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Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time Hardcover – 26 Jan. 2023

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

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Review

A Reader's Digest Most Anticipated 2023 Read
A
Literary Hub Most Anticipated 2023 Read
The Millions Most Anticipated 2023 Read

"The book conceives of hanging out as a way to reclaim time as something other than a raw ingredient to be converted into productivity." --The New York Times

"Hide your phone, stop hustling for a second, and read this passionate argument for the importance of unstructured pre-digital hang." --People Magazine

"Hanging Out is rich with illuminating stories...I passionately believ[ed] that her book was right." --Slate, Dan Kois

"[Hanging Out] is exploring this downstream consequence of isolation, of loneliness, of atomization, which I think is pretty underexplored..." --Ezra Klein

"We could all use more of that blissfully unstructured social time, posits Sheila Liming in the well-considered series of arguments found in
Hanging Out." --Reader's Digest

"[Hanging Out] opens with a simple and expansive account of what hanging out is...Liming dedicates much of the book to stories from her past. She has lived an interesting life, and she tells these stories well..." --Washington Post

"Sharp and vivid writing...her [Limings] chapter on parties is so richly drawn. It's a layered exploration of social dynamics and contains some textured literary criticism..."
--Bookforum

"More books about hanging out, less about productivity please. Sheila Liming sees the gap in our thinking about time, and the true worth in spending it in an unstructured fashion with members of our community..." --Literary Hub

"[Hanging Out] encourages readers to do more of it in real life...Liming's observational and storytelling skills shine." --Publishers Weekly

"From sharing a cuppa to lazing in the park, is the key to happiness doing everyday activities with pals?... Liming proposes hanging out as a balm that forges connection and meaning." --The Guardian UK

"A thoughtful manifesto...Liming is unsurprisingly the most compelling when she incorporates literary criticism into her treatise." --BookPage

"Tightly argued, brilliantly written...smart yet so accessible,
Hanging Out will impress readers with the way each idea builds on the next, never forced and always human." --Shelf Awareness

"Readers will gain a new appreciation for their next get-together after reading this fascinating book and taking the author's well-written words to heart" --Booklist

"[A] meditation on the value of spending idle time with friends, family, and strangers." --Kirkus Reviews

"Informed by her own experiences and anecdotes -- chiefly from moving across the United States during the pandemic -- Liming also brings a rich knowledge of pop culture and intellectual history to persuasive arguments about the importance of spending casual and unproductive time with other people." -- Zoomer Magazine

"Like me, you will thoroughly enjoy hanging out with this book. Jam-packed with eloquent and authentic testimony, it delivers many fresh insights on experiences that we might otherwise take for granted." --Andrew Ross, author of Nice Work If You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times

About the Author

Sheila Liming is an associate professor at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and the author of two previous books, What a Library Means to a Woman and Office. She has been featured in the New York Times Arts & Leisure section as well in periodicals ranging from People magazine to Bookforum and Slate. She has been a guest on the Ezra Klein show and on numerous NPR programs, as well as on KCBS San Francisco and WDET Detroit. Her essays have appeared in venues like The Atlantic, McSweeney's, Lapham's Quarterly, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, and The Point, among others. Hanging Out was the answer to a Jeopardy question on May 16, 2023.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Melville House Publishing (26 Jan. 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1685890059
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1685890056
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.58 x 2.41 x 21.72 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

About the author

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Sheila Liming
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Sheila Liming (b. 1983) was born in Seattle, WA and educated at The College of Wooster (Wooster, OH) and Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA). Her writing and research looks at American literature in the context of American institutions, like libraries and office buildings. She is the author of WHAT A LIBRARY MEANS TO A WOMAN (University of Minnesota Press, 2020) and OFFICE (Bloomsbury, 2020). She teaches at Champlain College in Burlington, VT, where she is Associate Professor in the Professional Writing program.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
38 global ratings
A thought provoking and timely read
4 Stars
A thought provoking and timely read
I hadn’t thought of myself hanging out with people in my adulthood. It’s something I did as a teenager where we would gather at someone’s house and just talk about nothing much. Often this involved giggling about boys and drinking cheap alcohol (20/20 anyone?). So this book really made me analyse what hanging out meant. I liked the idea that we should have unstructured time with other people and I found myself thinking - do I ever do that now? . Luckily the author provided a really useful section on tips on hanging out. I don’t think I would be brave enough to hang out with strangers (being a huge introvert) but the sections on the workplace and online were food for thought.I liked the authors style and it felt like I was having an in-depth chat (albeit one sided) about the topic. The personal anecdotes were really interesting and some were very relatable. There were also quotes and examples from literary figures and other works.I also liked the nostalgia from life ‘pre-Facebook’ like actually having mail boxes at University and arranging parties with notes.I know self help books aren’t everyone’s thing but I’m really glad I tried this one. A very thought provoking and timely read which I found really interesting.
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Top reviews from United Kingdom

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 June 2023
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2023
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 February 2023
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Jo
4.0 out of 5 stars A thought provoking and timely read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 February 2023
I hadn’t thought of myself hanging out with people in my adulthood. It’s something I did as a teenager where we would gather at someone’s house and just talk about nothing much. Often this involved giggling about boys and drinking cheap alcohol (20/20 anyone?). So this book really made me analyse what hanging out meant. I liked the idea that we should have unstructured time with other people and I found myself thinking - do I ever do that now? . Luckily the author provided a really useful section on tips on hanging out. I don’t think I would be brave enough to hang out with strangers (being a huge introvert) but the sections on the workplace and online were food for thought.

I liked the authors style and it felt like I was having an in-depth chat (albeit one sided) about the topic. The personal anecdotes were really interesting and some were very relatable. There were also quotes and examples from literary figures and other works.

I also liked the nostalgia from life ‘pre-Facebook’ like actually having mail boxes at University and arranging parties with notes.

I know self help books aren’t everyone’s thing but I’m really glad I tried this one. A very thought provoking and timely read which I found really interesting.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 March 2023
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3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting concept, but a rather dull one.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 March 2023
I love hanging out with people. And yet, since Covid the concept of being around a lot of people does sometimes feel less appealing than sitting on my sofa with a book. Across the globe, companies are adopting hybrid models as people are choosing to work remotely, rather than in an office. We’re told we need to connect and collaborate with colleagues face to face, but being at home is easy, it’s flexible and – with the cost of living crisis – cheaper. But without social interactions, can we survive?

In Hanging Out, Sheila Liming explains why hanging out is so powerful. There doesn’t have to be an agenda to ‘hang out’, so it’s casual, easy and there’s no need to feel overwhelmed. Liming combines theory with personal stories to showcase examples of how we hang out in different situations.

These anecdotes are interesting, but feel too much at times. Shorter excerpts, mixed with more theory and others’ insights would have made for a well-rounded analysis, as a lot of the topics needed further explanation. However, I did enjoy the literary quotes and book references (including Mrs Dalloway and – surprisingly – Trainspotting), which gave it a thoughtful slant. Although some of Liming’s stories are amusing, I was expecting more humour from the book, and at times it felt quite dry and even a little dull.

An interesting concept for sure, but perhaps not executed as well as it could have been.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2023

Top reviews from other countries

Jody Gorran
5.0 out of 5 stars The rationale for “Hanging Out”
Reviewed in the United States on 17 February 2024
Writer2021
4.0 out of 5 stars interesting and thought-provoking; a variety of perspectives would've made the book more compelling
Reviewed in the United States on 29 April 2023
6 people found this helpful
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William Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book
Reviewed in the United States on 9 February 2023
15 people found this helpful
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Emily
5.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyed it.
Reviewed in the United States on 16 March 2023
2 people found this helpful
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Olga B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on 19 February 2023
5 people found this helpful
Report