Get My Friends book club questions (without spoilers!) to easily discuss Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s instant New York Times bestselling book set in summer. This literary fiction book blends humor and heart and is filled to the brim with themes of friendship, grief, and second chances.
You’ll also get book club ideas and printable questions to easily make your meeting fun and topical. Let’s get literary!
Quick Summary of My Friends by Fredrik Backman
The plot of My Friends by Fredrik Backman focuses on aspiring artist Louisa, who is grieving her friend, Fish, when she becomes captivated by a mysterious painting featuring three small figures at the end of a pier. Her quest to uncover their story takes her on a journey across the country with an unexpected companion and into a past summer where a group of teens (“the artist,” Ted, Joar, and Ali) once found solace, friendship, and meaning on that same pier.
My Friends is an emotional novel loaded with little gems of words strung into sentences that make you ponder the really big things about life. Backman got candid about the book’s impact and meaning with USA Today and NPR, focusing on how much heart he put into the story dedicated to young artists.
It’s a good book club book for discussion of the extraordinary power of ordinary friendships.
Reading Tip: I recommend you read in print or digital format to highlight and/or ponder the greater meaning of the heartfelt sentences.
My Friends Book Club Questions (Without Spoilers)
How did My Friends compare to other Backman books you’ve read, if any?
Why do you think the cover focuses on the three boys?
Why was this book set at Easter?
Share how you see “the painting” in your mind’s eye.
Class presents as a theme early on in My Friends. What do you think Backman was trying to say about class and art?
Discuss art as a coping mechanism for the characters.
Art is described as “what we leave of ourselves in other people.” How do you describe art?
It was said that, “The artist’s bookcases were full of poets, like the bookcases of anyone trying to find out how everyone else copes.” What books have helped you cope?
What did “the artist” see in Louisa?
Discuss this quote: “He feels like telling her that the artist didn’t give her the painting because it was his inheritance, he gave it to her because he realized that she was the inheritance. Art is what we leave of ourselves in other people.”
What role does grief play in shaping the story?
Backman said, “If you only get a few summer days like that you’re truly lucky, if you only find one friend like that you’re insanely fortunate.” Share a lucky summer day and/or friendship you’ve experienced.
Discuss water as a symbol.
Why isn’t the artist’s name revealed until later in My Friends?
Discuss the role of friendship for the characters.
Most of the characters had traumatic childhoods. Why did Backman make this choice?
Share whether you agree with this quote: “Loneliness was better than disappointment.”
Compare and contrast the found families vs. the biological families of the characters.
What is the difference between loving someone and believing in them?
Share whether you agree with this quote: “The most dangerous place on earth is inside us.”
Backman often weaves humor into his very deep and complex plots. Did anything make you laugh in My Friends?
Did you like the slow-burning way in which the story was told?
Did you like the narrative style of past and present timelines?
“The knife” is hinted at throughout My Friends. Did its role play out the way you expected?
Share your thoughts on each of the characters’ “endings.”
Printable PDF Reading Guide of the Discussion Questions
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Book Club Ideas for Food and Activities
If you’re hosting a book club meeting for My Friends by Fredrik Backman, each grilled cheese, cheese puffs, and Coca-Cola, which are notably featured in the novel. Good activities include painting and swimming, in honor of the famous painting at the heart of the story.
Book Club Books to Read Next
If you loved these My Friends book club questions, discuss these at your next meeting:
- A Man Called Ove Book Club Questions (another popular Backman book about grief and friendship)
- Beartown Book Series (a popular Backman hockey town trilogy)
- A Little Life Book Review (similar themes of friendship, found family, trauma, grief, and art, but much sadder)
- Remarkably Bright Creatures Book Club Questions (healing grief through friendship)
remember, it’s a good day to read a book. – jules
