Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created Our Restless World

by Benjamin Reiss

Why is sleep frustrating for so many people? Why do we spend so much time and money managing and medicating it, and training ourselves and our children to do it correctly? In Wild Nights, Benjamin Reiss finds answers in sleep's hidden history--one that leads to our present, sleep-obsessed society, its tacitly accepted rules, and their troubling consequences.


Today we define a good night's sleep very narrowly: eight hours in one shot, sealed off in private bedrooms, children apart from parents. But for most of human history, practically no one slept this way. Tracing sleep's transformation since the dawn of the industrial age, Reiss weaves together insights from literature, social and medical history, and cutting-edge science to show how and why we have tried and failed to tame sleep. In lyrical prose, he leads readers from bedrooms and laboratories to factories and battlefields to Henry David Thoreau's famous cabin at Walden Pond, telling the stories of troubled sleepers, hibernating peasants, sleepwalking preachers, cave-dwelling sleep researchers, slaves who led nighttime uprisings, rebellious workers, spectacularly frazzled parents, and utopian dreamers. We are hardly the first people, Reiss makes clear, to chafe against our modern rules for sleeping.


A stirring testament to sleep's diversity, Wild Nights offers a profound reminder that in the vulnerability of slumber we can find our shared humanity. By peeling back the covers of history, Reiss recaptures sleep's mystery and grandeur and offers hope to weary readers: as sleep was transformed once before, so too can it change today.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Psychology, Science, Health, Sociology, Nature

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2017

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pleasant read. I think it’s important to share some information about what the book is and isn’t in case you are considering reading it!

It is:
- by a famous professor of English
- full of beautiful prose
- packed with keen, incisive literary analysis
- primarily focused on literary and non-scientific historical narratives about sleep and sleep “disorders”

It is not:
- by a famous professor of sleep science
- a book about data on sleep patterns
- a book carefully analysing historical trends in sleep norms over time.

If you go in knowing all of this, as I did, I think you’ll enjoy it!! If you go in expecting a treatise full of data analysis on sleep quality, health, and sleep norms, you might not like it. For me, someone excited about a book by an English professor I had heard of, I really liked it.

[Andrea Rufo (Ann) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know how some people get upset when they think about all the hours of life we waste sleeping? I am not one of these people. You know how some people get really angry if they haven't eaten and they're really hungry? I am one of those people but instead of needing to eat, it's needing to sleep (and I cannot think of a good version of "hangry" for being tired. tangry? sleengry? just doesn't sound right.)? I am an early to bed, early to rise person who also enjoys a good afternoon nap. So when Reiss started the introduction of his book talking about how historical sleep patterns included lots of napping and early bedtimes I swelled with delight. (Also a bit of pride because as an Emory University Alum I came biased to support Reiss, himself a current Emory professor.) I have never given sleep much thought as a historical or cultural construction. It has always been something scientific, medical, or even baser: something biologically out of control. We need sleep. Particularly we need eight hours of sleep at night. Reiss' review of history, literature, culture and parenting shows a different reality. One where social pressures and changing patterns of work and family morphed sleep into the rigorous night marathon we expect today. It's a fascinating read, though I would have dearly loved more - more history, more science, more pages all together. I didn't walk away feeling like I understood sleep better, but I did walk away feeling like I very much wanted to learn more. I did walk away feeling completely justified to keep taking naps whenever I feel like it. And that alone is well worth it.

[Jafar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This won't tell you what you should do if you have sleeping problem. That's fine as the book is not a medical book and it makes no claim to that effect. Rather, it's an attempt at some sort of a history of sleep and how our idea of sleep has evolved over times and cultures, but it's not a very successful attempt. To fill the pages, the author talks a lot about Thoreau and Walden and child development.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

It may be unfair, but after reading Matthew Walker's Why We Sleep, this book seemed incredibly haphazard and superficial. I thought it would complement it nicely, being more of a sociological, even literary approach, but I found it full of suppositions and musings, or ideas and reactions by the author. Some of these were dwelled on in great, unwarranted detail (half a chapter on Kanye West's Famous video? Really?), while others lacked a solid basis. Overall, I was disappointed.

[Jack Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting focus on Thoreau, Utopian societies, and the cyclical nature of cultural and global hand-wringing around sleep in times of technological and industrial change! It was good to contextualize the headlines everywhere espousing the dangers of this or that sleep-impacting thing. I'm glad to now have a broader understanding of the socioeconomic geographies of such an intimate and vulnerable state.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

Deftly weaving literature with science, Reiss takes an in depth look at our culture's past and present structure and attitudes about how, when and why we sleep. -Sara G.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some pretty interesting parts about sleep. He got preachy in the chapter on children's sleeping, so I skimmed that!

[Brad B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I'm one of the few people who feel Thoreau is somewhat overrated, Wild Nights relies a bit too much on Thoreau and Walden's Pond (on the other hand, by filling in some of Thoreau's personal history, Reiss gave me more sympathy for the man). The narrative is a bit choppy and could use a little more cohesion (for example, the opium as a sleep aid section ended a bit abruptly). Still, this cultural analysis of sleep habits, with emphasis on the nineteenth century through the present day, is fascinating. As a lifelong insomniac, I found the best "cure" for me is to just stop worrying about it and take a nap when I can. I found a kindred spirit in Dr. Reiss and if you suffer from insomnia, you might, also.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not about sleep per se, but about how changes in our world have affected how we sleep (or don't, as the case may be). The author is obviously a huge fan of Thoreau, and shoehorns him in at every opportunity. Other than that, though, it was an interesting read.

[TC · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book very tedious. It was like he had to keep repeating himself to fill pages. And now I'm asking myself did I learn anything? What was his point?

[Abu Syakireen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild Night is a book about sleep. It is not a self-help book that talk about the best sleep routine but a book that tell the story of sleep. This book wrote the written history of sleep. How it evolve with the changes in human way of live. How technologies and ideologies try to constrant sleep to better suits them. How sleep has be come a tool for control, political revolution as well as healing in 'female ailment'. How religious use sleep and all its ailment to its advantage as a form of devil temptation or divine intervention. It also show how some people trying to get back the freedom of sleep in the most ironical ways. Inaddition, it also write about theory about the fictional bleak future of sleep due to rapid globalization.
While it cannot be denied that most western ideologies and economical practice is used globally, the local culture and religious practice are still being used especially in east asia. And that's what lacking in this book. This scope of the book is limited to western way of living in its entirety. Thus the book miss a lot of research regarding other culture and religion approach to sleep and practice that happen at night. Regardless of the shortcoming, I really do enjoy reading this piece of intellectual writing and learning something new from it.

[Jessicka Chamberlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. It is smart, honest, humble, continually curious.and beautifully written to boot.

I also understand why it has are poor reviews. If we are suffering in any way—particularly with anything as essential as sleep—it is often difficult to read a somewhat rambling, yet lovely treatise on the existential nature of the source of our suffering.

I’m one of those oddballs that has been blessed with a capacity for deep, restorative sleep since my first night home from the hospital—my parents woke up in a panic the next morning wondering if I was okay.

What this book beautifully offers is an intricate, empathetic understanding of how capitalism and white supremacy have stolen and continue to steal our most precious, restorative forms of intimacy.

When it comes to theft of sovereignty, our right to thrive, and to be truly well in the face of escalating, devastating climate change, there’s only one question that remains for me: how much continued suffering will we tolerate until we finally accept that the way we have organized our society isn’t working?

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reiss identifies ways that our current culture's relationship with sleep has developed since the time of the industrial revolution. The information he reveals about our ancestors' relationships with sleep is interesting, but the book lacks a strong analysis that would have made it more engaging to me. It reads more like a general survey of various things that other people have said about sleep, or done in relation to sleep. I thought the strongest part of the book, and the most interesting to me, was the chapter in which he analyses Thoreau's Walden for evidence of how the industrial revolution changed people's relationship with sleep. I like Thoreau, and I liked thinking about sleep as it relates to nature and thinking about how environmentalism and different attitudes towards sleep interrelate.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a year and a half ago, I read a book called At Day's Close by A. Roger Ekirch, about the history of sleeping. It was a fascinating and informative read, and it was eye-opening to learn about how different something as basic as sleeping was for much of history! That book was actually mentioned in this book (Wild Nights), and I do think that the two books make interesting companions. While At Day's Close is more focused on the actual historical facts, Wild Nights is more concerned with the whys and hows of sleep and its role in culture/society. My favorite aspect of Wild Nights is how the author makes a point of highlighting the discrepancy in sleep flexibility when looked at through the lens of class or race (or both).

[Ethan Glattfelder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 — I enjoyed Benjamin Reiss’s book on sleep and am happy that I finally got around to reading it. The central argument of Wild Nights is twofold: that sleep, despite being a universal phenomenon, is unequally distributed among people under the pressures of capitalism and inequity: and two, that capitalism and inequity in turn make us all feel like we can’t get enough sleep — in which case there’s something we can buy to fix that. These arguments are fascinating and persuasive yet sometimes fade a bit into the background in the historical chapters, which are well written and entertaining but perhaps a tad digressive. Still, Reiss’s perspective as a humanist and professor was something I could really connect to, and I enjoyed spending time in his head (or bed).

[Eitan Levy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should have been an essay. The first few chapters are strong as they describe pre-modern and early modern sleeping habits but becomes increasingly blinkered by narrow thinking as the book marches through history. Climate change is referenced half a dozen times. All references to conservatives are bad. Jimmy Carter is sainted (what do these references have to do with sleep you ask? Nothing! Which is why they are so jarring and annoying). Worst and more importantly, it is unclear what the thesis of the book is and it gets less clear as the book continues not less. In short, I recommend you skip it.

[Kerrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be overly simple, with too many references to Henry David Thoreau. This book is so simple that the author actually writes "in this chapter we will discuss...etc." at the beginning of each chapter. The history aspect of sleeping patterns in the past seemed interesting, but it's presented in a non linear jumbled mess that lacks anything besides anecdotal literary references. A GIANT lurking variable the author avoids like the plague is how Western obesity affects sleep more than any other societal ill. Racial sleep disparities of African Americans are mentioned, but no examples given, which leads me to believe this is more anecdotal evidence.

[Matthew Grote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reiss leads you on a fascinating journey of sleep evolution, from ancient Greece philosophy to modern science. I loved how he began the book with Thoreau's Walden, having recently read it. At times I thought he got too in depth with historical accounts of certain individuals for my attention level. That being said, every chapter on its own was fascinating and a complete 180 from what I perceived sleep as being throughout the ages and into modern times. Really makes you reevaluate why we sleep the way we sleep and what is the "best" way to sleep, if there is one.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Kind of boring and repetitive. To his credit, the author admits he has no answers to give about how we should sleep: what results is a meandering and circular recounting of the modern history of sleep. His account is a bit biased, with lots of anecdotal evidence given. What results is a book with no great insights that I found myself actively working to continue reading. Also this guy freaking loves Henry David Thoreau; you'll get the dude's whole biography when you buy this book--twice.

[Viewpoints Radio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sleep used to be natural, governed by darkness, light, and fatigue. Now it’s highly processed and scheduled. We speak with Bejamin Reiss as he discusses his research on the ways this has led to a poorer night’s sleep. Listen here: https://radiohealthjournal.wordpress....

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I admittedly could have done without the technology shaming ‘damn teens always on their phones’ in the last chapter mainly because it broke the guise of a well researched thoughtful piece and briefly turned the narrative into an old man grouching about the youth. Nevertheless, an extremely interesting book.

[Mike Stolfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly enough, the author doesn't seem to have a strong agenda here, more a descriptive history of the subject which makes perfect sense seeing as how much time was spent with Mr. Thoreau.
It was O.K.

[Harvin Bedenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting topic, but the discourse became redundant over time. There was general talk of non-Western/less-developed nations sleeping differently but not many deep dives. I also found the connection between Walden and the topic tenuous.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deftly weaving literature with science, Reiss takes an in depth look at our culture's past and present structure and attitudes about how, when and why we sleep.

[Larae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I scanned some of this I found the book and information it provided fascinating.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay exploration into the science of sleep, with an emphasis on our historical sleep patterns.

[lixy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging socio-cultural survey of sleep through the ages and in literature.

[zeynep · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was like...interesting sometimes but rather repetitive and some of its insights felt...basic/juvenile ? like when he was using the Kanye - famous mv to make a point it felt so silly

[Maera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every chapter reminded me of my English lit term papers in which I wrote maybe a page of substance and ten pages of bullshit to hit my word count requirements.

[Vickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a little dry at times, but basically a good read on a topic we all share