Nightshift NYC

by Russell Leigh Sharman, Cheryl Harris Sharman, Corey Hayes (Photographer)

New York is the city that never sleeps. This luminous book peels back the cover of darkness over the city as it hums along in the night, revealing a hidden world populated by the thousands of women and men who work and live the nightshift. Written with beauty and grace, Nightshift NYC weaves together cultural critique, vivid reportage, and arresting photographs to trace the inverted logic of the city at night. Russell Leigh Sharman and Cheryl Harris Sharman spent a year interviewing and shadowing fry cooks and coffee jockeys, train conductors, cab hacks, and dozens of others who keep the city running when the sun goes down. Investigating familiar places such diners and delis, they explore some less familiar ones as well―taking us on a walking tour of homelessness in Manhattan, onto a fishing boat out of Brooklyn, and into other little-known corners of the night. Traveling past the threshold of voyeurism into the lives of real people, they depict a social space entirely apart―one that is highly structured and inherently subversive. Together, these stories open a compelling view on contemporary urban life and, along the way, reveal the soul of the city itself.

Genres: Nonfiction, New York

270 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Cheryl Harris Sharman, MA, is a writer and researcher whose ethnographic and investigative writing on social inequalities health, housing, homelessness, poverty, race/ethnicity, gender, and labor has been published in the US, UK, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Her work has appeared in publications such as Scientific American Online, the Lancet, the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, Central America's the Tico Times, policy briefs, anthologies, and textbooks. She has also worked as an editor, senior interviewer for a federally-funded research study, nonprofit president and treasurer, temp, receptionist, bookstore manager, babysitter/housecleaner, aerobics instructor, and waitress."

Reviews

[Danya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book clarified, from the workers' point of view, the costs and the benefits of third shift - and the diverse circumstances that draw/force New Yorkers to work them. I wish the authors had moved beyond healthcare, diner, doorman, and taxi/transportation professions. I know many New Yorkers who work security, shipping and receiving, retail, clerical, phone service/operator, etc. positions overnight, and the book would have benefitted from a more thorough coverage of New York's diverse sectprs.

[Randal · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as it goes, this is a fascinating book. As noted in the introduction, some organizations (NYPD, notably) would not cooperate.
So there's no cops in the book; no firefighters. No sex workers, although cops and emergency responders in general and sex workers are frequently mentioned. The effects of booze are mentioned but there's no bartenders / servers from the late-night clubs.
Those voices are missing; they've done a great job interviewing and presenting the voices that are in the book. Good read.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite simply, these are the stories of people who work the night shift in the New York City area. Most of the stories are really interesting and inspirational. Each worker has a different story, different reasons for working at night, and different coping strategies. Even so, there are similarities among all of these hardy individuals. Lack of sleep seems to be the largest theme. Reading this book will make you appreciate people who alter their natural body rhythms to work at night, either willingly or unwillingly. And in no other city than New York could so many people work such a shift.

[Masked · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was fortunate enough to see these folks in a coffee house just down the street from my home. they tell a good story and can talk to (and about) just about anybody. the photos are lovely and you come away from the book feeling like you spent some time with lou reed back in the day. this is a good thing.

[Brokenshoelace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess it is only fitting that I am reviewing this book past midnight on a weekday. Great book. I love NYC. I loved working nightshifts in my youth. Never got to put the two together. I do miss the experiences of nightshift work. It is indeed a different world than the dayshift. This book brings back the memories of that those time for me. Very insightful and right on the mark.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to return the copy I was reading to the library before I had finished with it, but I loved loved loved it and gave a copy to Jane for Christmas, so I hope I can go back to read the rest!
13/49 in 2008

[Sayer Addington]

A very informative, narrative about personal and factual stories
Based through NYC, which limits the perspective but I believe that it encompasses the main theories and situations understood through the book.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book about the people who work and live at night. It was part history of New York City and part anthropological study, and reminded me of working the swing shift as a cashier.

[Julie]

Nightshift NYC by Russell Leigh Sharman (2008)

[JulieK · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book, but found myself getting bored - maybe just too many stories that were too similar?

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at life at night in NYC - diner, ferry, subway, and hospital employees as well as a chapter on homelessness.

[Mab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting, creepy . . .

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but a little redundant. Fascinating topic but profiles not in depth enough.

[Shannon Haragan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply wonderful! Fascinating, engaging, illuminating. A must-read!