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

Loneliness is an epidemic; it feels harder than ever to connect with others meaningfully. What can we do to remedy this? Sheila Liming has the answer: we need to hang out more.

With the introduction of AI and constant Zoom meetings, our lives have become more fractured, digital and chaotic. Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time shows us what we have lost to the frenetic pace of digital life and how to get it back.

Combining personal narrative with pungent analyses of books, movies, and TV shows, Sheila Liming shows us how the new social landscape deadens our connections with others — connections that are vital to both self-care and to a vibrant community. Whether drinking with strangers in a distant city or jamming with musician friends in an abandoned Pittsburgh row house, Liming demonstrates that unstructured social time is the key to a freer, happier sense of self. 

Hanging Out shows how simple acts of casual connection are the glue that binds us together, and how community is the antidote to the disconnection and isolation that dominates contemporary life.

Added to this paperback edition is a new Afterword by Liming. She addresses how coming out of the pandemic has somehow left us feeling more lonely and disconnected than ever.
 
Contributor Bio(s)
 
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.

Author Residence: Burlington, VT

Author Hometown: Seattle, WA