An exploration of night - the nocturnal world, insomnia, the creative potential of the dark hours, the work that happens at night to keep the modern world moving - by Sunday Times bestselling author Dan Richards
There is something special about the night. For many, just the idea of it conjures thoughts of starlit skies, romance, refuge, of being tucked up in bed. For some, the night means fear, vulnerability, danger, sleeplessness. At night things go bump, monsters hide under beds, owls take wing and foxes prowl. For others still, nightfall signals the start of work.
Overnight is a celebration of all things nocturnal, of those who labour while the rest of us sleep: the bakers, health workers, sailors, couriers, broadcasters, drivers, fishers, the emergency services and more. And it is also a hymn to nighttime wildlife, dreams and art. We'll hang out with bats and look at the stars. We'll learn what Moomintroll has to teach us. We'll travel by ship, train, racing car and foot. There will be more than one surprise along the way.
Through a series of personal journeys Dan Richards explores what the night means to a fascinating array of people, taking us from night terrors to the glow of watching the dawn break on the summer solstice. Overnight will change the way you think about the hours after dark.
Industry Reviews
'Praise for Dan Richards: 'There's a special magic in Richards' luminous descriptions of nature and place, but also in the stories he tells' - Guardian
'Dan Richards is a wonderful storyteller, wise, wry and open-hearted, the perfect travelling companion' - Max Porter
'Richards' prose is by turns beautiful, funny, evocative and learned, the pages illuminated by lovely, warming footnotes . . . [Richards' voice is] vivid, self-deprecating, literary and very, very funny' - Observer
'Vivid, funny and moving - a wonderful stylist' - Sarah Perr
'Dan Richards is that rare thing, a writer whose way of looking at the world is utterly unique' - Rupert Thomson
Dan Richards' writing spans great gulfs of emotion and experience. He is witty and profound and his curiosity and empathy know no bounds. He takes us deep into the night and brings it utterly alive. He fills that space in our dreams with the reality - of what goes on when the sun goes down' - PHILIP HOARE
'In Overnight, Richards casts the night and its many activities anew to create a book offering a rare type of solace. I've been almost pathologically afraid of the dark my entire life, but Overnight is a kaleidoscopic book, illuminating at every turn dark corners of both the night and our collective minds, until the idea of darkness became appealing, even to me' - ALI MILLAR
'Overnight takes us to hidden worlds that lie so far from most of our daily lives, but exist in such proximity to them. Dan Richards is an excellent guide, and this is a hugely fascinating, funny and moving book' - CHRIS POWER
'Humane, thoughtful and forensically observant, Richards makes the night his own, as he interrogates the pulse and rhythm of our mirror world, the one most of us barely notice' - JON GRIMWOOD
'Overnight is a glorious and generous book. Dan Richards' journey into night is heart-warming, enriching and inspiring. How can you be afraid of the dark with this book in your life, inside these pages is the hope before first light' - SALENA GODDEN
