The Best of Friends: Martha and Me
Mariana Pasternak, 2010
HarperCollins
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780061661280
Summary
For more than two decades, Mariana Pasternak and Martha Stewart were nearly inseparable. They first met over a garden gate in Westport, Connecticut—two suburban wives wedded to successful men but with grand aspirations of their own.
Their friendship only deepened after their marriages ended in divorce. Drawn into a seductive world of privilege and adventure, Pasternak, who struggled as a working single mother, watched with admiration as Martha built an empire that would make her one of the richest women in America. The two women enjoyed amazing experiences, traveled the world together, and talked on a daily basis, sharing thoughts and feelings, plans and dreams. But as time passed, money, men, and the arrogance of wealth frayed the bonds of their friendship—until the final break came when Pasternak was called as a witness in the high-profile trial that ultimately brought about Stewart's conviction and prison sentence.
The Best of Friends: Martha and Me tells the story of an extraordinary friendship and its devastating aftermath with breathtaking candor. Every woman who has had a best female friend will see herself in this deeply personal memoir. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Mariana Pasternak grew up in Romania and immigrated to the United States as a political refugee. The mother of two daughters, she has been a biomedical engineer and has held other positions involving computer-based research and development. For the past twenty years, she has been working as a realtor in Connecticut, where she lives. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Ms. Pasternak winds up expressing even more affection for a special red Hermes handbag ("How I loved that bag!") than she does for the woman whose coattails she rode for more than 20 years.
New York Times
[A] spiky, entertaining memoir by Stewart’s former pal Mariana Pasternak.... This is an observant, dishy look at a world of luxury and privilege from the perspective of a woman who’s trying to justify—if only to herself—her years as a hanger-on.
Laurie Muchnick - Bloomberg
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for: The Best of Friends:
1. How does Martha Stewart come off in Pasternak's book? Has it changed you opinion of her? Have you come away with greater admiration of Stewart...or less?
2. What do you think of Mariana Pasternak?
3. What was Pasternak's motivation for penning the book? Is her view of Stewart an unbiased one? Is the book merely a kiss & tell book—gossipy and self-serving? Or does her memoir provide us with fascinating insights into one of the most powerful and remarkable women of our time?
4. How would you describe Pasternak and Stewart's friendship? What was the friendship built on—was it a genuine friendship? What did either woman gain from the relationship? What began to eat away at the bond between the two women—when did the first cracks begin to appear? How might you have fared in such a friendship, one in which the other half has a huge financial advantage?
5. What kind of mother, according to Pasternak, was Martha Stewart? Why did Pasternak never say anything to Stewart about her concerns? Why did she allow her own daughter to continue visiting the Stewart household unsupervised?
6. Talk about the 2004 Stewart trial and Pasternak's damaging testimony. On cross examination by Stewart's lawyer, Pasternak wavered, admitting, "I do not know if Martha said that or it's me who thought those words." Do you find it contradictory that six years later, Pasternak's memory has improved, if not regarding the trial, then on so many other points covered in her memoir? Or can this be explained by the fact that a writer's recall would vastly improve as a result of focusing on the act of writing?
7. Did you feel any envy, even just a twinge, reading about the high-end lifestyle lived by Martha Stewart? Any parts in particular—e.g., fame, food, travel, houses and furnishings? In other words, would it be fun to be Martha...or is it just the goodies that would be nice?
8. How does Pasternak describe Stewart's relationship with men and her proclivity toward sex? How is that the two women find themselves alone, for instance, on New Year's Eve in one of Martha's houses?
9. What was Pasternak's fascination with Andy Stewart? Why do Andy and Martha divorce? What happened to Pasternak's marriage and why?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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