Joshua Halberstam's Best Friend Chapter Summaries

While many recognize certain categories of friendships such as “best friends” or “old friends,” Joshua Halberstam’s chapter, “Friends and Foes,” consists of a deeper look at the assortment of classifications that exist. Halberstam addresses common questions such as “Who are truly my friends?” and “How do I know when a friendship is over?” To many, the chapter may seem well rounded, filled with an array of categorizations and possibilities in friendship. But, with a closer look, Halberstam seems to be missing a key characteristic of all successful relationships. He fails to identify the importance of compassion, understanding, and sympathy in friendship. But most importantly, he fails to discern the crucial role that empathy plays in friendship. Although Halberstam is able to label friendships, he is unable to explain how to cultivate them. While Halberstam leaves the development of friendships open to reader’s interpretations, Roman Krznaric exhibits how to create and nurture such relationships. Granted I can relate to and value the content of …show more content…
Halberstam says, “best friendships are based on shared values” (16). In this sense, Halberstam agrees with Aristotle’s belief that friends with common values are the truest friends. With these friends you can become one, In Montaigne’s words your souls can “mingle and blend with each other so completely that they efface the seam that joined them, and cannot find it again” (19). Halberstam believes “Friendships based on values celebrate mutuality of character, not mutuality of temperament. You and your friend can have incongruous style and dissimilar personalities, but if you share the same values, your friendship is firm” (19). If there is a coalescing of communal beliefs and ethics, there is a best