In this unique study, Rawlins traces and investigates the varieties, tensions, and functions of friendship for both males and females throughout the life course. Using both conceptual and illustrative chapters, the book portrays the various degrees of involvement, choice, risk, ambivalence, and ambiguity within friendships, and explores the emotional texture of interactions among friends. Friendship Matters concludes with an examination of the prospects for friendship within our postmodern blur of public and private domains and discursive sites.