Should Max stop doing so, then Budo will fade away. Hes a sort of imaginary Pinocchio: self-aware enough that he knows what hes missing out on.īut Budos continued existence is contingent on the fact that his imaginer, Max continues to believe in him. Its an unusual application of the longevity trope, and is made all the more interesting by the fact that although Budo is long-lived compared with others of his kind, he is human enough that he compares himself not with other imaginary friends, but with people. Budo has reached the ripe old age of five, which is quite a significant milestone given the typically butterfly-like lifespan of most of his kind, and indeed in that time hes seen many imagined creations fade away before him. That imaginary friends are typically fleeting is something about which Budo, the eponymous narrator of Matthew Greens Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, is all too aware. She was discarded in favour of real friendships, which my sister promptly discovered that, although full of arguments about who sits where and who has the best lunchbox, are far more fulfilling than a passive intellectual creation.

Needless to say, Cookie was essentially flawless.Ĭookie also disappeared not long after my sister started primary school.

Imaginary friends, of course, are subject to the creative boundaries of their imaginers, and are also bolstered by their imaginers sense of what a friend should be. Cookie trumped her other friends with ease, in large part because Cookie was imaginary. In the few months before my little sister started primary school, she had a new best friend: Cookie.

Imaginary friend book review