# Hum - Paperback

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by **Helen Phillips** (Author)

**A Most Anticipated Book for _The_ _New York Times_, _The_ _Washington Post_, _Time_, Goodreads, _LitHub_, and _Book Riot_**  
**A Best Book of the Summer for _Esquire, Electric Lit,_ and _Town & Country_**  
**A _People_ Book of the Week**

**From "one of our most profound writers of speculative fiction" (_The New York Times_), this "tense dystopian thriller" (_Time_) and "tender portrait of love and care in an uncertain world" (_Esquire_) is an urgent and unflinching portrayal of a woman's fight for her family's security in a world shaped by global warming and rapid technological progress.**

In a near-future world addled by climate change and inhabited by intelligent robots called "hums," May loses her job to artificial intelligence. Desperate to resolve her family's debt and secure their future for another few months, she becomes a guinea pig in an experiment that alters her face so it cannot be recognized by surveillance.

Seeking reprieve from her recent hardships and her family's addiction to their devices, May splurges on passes for her family to spend three nights respite in the Botanical Garden: a rare green refuge where forests, streams, and animals still thrive. But when her children come under threat, May is forced to put her trust in a hum of uncertain motives to save her family.

Written with "precision, insight, sensitivity, and compassion" (_Kirkus Reviews_, starred review), _Hum_ is a "striking new work of dystopian fiction" (_Vogue_) that delves into the complexities of marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dizzying technological advancement, a world of both dystopian and utopian possibilities.

### Author Biography

Helen Phillips is the author of six books, including, most recently, the novel _Hum_. Her novel _The Need_ was a National Book Award nominee and a _New York Times_ Notable Book. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. Her collection _Some Possible Solutions_ received the John Gardner Fiction Book Award. Her novel _The Beautiful Bureaucrat_ was a finalist for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award and the _Los Angeles Times_ Book Prize. A professor at Brooklyn College, she lives in Brooklyn with artist/cartoonist Adam Douglas Thompson and their children. Find her online at HelenCPhillips.com or on X @HelenCPhillips.

**Number of Pages:** 288

**Dimensions:** 0.9 x 8.38 x 5.5 IN

**Publication Date:** June 03, 2025

## Details

- **Price:** 17.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 17.99 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Hum - Paperback

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