{"product_id":"the-politics-of-lonely-why-is-friendship-so-hard","title":"The Politics of Lonely: Why Is Friendship So Hard?","description":"\u003cp\u003eby Lee Arden\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFernwood Publishing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e9\/10\/2026, paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSKU: 9781773638263\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhy is it hard to make and keep friends as an adult? Even if you finally find time to see each other, can you connect more deeply than just catching up over coffee? How many do you count as ride-or-die pals who'll always show up with effervescent banter and deep conversation -- your \"chosen family?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWidespread loneliness reflects a world of crappy jobs and unaffordable housing that makes it almost impossible to have close, interwoven friendships. A dwindling social safety net takes a toll on us and on our relationships. Particularly for queer people, friendships can be crucial relations of equality, constancy, and care. Still, we disappoint each other and fall into irreparable conflict.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA less lonely world is possible. Through interviews, research, and personal narrative, this book shows how people build tight connections despite living in the austere conditions of colonial capitalism -- boldly weaving a new social fabric as this one unravels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Arden's exploration of friendship as 'the highest ideal of love' is essential medicine for these dehumanizing times. It is neither bitter pill nor sugarcoated remedy for what ails our ability to make friendship live up to our aspirations. Instead, it is dreamily homeopathic, mixing up a tonic to strengthen our broken hearts. It is at once vulnerable and brave, messily honest and truly beautiful, deeply personal and systemically political, reminding us that friendship is 'worth the struggle, ' as part and parcel of social transformation.\"--Cindy Barukh Milstein, editor of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/constellations-of-care\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eConstellations of Care: Anarcha-Feminism in Practice\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Politics of Lonely\u003c\/i\u003e made me feel less lonely. Yes, this is a book that invokes the radical potential of queer friendship--all the dreams and aspirations--without neglecting to address the personal, intimate, and structural failures. Drawing from a wide variety of voices in literature, critical thinking--and, yes, friendship--this book moves us toward everyday intimacy, collaboration, mutual aid, protest, communal living, and an expansion of care networks to provide a safety net for everyone.\"--Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, author of \u003cem\u003eTerry Dactyl\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A friend-letter (which is like a love-letter, but more complicated) to the ordinary glory of being with others, in all our mess and beauty, \u003ci\u003eThe Politics of Lonely\u003c\/i\u003e is an incisive call to build worlds in which friendship is more and more accessible, for everyone.\"--Alexis Shotwell, author of \u003cem\u003eAgainst Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"There are few things as mundane in our lives as friendship, but also, few things as important that are also as unprobed. What makes a friend? What do we need from others? How do our relationships buoy our happiness or exacerbate our loneliness? Lee Arden has given us a lot to think about in this radical examination of one of society's most important social bonds.\"--Nora Loreto, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Social Safety Net\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLee Arden\u003c\/strong\u003e is originally from Algonquin land in the Ottawa Valley, and now calls Montréal\/Tiohtià ke\/Mooniyang home. They are the author of many zines, including PALS:\u003cbr\u003eThe Radical Possibilities of Friendship, Surprisingly OK: What Healing Trauma Feels Like, and the novella Summer Shade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLee founded and runs Sheer Spite Press, a small press and zine distributor focused on beautiful, affordable work by creators who face barriers such as transphobia, ableism, and poverty in their practice. They're also a member of the organizing collective for Dick's Lending Library, a community-run library in Montréal that specializes in the literary, political, and artistic work of trans, non-binary, and Two Spirit authors, and a past intern and forever collective member for the Queer Zine Archive Project. Lee is white, trans, an anarchist, a Quaker, and a deeply imperfect friend, but they try. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Burning Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54071515218203,"sku":"Politics of Lonely","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0466\/5121\/files\/9781773638263.jpg?v=1790779064","url":"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/the-politics-of-lonely-why-is-friendship-so-hard","provider":"Burning Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}