Overnight
Journeys, Conversations and Stories After Dark
Published on 27. March 2025
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-83885-750-9 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
Reviews / Votes
The height of crafted eloquence. The book felt choral to me, all those different nocturnal voices singing at the same time, and the cumulative effect of it is powerful and moving -- SAMANTHA HARVEY By the book's end, night has grown to seem vibrant and companionable * * Observer * * Creatures of the night rejoice - this is the book we've been waiting for! A truly addictive read -- KEVIN BARRY A revelatory journey into the teeming life of the night. Moving, engrossing, essential -- KATHERINE MAY A paean of gratitude to every form of labour in the wee small hours, packed with enough fun facts for an entire pub quiz . . . Curiosity and boundless enthusiasm are what the reader is paying for here. It's the author's infectious sincerity that really makes Overnight work * * Spectator * * I loved Overnight. It is both gripping and consoling, and full of an intelligent, querying tenderness for its subjects. I was never sure whether I'd be moved to laughter or tears: often, it was both, and in the end I was sad to leave Richards' humane and witty company -- SARAH PERRY Overnight is a sort of extended thank-you note to the people who keep the world ticking over while the rest of us sleep . . . Richards is an immensely likeable and generous-spirited narrator * * Times Literary Supplement * * In Overnight, Dan Richards introduces us to the shadowy, starlit world of postal workers, night nurses, twenty-four-hour industry, late night radio, search and rescue. We meet desperate rough sleepers, racing demons, new mothers . . . and what shines through most clearly is the humour and the pathos, the remarkable diversity in what it means to live, to work, to love. A lucid dream of a book, one that will keep you up late reading -- CAL FLYN Funny and moving and generously various in its voices - a journey after dark in two senses -- ROBERT MACFARLANE 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 HOAREMore details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
With dust jacket
Illustrations
B&W images throughout
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
598 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83885-750-9 (9781838857509)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dan Richards is the co-author of Holloway (with Robert Macfarlane and Stanley Donwood), and the author of The Beechwood Airship Interviews, Climbing Days, Outpost and Overnight. Only After Dark, a BBC Radio 4 series about the nocturnal world, was broadcast to acclaim in 2022. Dan has written for the New York Times, Guardian, Economist and Esquire.
@Dan_Zep
@Dan_Zep