The book, which has many moments of sharp and vivid writing, suffers from being packaged as a manifesto.

Liming’s self-proclaimed manifesto opens with a simple and expansive account of what hanging out is, the better to help us understand why it matters.

Part memoir, part research project and part manifesto on the importance of spending casual, unproductive time with other people.

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..

A thoughtful manifesto on the inherently subversive and joyous act of socializing.

Her writing does not meander; instead, it straddles the line between academic and accessible, ultimately creating a tightly argued, brilliantly written book that will be discussed at the best dinner parties and back porch hangouts.

A glancing meditation.