Kindle
$11.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$25.18
Paperback
$3.99
Kindle Price: $11.99

Save $6.00 (33%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $21.83

Save: $14.34 (66%)

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Alison Lurie
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Imaginary Friends: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Alison Lurie (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 132 ratings
See all formats and editions
Two sociologists infiltrate a cult that pulls them into madness in this “barbed and richly entertaining” novel from a Pulitzer Prize–winning author (The Wall Street Journal).
 
Once the nation’s most popular sociologist, Tom McMann searches for a research subject that will invigorate his career. Unlike any study he’s seen before, he targets the Truth Seekers, an up-and-coming cult that seeks flying saucers, utopian planets, and new spiritual plains. An irresistible mixture of New Age cranks and sci-fi nerds, they are ruled over by Verena, a beautiful young telepath who believes she has a hotline to another world. The Seekers are isolated, committed, and eccentric, but most importantly, they’re hiring.
 
Assisted by his wide-eyed young colleague, Roger Zimmern, McMann infiltrates the Truth Seekers, hoping to see how the zealots respond if questioned by someone within their midst. But when Verena’s babblings start to make a little too much sense, the researchers must choose between losing their minds and buying one-way tickets to outer space.
 
From the National Book Award–shortlisted author of Foreign Affairs, The War Between the Tates, and The Last Resort, this is a richly funny novel that will dazzle and entertain.
 
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Alison Lurie including rare images from the author’s collection.
 
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    353 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    November 13, 2012
  6. File size
    8939 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Dazzling. . . . Her best novel. . . . A comedy of ideas that stands near the top of its class.” —Life “Light but solid. . . . [Lurie] handles the ambiguities she uncovers so well.” —The New Yorker “Barbed and richly entertaining.” —The Wall Street Journal “There is no American author I have read with more consistent pleasure and sympathy over the years.” —John Fowles, author of The Magus “Lurie writes . . . coolly and wickedly.” —The New Yorker “One of the more gifted novelists around today.” —The New York Times

About the Author

Alison Lurie (b. 1926) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning author of fiction and nonfiction. Born in Chicago and raised in White Plains, New York, she joined the English department at Cornell University in 1970, where she taught courses on children’s literature, among others. Her first novel, Love and Friendship (1962), is a story of romance and deception among the faculty of a snowbound New England college. It won favorable reviews and established her as a keen observer of love in academia. It was followed by the well-received The Nowhere City (1966) and The War Between the Tates (1974). In 1984, she published Foreign Affairs, her best-known novel, which traces the erotic entanglements of two American professors in England. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985. Her most recent novel is The Last Resort (1998). In addition to her novels, Lurie’s interest in children’s literature led to three collections of folk tales and two critical studies of the genre. Lurie officially retired from Cornell in 1998, but continues to teach and write. In 2012, she was awarded a two-year term as the official author of the state of New York. Lurie lives in Ithaca, New York, and is married to the writer Edward Hower. She has three grown sons and three grandchildren. 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009VR4U5Y
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (November 13, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 13, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 8939 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 353 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 132 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Alison Lurie

Alison Lurie

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Alison Lurie (b. 1926) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning author of fiction and nonfiction. Born in Chicago and raised in White Plains, New York, she joined the English department at Cornell University in 1970, where she taught courses on children’s literature, among others. Her first novel, Love and Friendship (1962), is a story of romance and deception among the faculty of a snowbound New England college. It won favorable reviews and established her as a keen observer of love in academia. It was followed by the well-received The Nowhere City (1966) and The War Between the Tates (1974). In 1984, she published Foreign Affairs, her best-known novel, which traces the erotic entanglements of two American professors in England. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985. Her most recent novel is The Last Resort (1998). In addition to her novels, Lurie’s interest in children’s literature led to three collections of folk tales and two critical studies of the genre. Lurie officially retired from Cornell in 1998, but continues to teach and write. In 2012, she was awarded a two-year term as the official author of the state of New York. Lurie lives in Ithaca, New York, and is married to the writer Edward Hower. She has three grown sons and three grandchildren.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
132 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BookwormEarworm
4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing novel for academic humanities enthusiasts
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this work. Definitely light enough to take in after a day's work or before falling asleep, but far from insulting. In fact, I found my curiosity tickled. I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and have read a number of novels involving people with a variety of mental conditions and sociological situations but I've personally held a certain curiosity for studying psychologists and sociologists themselves.

There is something unique about this science because we are what we are studying, and no amount of distinguishing or distancing ourselves or even knowledge about ourselves and others can change or erase our own vulnerability and susceptibilities to different behavioral and mental stumbling blocks. It's both a blessing and a curse in one sense because human beings studying human beings offers unique limitations but it also provides unique insights.

This is a book that plays with that balance of limitations and insights as professionals in the field. Two professors of the sociology field ask the question what's going on with a group of people but also how that behavior comes to be. They do so with a profound emphasis on the professional gold standard of objective observation. As we get to know them and the people they're observing however, one starts to sift through the findings and is forced to figure out what's the gold and what's the fool's gold. What starts out as a simple question of results and passive, objective observation turns into a web of wrestling with responsibility, influence, and what ifs.
20 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Maverick
5.0 out of 5 stars Not What I Expected
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2018
Verified Purchase
Loved this book. It’s one of those books that is very troubling yet entertaining at the same time. I didn’t expect the ending, and long after I finished it, I kept thinking about it, just one of the criteria that illustrates how good this book is.
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Alan
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2015
Verified Purchase
fine older book. Quick shipping
Helpful
 Report
Sermantha Louisy
4.0 out of 5 stars Package intact
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2022
Verified Purchase
The product arrived with no impact worth complaining about.
Helpful
 Report
david kessler
5.0 out of 5 stars This took me back
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2017
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this novel a lot. It reminded me of my undergraduate days, about the time the novel was first published. I took several courses in the social sciences, and was particularly interested in the origins of organized religions. A couple of the characters seemed like people I knew.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
ohara
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, Original, Unexpected and Enduring
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2012
Verified Purchase
I'm reading this novel for the 2nd time.It was first published in 1967 and is a gem. Read it. You'll thank me.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
lucky lenore
3.0 out of 5 stars Just so-so for me
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2012
Although I have enjoyed several of Alison Lurie's books - I think this one is showing it's age. Written in 1967 it seems a little dated, even regarding the naivete of the "subjects". I think it would be interesting to see this book about cults updated in the time of the internet. However,it did make me think about sociology and its uses and abuses. The characters seemed cardboard to me and not drawn strongly enough: more like sterotypes rather and real people. And if you are writing a book about real people - this is a problem
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Daft Wullie
5.0 out of 5 stars The most gripping novel about sociologists I've ever read
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2020
Verified Purchase
Seriously, all kinds of fun with your favorite scholarly types. Teeters on the edge of a love scene here and there!
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
zoe
5.0 out of 5 stars A LIRE
Reviewed in France on May 11, 2013
Verified Purchase
L'écriture d'Alison Lurie permet de se laisser completement emporter dans ce récit pleins de rebondissements. Véritable analyse sociologique du fanatisme et de la sociologie même. Inspiré par l'ouvrage de Festinger, Hank Riecken et Stanley Schachter: L'echec d'une prophétie, elle développe leur théorie de la dissonance cognitive. Mais elle va plus loin, elle met en exergue l'implication des sociologues dans les résultats. Elle questionne le fanatisme, qui et comment on peut s'y perdre. La limite du savoir et de la confiance dans les sciences.

Romans pleins de surprises avec une fin délirante.
Report
Zenorac
5.0 out of 5 stars Is there life on Varna?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
'Tom McMann' and 'Roger Zimmern', American sociologists, infiltrate ( for research purposes ) a spiritualist cult - 'The Truth Seekers' - devoted to the worship of an benign alien race from the planet Varna. 'Verena Roberts', the group's leader, claims to regularly receive messages from Ro, the Varnian representative. Roger falls for her, but Tom gradually takes over the group. I read this mainly because I remembered there'd been an excellent 1987 television adaptation by Malcolm Bradbury - transposing the plot to England - and starring Billie Whitelaw and John Duttine. It is currently unavailable to buy on D.V.D., but the original book is well worth tracking down, being wittily written ( told from Roger's point of view ) and frequently thought provoking. We can laugh at an individual with a delusion, but if you get a lot of people believing the same thing, it suddenly stops being a delusion and becomes a religion!
Report
Laura Perez
5.0 out of 5 stars the book everybody should read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
I needed this book for a work at a subject of the studies I'm taking at the university. Due to the lack of units in spanish, I decided to look around for an original one, and found this one. I must say it came very fast, and the conservation was outstanding, even have plastic cover to protect it! The seller was kind and fast on answering. A really good book to read, and a seller trustable 100%
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report