From the Publisher
Remarkable…My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is about the power of showing up for those you love, no matter the odds, no matter the distance.” — CBS Sunday Morning
“There’s a special air around crisis that makes true intimacy possible in ways that daily life rarely does. Amy Silverstein has tapped into that moment with a cast of women who will make you pine for your nearest and dearest.” — Kelly Corrigan, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Middle Place and Glitter and Glue
“An intimate celebration of the power of compassion.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Skillful…A brave, transparent look at the harrowing battle of a heart-transplant patient who, through the support of her friends, conquers unthinkable odds.” — Booklist
“In this inspirational memoir of sickness and health, Silverstein pays tribute to the many women who put their lives on hold when she needed them most.” — Real Simple
“My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is, at its core, a book about friendship. Silverstein spares no words honestly describing the endless emotions she felt when friends from work, childhood and her community walked alongside her as she waited for a heart…As different as these friends were, they all had common goals that brought them together: a love for Amy and a desperate desire for her to get a new heart. As a result, friendships deepened in courage and perseverance, and a new understanding was born for what it means to say, ‘I’m there’—and truly mean it.” — Associated Press
“An inspiring, heart-warming memoir...Amazing...You can wait for the movie or grab some hankies and start crying now.” — Huffington Post
“Read, be inspired, and then go call up your BFFs to tell ‘em how much you love them.” — Women’s Health
“Three hearts and two transplants later, Silverstein is all the proof you need that amazing things can happen when you show up for a friend.” — Jason Duaine Hahn, People Magazine
Booklist
Skillful…A brave, transparent look at the harrowing battle of a heart-transplant patient who, through the support of her friends, conquers unthinkable odds.
Women’s Health
Read, be inspired, and then go call up your BFFs to tell ‘em how much you love them.
CBS Sunday Morning
Remarkable…My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is about the power of showing up for those you love, no matter the odds, no matter the distance.
Jason Duaine Hahn
Three hearts and two transplants later, Silverstein is all the proof you need that amazing things can happen when you show up for a friend.
Kelly Corrigan
There’s a special air around crisis that makes true intimacy possible in ways that daily life rarely does. Amy Silverstein has tapped into that moment with a cast of women who will make you pine for your nearest and dearest.
Associated Press
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is, at its core, a book about friendship. Silverstein spares no words honestly describing the endless emotions she felt when friends from work, childhood and her community walked alongside her as she waited for a heart…As different as these friends were, they all had common goals that brought them together: a love for Amy and a desperate desire for her to get a new heart. As a result, friendships deepened in courage and perseverance, and a new understanding was born for what it means to say, ‘I’m there’—and truly mean it.
Real Simple
In this inspirational memoir of sickness and health, Silverstein pays tribute to the many women who put their lives on hold when she needed them most.
Huffington Post
An inspiring, heart-warming memoir...Amazing...You can wait for the movie or grab some hankies and start crying now.
Booklist
Skillful…A brave, transparent look at the harrowing battle of a heart-transplant patient who, through the support of her friends, conquers unthinkable odds.
Women’s Health
Read, be inspired, and then go call up your BFFs to tell ‘em how much you love them.
Associated Press Staff
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is, at its core, a book about friendship. Silverstein spares no words honestly describing the endless emotions she felt when friends from work, childhood and her community walked alongside her as she waited for a heart…As different as these friends were, they all had common goals that brought them together: a love for Amy and a desperate desire for her to get a new heart. As a result, friendships deepened in courage and perseverance, and a new understanding was born for what it means to say, ‘I’m there’—and truly mean it.
USA Today (3.5/4 stars)
Memoirs written by people who have survived devastating health issues are common, as are books that celebrate the friend who is an angel-like presence in tough times. My Glory Was I Had Such Friends combines both elements, but in far better fashion than the standard-issue memoir or the typical homage to girlfriends…A potent reminder of the importance of imperfect friends, for loving them for whoever they are…Silverstein proved her writing mettle…She seamlessly knits several important issues into one compelling package.
Kathleen Grissom
A tremendously moving story about the power of female friendship—the incredible way our bonds deepen with age, and a gentle reminder to all of us how important it is to show up for those we love. There is no doubt that readers will recognize their own ‘friend circles’ in these pages and feel a new appreciation for the many miles they’ve walked together.
Gretchen Rubin
Friendship is a key element to a happy life and, as Amy Silverstein’s moving memoir demonstrates, friends matter even more when we’re facing a big challenge. Nine remarkable friends helped Amy to survive while she waited for a life-saving heart transplant. This riveting account of what Amy endured—and how her friends supported her—illuminates the power of friendship, for all of us.
Ted Koppel
If it were fiction, you’d dismiss it as over the top: Multiple devoted women collaborating in an emotional, cross-country support relay, struggling to keep an exhausted friend alive—a friend who is focused and willing to undergo yet another heart transplant. An endless wait leads to a medical miracle that makes it all worthwhile. But here’s the kicker: It’s all true, and it’s beautifully written, too.
SEPTEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
Amy Silverstein needs a second heart transplant, or she will die. Narrator Erin Moon strikes just the right emotional notes as she delivers Silverstein's account of her incredible journey toward an uncertain third chance at life, and the circle of amazing women who gave her unwavering love and support along the way. Moon moves deftly between straightforward reporting of hospital routines and medical procedures to a softer, contemplative tone for Amy's musings and the intimate aspects of her story. Amy's recordings of each day's highs and lows give immediacy to the wrenching chronicle, and Moon captures all the poignancy, tension, fear, and joy. A beautifully written tribute to the power of hope and friendship is beautifully presented. Add this to your must-listen list. M.O.B. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-04-17
Waiting for a new heart, the author was buoyed by nine devoted friends.At the age of 25, Silverstein (Sick Girl, 2007) underwent a heart transplant, a grueling experience that she chronicled in her first memoir. The transplant was followed by other medical challenges: breast cancer, requiring a double mastectomy, and major valve surgery. At the age of 51, she learned that her transplanted heart was failing, and she needed another one. Because of an excessive quantity of antibodies resulting from the first transplant, Silverstein's likelihood of getting a donor match was only 14 percent, and only Cedars-Sinai, in Los Angeles, offered the highly specialized treatment she required. Besides confronting the physical ordeal of surgery, she worried that she would be isolated from her friends and family in New York. When her closest friends learned of her imminent move, though, they banded together in a generous, selfless show of support, creating a spreadsheet that ensured an "unbroken chain of presence." Her candid recounting of five months at Cedars-Sinai tautly conveys her pain, tension, and despair as she waited for a donor heart; and, crucial to her survival, the loyalty and love bestowed by the women who took turns sitting at her bedside, festooning her hospital room with photos and decorations, bearing witness to the frustrating and frightening realities of her profound illness, and easing her pain in whatever way they could. They also frankly chastised her about her irritability toward assorted medical personnel and her ever patient husband. More than once, Silverstein felt like giving up hope: the implantation of a pacemaker seemed more than she could bear. Resisting sedation for any procedure was a way she felt in control, but the pacemaker took over, riddling her with excruciating pain, increasing as her heart failed. The author takes her title from a poem by Yeats, one of many verses that she memorized to keep her spirits up. She amply testifies to the unfailing friends—her husband included—who never lost faith in her recovery. An intimate celebration of the power of compassion.
