Andrew McCarthy spent the 1980s as one of Hollywood's original Brat Pack actors, appearing in St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink, before reinventing himself as an award-winning travel writer and the author of two well-received memoirs, The Longest Way Home and Brat. Who Needs Friends: My Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America applies that same on-the-road, first-person approach to a subject researchers have been documenting with growing concern for years, the shrinking size and depth of American men's friendships. McCarthy travels the country talking to men about how they make friends, keep them, or quietly stop trying, and he's upfront from the title onward that this is personal reporting rather than a formal study. The result reads less like a social-science treatise and more like a curious, occasionally uncomfortable travelogue through a topic men don't often discuss out loud.
Written by a Brat Pack Actor Turned Award-Winning Travel Writer
McCarthy's reinvention from 1980s teen-movie star to a Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel journalist gives the book an unusual authorial voice, one shaped by genuine, sustained work as a working writer rather than a celebrity side project.
Applies a Travel Journalist's On-the-Road Approach to a Personal Question
Rather than interviewing experts from a desk, McCarthy structures the book as a physical journey, driving to different parts of the country to talk with men directly about their friendships.
Engages With a Well-Documented Decline in Men's Close Friendships
The book's subject connects to a real, widely reported trend, researchers and survey organizations have tracked a measurable decline in the number of close friends American men report having over recent decades.
Follows Two Earlier Memoirs About Restlessness and His Brat Pack Years
Who Needs Friends arrives after The Longest Way Home, about his struggle to commit to settling down, and Brat, his memoir of the 1980s Brat Pack era, both of which built his reputation as a candid, introspective writer.
Openly Frames Its Method as Unscientific Rather Than Academic
McCarthy names the book's approach as unscientific in the subtitle itself, choosing personal encounter and observation over survey data, a deliberate choice that shapes the book's tone throughout.
Approaches Friendship Through Personal Encounters, Not Just Statistics
The men McCarthy meets on the road carry the book's argument more than any cited study does, letting individual conversations illustrate a broader pattern rather than leaning on numbers alone.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Written by a genuinely skilled, award-winning travel writer, not a celebrity ghostwriting
- Tackles a real, well-documented social trend around men's shrinking friend circles
- Personal, on-the-road narrative style keeps a potentially dry topic readable and human
- Honest about the limits of its own method rather than overselling scientific authority
- Builds on a writing career readers already know from two well-received prior memoirs
Cons:
- Explicitly unscientific approach means it won't satisfy readers wanting research rigor
- Focused specifically on American men, limiting its scope for other audiences
- Personal travel-narrative structure may feel meandering to readers wanting a tighter thesis
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Andrew McCarthy the actor from Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo's Fire?
Yes, the same actor, who has spent the past two decades building a parallel career as an award-winning travel writer and memoirist.
Is this book based on scientific research?
McCarthy is upfront that his examination is unscientific, built on personal travel and conversation rather than formal survey research, though it engages with the broader documented trend of shrinking male friendships.
Do I need to have read his earlier memoirs first?
No, this book stands on its own, though readers of The Longest Way Home and Brat will recognize his familiar travel-memoir voice.
Is this only relevant to men?
The book focuses specifically on male friendship, but its themes around loneliness and connection are broadly relatable to any reader.
Final Verdict
Who Needs Friends works because McCarthy brings genuine curiosity and a practiced travel writer's eye to a topic that's easy to talk around and hard to talk through directly. Its unscientific framing is a strength as much as a limitation, keeping the book grounded in real conversation rather than pretending to more authority than it has. For readers interested in the male loneliness conversation from a personal, narrative angle rather than a policy or research one, it's a solid, honest read.
Rating: 4.3/10