, becoming fast friends. Emerson was priviledged, entitled, handsome, but could be cold. Amos was insecure, show more poor, accepting, a ballast to Emerson.

Emerson introduced Amos to a woman he had grown up with. Claire and Amos married. She became a doctor. Amos a counselor. Emerson a lawyer. They each had a daughter. The families vacationed together, and Amos and Emerson were in constant communication. Friendship, community, success, marriage, stability. They had it all.

There was an awareness of Amos gaining entrance to a world he could never have entered on his own. Money was “a country to which you could not immigrate,” Claire understood. And her money had made possible the life Amos enjoyed. Amos had “assumed the right role, like a bellhop who understands the discreet manner with which to accept his tip.”

There was an edge to the relationships. Emerson had affairs which his wife tolerated. They could be nasty to each other. Amos knew that Emerson was imperious. Claire was objective and could be detached. Amos insecure, tolerant. They were imperfect people but loved each other perfectly.

Until Emerson’s fifty-first birthday, when things were going wrong and he was irritated and angry, and petulantly directed his anger in a rash and shocking act that brings each character to consider the most important questions of their lives.

Are we the sum of our actions, or should we be judged by the best or worst we have done? What sacrifice are we willing to make for friendship, for stability, for community, to preserve family? Amos must decide how to act, each choice with its monumental implications.

The ending was chilling.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book. show less

I've never read a book that gets so thoroughly inside of each character's head: each member of two heterosexual couples and each of two teen-age girls. The two couples are long-time friends because the two men were college roommates and best friends. All is well when they spend a weekend together until one of the guys, almost in a daze, commits a horrifying transgression. That chapter left me gasping; the rest of the book explores the "interiority" of each character.
Only the ending was show more unsatisfactory, but perhaps it's the only way it could have ended. show less

The first part of the book was reasonable. Once Emerson crossed a line, the plot seemed unrealistic. I was very angry at the situation and how people behaved. The ending seemed implausible yet also the right thing.