By Nightfall
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Review
‘Cunningham encourages his reader to wrestle with things that interest him by sketching his plots delicately over classic lines. In this case, the arrival of the guest who will change everything is reworked into a discussion about art and decay by a writer who can write a page-turning novel that lingers eloquently in the mind’ The Times
‘This is a book about art, love, marriage and mortality… One of the intriguing and peculiar qualities of By Nightfall is that it makes you live with a character who seems never quite at ease with his own identity… One of Cunningham's gifts is to be able to shift gears when he wants, out of banal everydayness into an intense rhapsodic meditation on the meaning and purpose of life.’ Hermione Lee, Guardian
‘Michael Cunningham is embarked on one of the more satisfying career trajectories of contemporary American novelists…By Nightfall offers the reader an abundance of exquisite, enriching thumbnail sketches’ TLS
Praise for Michael Cunningham:
‘A genius’ Tim Lott
‘One of our very best writers.’ Los Angeles Times
Praise for ‘The Hours’:
‘“The Hours” is a book which heightens the perception of the reader. Cunningham’s craftmanship is overwhelming.’ Robert Farren, Independent on Sunday
‘An extremely moving, original and memorable novel.’ Hermione Lee, TLS
‘Engrossing, imaginative and humane.’ Richard Francis, Observer
‘…one of Cunningham’s gifts is to shift gears out of banal everydayness into an intense rhapsodic meditation on the meaning of life’ Hermione Lee, The Guardian
Review
Praise for Michael Cunningham 'A genius' Tim Lott 'One of our very best writers.' Los Angeles Times Praise for The Hours: '"The Hours" is a book which heightens the perception of the reader. Cunningham's craftmanship is overwhelming.' Robert Farren, Independent on Sunday 'An extremely moving, original and memorable novel.' Hermione Lee, TLS 'Engrossing, imaginative and humane.' Richard Francis, Observer
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I'm not going to comment on the book itself, as plenty of others have done so below, except to say that I personally found it an engaging and exquisitely composed meditation on what constitutes true beauty in our post-modern modern world - amongst other things.
But as read on my Kindle iPad app, I didn't find it very beautiful to read at all.
The electronic book is riddled with typographical and formatting errors, which would surely cause great dismay to Michael Cunningham, having clearly taken such care over his prose. For example every usage of "coffee" (which in a book set in Manhattan is about every page)the word is broken up into two non-existent words: "coff" and "ee". In fact every word with a double "ff" is split into two (off end, diff use) - which when you have a character called Groff, starts to get really problematic and way beyond the odd forgivable typo.
There are also:
Chunks of dialogue assigned to the wrong character through lack of a carriage return, so it looks like they are replying to their own question
Odd gaps and justification spaces throughout
I love Kindles and I like reading electronic books, but the lack of quality control in many of them is poor, and in this one particularly shocking.
DO NOT BUY THE ELECTRONIC VERSION IF YOU CARE ABOUT SMALL THINGS LIKE SPELLING AND LEGIBILITY.
But as read on my Kindle iPad app, I didn't find it very beautiful to read at all.
The electronic book is riddled with typographical and formatting errors, which would surely cause great dismay to Michael Cunningham, having clearly taken such care over his prose. For example every usage of "coffee" (which in a book set in Manhattan is about every page)the word is broken up into two non-existent words: "coff" and "ee". In fact every word with a double "ff" is split into two (off end, diff use) - which when you have a character called Groff, starts to get really problematic and way beyond the odd forgivable typo.
There are also:
Chunks of dialogue assigned to the wrong character through lack of a carriage return, so it looks like they are replying to their own question
Odd gaps and justification spaces throughout
I love Kindles and I like reading electronic books, but the lack of quality control in many of them is poor, and in this one particularly shocking.
DO NOT BUY THE ELECTRONIC VERSION IF YOU CARE ABOUT SMALL THINGS LIKE SPELLING AND LEGIBILITY.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As you might expect from the author of The Hours, By Nightfall is beautifully written and is full of literary references and nods. Set in modern day New York, Peter Harris is a relatively successful, middle-aged art dealer, married to Rebecca, an editor of a cultural magazine from a good Southern family. They live in a trendy apartment and from the outside all is well. Sure, there are communication issues with their daughter, particularly from Peter's side, but it's the arrival of Rebecca's younger brother - a drug-taking, charming drifter that is the catalyst for this story. The classic outsider shaking things up.
It's a book about art, relationships, beauty and middle age angst. It's thought-provoking, tender and very readable. However, without giving any plot details away, I never bought into the central dilemma in which Peter finds himself. I believed in everything else about him, but this one, critical central part. However, that aside, it's excellent, intelligent read. It's also one of the most unpretentious books set in the world of modern art.
It's also quite a "slow burner" so if you are not gripped in the first few pages, keep going because it will draw you in.
It's a book about art, relationships, beauty and middle age angst. It's thought-provoking, tender and very readable. However, without giving any plot details away, I never bought into the central dilemma in which Peter finds himself. I believed in everything else about him, but this one, critical central part. However, that aside, it's excellent, intelligent read. It's also one of the most unpretentious books set in the world of modern art.
It's also quite a "slow burner" so if you are not gripped in the first few pages, keep going because it will draw you in.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a strange novel. It is so understated, I wondered initially if it would ever get going.
But it does, like a car with the hand-break off, creaking and then rolling almost imperceptibly, and then picking up speed as it careers distinctly out of control.
This isn't a Big novel, or a crazily ambitious one. It does not have the epic nature of A Home At The End Of The World, or Flesh And Blood, or the failed megalomania of Specimen Days. Instead it reveals a subtle Woody Allen-like insight into the strangeness of our modern lives, and again, as in The Hours, the beautiful prose of a Virginia Wolf novel. The result is gentle, unpretentious and surprisingly profound.
For a while at the beginning, I didn't think I was going to like this novel. I couldn't have been more wrong. Welcome back Michael Cunningham.
But it does, like a car with the hand-break off, creaking and then rolling almost imperceptibly, and then picking up speed as it careers distinctly out of control.
This isn't a Big novel, or a crazily ambitious one. It does not have the epic nature of A Home At The End Of The World, or Flesh And Blood, or the failed megalomania of Specimen Days. Instead it reveals a subtle Woody Allen-like insight into the strangeness of our modern lives, and again, as in The Hours, the beautiful prose of a Virginia Wolf novel. The result is gentle, unpretentious and surprisingly profound.
For a while at the beginning, I didn't think I was going to like this novel. I couldn't have been more wrong. Welcome back Michael Cunningham.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
boring
very boring, slow moving novel. Great possibilities but poorly executed. Nothing like his previous novels. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rinconete
One of the best books of the year.
Picked up this on whim and was amazed. What a slam dunk. Now it makes me want to go back and read
"The Hours" which I avoided because of the really dull movie. Read more
"The Hours" which I avoided because of the really dull movie. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Emer Foley
One the best novels I read in 2011
I am no particular fan of Cunningham's work and, indeed, I was put off this book by the same sex attraction plot highlighted in so many reviews. Read more
Published 5 months ago by snipkin
An intelligent, beautifully descriptive read
By Nightfall really is a beautifully written book, though the style may not be for everybody - it starts slowly and is much more focused on description rather than plot. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Gabrielle O
Ineffably Dull
The premise is interesting, an improvisation on the theme of Dorian Gray, the execution dire, lacking any tension. There is no narrative drive. Read more
Published 9 months ago by David Gladwell
Slow, but moving
This looked like it might be an intriguing read, but I was disappointed by the slowness of the pace and shallowness of the characters. Read more
Published 9 months ago by F. R. Lewis
Best novel I've read for a very long time
Michael Cunningham is becoming by far my favourite modern novelist. Poetic yet grounded, he has a wonderfully compassionate worldview that makes others - Martin Amis, Paul Auster,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by C. O'Brien
soap on a long rope!
The movie adaptation of The Hours was a gift for Michael Cunningham as the film was excellent. The stellar cast, acting and Oscar glory was great in terms of exposure and sales and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by pete
Pretentious, irritating, ridiculous
I was profoundly disappointed by this book; I thought 'The Hours' was a special and important work of fiction, and expected Cunningham to deliver more of the same at the very... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Phillysound2
Wonderful novel, but formatting issue on Kindle edition
I am a great admirer of Michael Cunningham's writing. I think he has an incredible talent for expressing the internal, emotional paradoxes that people can often face, despite the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by PZF
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