1
of
1
Boy Friends
A Memoir of Joy, Grief and Male Friendship
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 1,394 ratings, 208 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Boy Friends
$2799
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Latest News
The Book Briefing 21/10/2026
Welcome back to another edition of 'The Book Briefing', your weekly round-up of all the...
Story to Screen - 21/10/26
It's been another huge week in the world of book-to-screen adaptations! From record-breaking trailers and...
Things We Learned from an Evening with Alice Oseman
Liam and Lizzy went along to an evening with Alice Oseman of Heartstopper! Here are...
The Book Hero Team's Wins and Misses in Film and TV Adaptations
We all love arguing in a mostly good-natured way about which adaptations of our favourite...
Vanya Insull (aka VJ Cooks) visits Book Hero
We were lucky to have a visit from popular foodie, home cook and baker Vanya...
See moreAn intimate and original memoir of love, grief and male friendship by one of Scotland's brightest young talents.
An intimate and original memoir of love, grief and male friendship by one of Scotland's brightest young talents.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
An intimate and original memoir of love, grief, and male friendship by one of Scotland's brightest young talents.
'As perfect a portrait of friendship as I've ever read.' - STEPHEN FRY
'Lucid, lyrical, loaded . . . A love letter to friendship.' - JACKIE KAY
'A lovely book: bright and heartfelt, funny and refreshing.' - ANDREW O'HAGAN
'A beautiful, moving, life-affirming book.' - IAN RANKIN
Friendships might just be the greatest love affairs of our lives . . .
In 2018, poet and author Michael Pedersen lost a cherished friend, Scott Hutchison, soon after their collective voyage into the landscape of the Scottish Highlands. Just weeks later, Michael began to write to him. As he confronts the bewildering process of grief, what starts as a love letter to one magical, coruscating human soon becomes a paean to all the gorgeous male friendships that have transformed his life.
Boy Friends sees Pedersen illuminate these companions with a poet's eye, a comedian's timing - and a lover's care. - OBSERVER
Pedersen is an enthralling narrator and his prose is poetic, written with enough electricity that it seems to jolt off the page. It is riotously funny. Boy Friends opens up conversations about vulnerable subjects: the brunt of suicide, the circumstances of certain types of Scottish masculinity, and where friendships fit into that. - SUNDAY TIMES
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Boy Friends by Michael Pedersen receives praise for its touching and compelling portrayal of friendship. Stephen Fry describes it as a perfect portrait of this natural masterpiece. Ian Rankin sees it as a moving, life-affirming tribute to friendship, while Val McDermid appreciates it as a tender rebuttal to toxic masculinity. The Guardian highlights its reflective take on male friendship and masculinity, paying tribute to Pedersen's late friend.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780571360062
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 27 April 2023
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Edition: Main
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 14.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 202g
Pages: 240
About the Author
Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning Scottish poet and author. He has published two successful chapbooks and an acclaimed debut collection Play With Me. His second collection, Oyster, was published in 2017 and was illustrated by and performed as a live show with Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchinson. Pedersen has been named a Canongate Future 40; was a finalist in the 2018 Writer of the Year at The Herald Scottish Culture Awards; was awarded the 2014 John Mather Trust Rising Star of Literature Award; and won the 2015 Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. Pedersen also co-founded Neu! Reekie!, a prize-winning arts collective known for producing cutting edge shows around the world.
Also by Michael Pedersen
View all-
Boy Friends
'A lovely book: bright and heartfelt, funny and refreshing.' - ANDREW O'HAGAN 'A beautiful, moving, life-affirming book.' - IAN RANKIN Friendships just might be the greatest love affairs of our lives. In 2018, poet and author Michael Pedersen lost a cherished friend, Scott Hutchison, soon after their collective voyage into the landscape of the Scottish Highlands. Just weeks later, Michael...Hardback$3600Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Muckle Flugga
'A quirky and original debut that sizzles with scintillating prose.' BERNARDINE EVARISTO 'Michael Pedersen is a rare writer of real passion and power and this debut is phenomenal.' MATT HAIG Life on a remote island is turned upside down by a stranger's arrival, testing bonds of family and tradition and leaving a young dreamer's future hanging in the balance. It's...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Muckle Flugga
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRES FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A kaleidoscopic and linguistically daring work . . . Scintillating.' OCEAN VUONG 'A quirky and original debut that sizzles with scintillating prose.' BERNARDINE EVARISTO 'Michael Pedersen is a rare writer of real passion and power and this debut is phenomenal.' MATT HAIG Life on a remote island is turned upside down...Paperback$2499Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Cat Prince
WINNER of the 2023 Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Poetry Collection 'Pedersen bends words like no-one else. There's a naughtiness, an innocence, and surprising vulnerability in this collection. It's poetry to intoxicate. Just sublime.' — Juno Dawson 'Every page of The Cat Prince brought me gladsome joy. Pedersen has the astonishing power of finding the astonishing in...PaperbackSold Out
More from Biography & Memoir
View all-
New ReleaseOne Helluva Ride
"This book is about where I came from, what I fought against, and what I chose formyself. Fame can blur the truth; this is my attempt to bring it back into focus." A legendary actor and Hollywood Icon whose five-decade career spans film, television,and producing, Michael Douglas has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, fiveGolden Globes, a Primetime Emmy,...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseA Life in Lyrics
Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest showmen of the twentieth century. With his unparalleled voice and searing on-stage energy, he was a great pretender, a killer queen and a champion of the world. But behind the glamour lived a musician and lyricist talented beyond measure, and the creative force behind one of the most culturally significant and musically diverse...Hardback$5000Elsewhere:$6500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseSwan Song
Beautiful. Beloved. Hunted. The extraordinary life and death of Diana, as told by her brother, Charles – available to pre-order now. ‘When asked, ‘What was it like, growing up with Diana?’, my first thought is always, But I don’t know what it was like not to grow up with her…’ In September 1997, Charles Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey before...Hardback$5499Elsewhere:$6500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseFictional Selves
From the beloved actor and star of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet and Sex and the City comes a candid and deeply personal memoir. In this highly anticipated memoir, the beloved actor and star of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Sex and the City and more shares his utterly original account of his offbeat journey in Hollywood, his battles with fear and...Hardback$4799Elsewhere:$6000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New Release
The Steps
The long-awaited memoir from a true Hollywood icon. We know Sylvester Stallone as one of the most revered actors, writers, and directors of all time, yet his life story is every bit as dramatic, intense, and inspiring as his greatest creations on screen. Bringing together a no-holds-barred account of a fascinating life with messages of hope, positivity, and resilience, in...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Home Again
Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoir Home Again.This is more than a rock story. Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
18% offDogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Famesick
Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgun wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through her journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
21% offThis Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$5800Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Signed Copy
Stakes
Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the author’s bestselling memoir Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampire’s badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Built for This
Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Even the Good Girls Will Cry
Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
Biography & Memoir lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listBiography & Memoir
Memorable Memoirs of Kiwi Women
Looking for an amazing local memoir of one of the many amazing women here in Aotearoa? Here's a great list, featuring some...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![Lucky You're Tough]()
Lizzy's listBiography & Memoir
Memorable Memoirs of Kiwi Men
Looking for an amazing local memoir of one of the many amazing men here in Aotearoa? Here's a great list, featuring some...View the list
