Dumped: Stories of Women Unfriending Women

(Paperback)

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Description

Candid, relatable stories by established and emerging women writers about being discarded by someone from whom they expected more: a close female friend. There are 161 million women in America today, and our friendships are still as primary and universal as back when Ruth and Naomi, Elizabeth and Susan B., and Thelma and Louise made history. When a romantic relationship breaks up, no problemtheres an Adele song for that. Health concerns; problems in school; issues at the workplace Weve got our chums to prop us up. Until we dont. When our most sustaining relationships dissolvethose with the women friends in our livestheres never been the fanfare that accompanies the loss of other relationships society deems more important. Until now. In Dumped: Stories of Women Unfriending Women, twenty-five established and emerging writersincluding Jacquelyn Mitchard, Ann Hood, Carrie Kabak, Jessica Handler, Elizabeth Searle, Alexis Paige, and editor Nina Gabyexplore the fragile, sometimes humorous, and often unfathomable nature of lost friendship. These, like your own, are stories that stay with youmaybe for a lifetime.

Reviews

Dumped touches a nerve from page one. It touches on a subject that all women know too well, yet is complicated and painful to articulate: the mourning, and sometimes redemption, that comes from being dumped by a sister-like friend. For every woman who has ever drowned her sorrows in a pint of ice cream over the loss of a close friendor simply needs to know she is not alonethis book is for her. Elisa Batista, publisher of MotherTalkers.com, a Daily Kos community This remarkable collection provides an exhilarating range of voices exploring what happens when female friendships falter. Wise, compassionate, and smart, each of these essays is a revelation. Give your best friend a copy along with a warm, thankful hug. Dinty W. Moore, author of The Mindful Writer I think Nina Gaby should be handed best collection of the year for this brilliant, charming, heart-breaking, truth-telling, soul-bearing extraordinary book. I defy any woman to not identify with at least one of the stories. My god, there is nothing worse than when a womana friendbreaks your heart because you don't know where to go to pick up those broken pieces. I myself have been dumped by more women than I care to share or say (out loud), but let me say that this little book, this magical WOManifesto, is a priceless babe-bible for all women. Ann Hood broke my heart in pieces, left me on the floor; Judith Podell slayed me; and Jacquelyn Mitchard had me at some friendships die by negligent homicide. Each writer is stunning, each story worthy, each friendship taleuniversal. Every woman should own this book. This isn't a loaner book, this is a keeper book. A loaner book you may never get back, a keeper book stays right on the night table reminding you that we are all imperfectly perfect creatures who sometimes lose keys, lose our marbles, and lose friends. Amy Ferris, author of Marrying George Clooney This very honest, very human, and often very hilarious book made me laugh, cry, nod, squirm, and think anew about friendships gone by. Big applause to Nina Gaby, and all the contributors, for crystallizing so finely the inescapable life experience that is the end of a friendship. Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of This Is Paradise: An Irish Mother's Grief, and African Village's Plight, and the Medical Clinic That Brought Fresh Hope to Both The essays in Dumped are ferocious and loving, devastating and hopeful, insightful and perplexing. A savage, thorny look at friendship . . . and a rare, uncensored, sometimes terrifying glimpse into the female psyche. Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts and publisher

Author Bio

Nina Gaby is a writer, award-winning visual artist, and psychiatric nurse practitioner. Her essays can be found in collections by Creative Non Fiction, Seal Press, Wising-Up Press and several periodicals. Her fiction and flash poems have been published in Lilith Magazine, The Prose-Poem Project, and two short-story collections by Paper Journey Press, She is a guest blogger on Brevity.com and contributes to other sites including her own, www.ninagaby.com.