Hole Studies

by Hilary Plum

Hole Studies is a book about care and the forms it may take. An essay collection on writing and labor, art and activism, attention as a transformative practice, difference and collaboration, adjuncting and the margins of the academy, whiteness and its weapons, professionalization and its discontents, the radical importance of surprise, friendship at work, the self and its public and private modes: Hole Studies keeps listening. What is it we need from each other? What could we still make happen? This book looks for forms of responsiveness and moments that matter. It honors everyday acts of thinking and trying. Essays explore the music of the Swet Shop Boys, the literature of the US’s brutal war in Iraq, the career of Sinéad O’Connor, the aesthetics of the Dirtbag Left, the legacies of the “war on terror,” feminism on the job, and illness in America. Hole Studies is an intimate document and a critical guide. Hole Studies would like to work for you.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Memoir

168 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2022

Reviews

[nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

READING VLOG

This is like getting a coffee with your professor and they're complaining about work and you're somewhat interested in their half-baked thoughts on the world and writing, and you're only somewhat interested because you're in your undergrad and you know you're not at the level you should be. In terms of the world, in terms of the writing. But they're concerned. And sad. Depressed. And that's make you sad. Because you see the failure. Not that they've failed you, but you see so clearly the failure in the system. A system you thought was the right choice.

You probably should've taken that year off, moved abroad, met some people, fucked strangers, done all the drugs all the books all the movies all all all until you came back with no money. But whole.

Maybe then you'd feel what your professor was feeling. Maybe then you'd feel grown up enough to discuss these matters. Maybe then you'd have some shot at fixing the world. Or at least try to.

On writing, editing, professorship, chronic illness, Sinéad O'Connor, and Courtney Love, the Iraq War and the pandemic, this collection of essays spans across the now. Every writer, editor, and adjunct professor who survived the pandemic needs to read this. It's urgent. It's now. It's urgent because it's all about now.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER: I am the author's mother. Having said that, "Hole Studies" is an extraordinary work. Laser sharp insights on the importance to contemporary feminism — whatever generation we are working at — of the personae and music of Courtney Love and Sinead O'Connor and Riz Ahmed; on various writers whose subject matter is our long involvement in the politics and religion of the Middle East; on contemporary poetry; and on health issues that affect primarily women — and the author in particular. I am making this volume sound like a mishmash, but it is the threads that Plum has used to make this a tapestry that are truly amazing — and stimulating to the reader's intelligence and emotions. Do the threads help me understand what it means to try to be a woman and humanitarian in the 21st century, perhaps? I finished reading about two weeks ago and now that I am trying to write about the effect "Hole Studies" had on me, I realize I need to start at the beginning and re-read this volume again.

[Cooper Lee Bombardier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned about this book from the inimitable Andrea Lawlor, author extraordinaire but also a consummate reader and veteran bookseller, and they did not steer me wrong. Hilary Plum writes lyrically and thoughtfully about many issues that feel germane to my own quotidian existence as a writer, adjunct prof., editor. I appreciate the capaciousness and sense of unfolding of themes across the essays and the underlying mission statement of showing up, being present with what we come to be *here* with, a pedagogy of making space to listen and be heard, and listening carefully when the culture deems harbingers of uncomfortable, ugly truths to be crazy, as this tactic in hindsight often shows us the flares shot that we simply did not want to see. I am looking forward to reading more from this author across the various forms and genres in which she writes.

[seamus slattery · Rating 2 out of 5]

major millenial guilt sprinkled with sinéad o’connor studies

[Jose Carpio · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few disorganized essays that gesture in a lot of directions without any depth. But the title essay is more effective !

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I wanted to read "weird essays" and I'm interested in care and labor. I'm trying to write more essays myself and I wanted to see how other people were taking risks in this form. I think this collection does that. My brain kept trying to figure out how things tied together, or where Plum was going, and the essays eluded those efforts. There were a lot of juxtapositions that seemed to just remain that way, parallel, never really meeting. The ambiguity is reflective of how communication can feel, although I wasn't left with much hope that we can overcome these obstructions. What I enjoyed most were lines like this, from the third page of the book:

"Sometimes my big male dog would raise his nose by the fence while the old male horse lowered his nose. Noses touched. A patriarchs' greeting. It was early, misty. The wars outlived them both."

[Skylar Miklus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This inquisitive essay collection explores the holes in American society and the way we care for one another— or don’t. I particularly enjoyed the essay about Sinéad O’Connor’s career, made especially poignant in the wake of her death. Plum’s critical eye is always sharp and exacting. One of my all time favorite authors.

[Nicola Balkind · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book by a friend of a friend. It is a short text but I read it slowly and that was a great way to absorb more deeply the themes Plum is exploring (which are particularly timely this year).

[Grace Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Checked out from the library for book bingo but might need to get my own copy so I can reread. Sharp and poignant blend of personal, pop culture, and politics. Maybe this especially resonated me right now having just entered a monstrous academic institution, it is terrible and great and central to my life. I am trying to make sense of what that all means.

Definitely want to read more of Plum's writing, especially her fiction.

[Geep Warhaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was really looking forward to reading this. I guess I was expecting more critical or theoretical expansions on care. I was often distracted by an occasional guilty almost self deprecating millennial tone to some of the essays. Some moments almost came across bitter.

I responded well to her perspectives on content and literature, her process as an artist. Would definitely enjoy reading the works she cited. 3.5

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do yourself a favor and find this wonderful book. These essays are a pleasure to read--smart, fascinating, enlivening! Genuinely fresh takes on many subjects.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most thought provoking essays I’ve read, and beautifully written too. I feel like these are essays I will come back to and continue to gain new insights. Absolutely wonderful.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75; more disjointed than i thought it would be

[Vincenzo Balistreri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plum does a beautiful job utilizing iconic and personal moments to explore the pace at which society changes and the need and purpose we have to pursue a better world. An enlightening read.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great essays but not enough hole