WE NEED TO HANG OUT

Doing for loneliness what Daniel Smith's Monkey Mind did for anxiety, Billy Baker's We Need to Hang Out is the story of a middle-aged man who suddenly realizes that he doesn't have any close friends, inspiring him to set out on a hilarious and ultimately moving quest to bring his old friends back into the fabric of his life.

Beginning in the 1980s study after study began showing people who were more socially isolated from their friends - regardless of how healthy their family life was - were much more likely to die during a given period than their socially connected peers, even after correcting for factors like age, gender, and lifestyle choices.
Loneliness was linked to an increase in cardiovascular disease and stroke and the progression of Alzheimer's. One study found that it was as deadly as smoking.

Billy Baker had a full-time job, a loving marriage, and two darling children when he realized that something crucial was missing from his life: his friends. At the age of forty, he was becoming just another statistic in a modern loneliness epidemic. (Studies show that between 40 and 50 percent of Americans report feeling alone or isolated, especially older men, who tend more than women to let their close friendships lapse as they age.)

After Billy's story about this invisible crisis for The Boston Globe Magazine touched millions of people, he devoted himself to a bold mission to salvage his friendships and pave the way for men (and women) everywhere to improve their relationships old and new. From planning weekly hang-outs with his two best buddies to organizing an impromptu "Ditch Day" for dozens of his high school classmates, Billy began experimenting with ways to keep in touch with his friends no matter how hectic all their lives could be. Bursting with humor, candor, and charm, WE NEED TO HANG OUT is the story of one middle-aged man's quest to renew the art of friendship and set an example for lonely people everywhere.

Billy Baker is a reporter for the Boston Globe. A native of South Boston, he is a graduate of Boston Latin School, Tulane University, and the Columbia Journalism School. In 2017, he received the Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence from the American Society of News Editors. In 2014, he was a member of the Globe team that received the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings.