Friendship as passion
Pen pals, college roommates, “brother from another mother” – men’s friendships with men take many forms. Andreas Kraß examines all of them, from antiquity until today. He analyses 20 stories of male friendship, from Homer to Wolfgang Herrndorf, placing each in context with a philosophical text from its epoch. His focus is on non-homosexual friendships and stories of suffering, all following a particular pattern: Why does one friend have to die before the other can begin to speak passionately of their friendship? Kraß’ literary and cultural investigation surprises us with new, revelatory insights.
