Acquainted with the Night: Excursions Through the World After Dark

by Christopher Dewdney

In twelve chapters corresponding to the twelve hours of night, Christopher Dewdney illuminates night's central themes, including sunsets, nocturnal animals, bedtime stories, festivals of the night, fireworks, astronomy, nightclubs, sleep and dreams, the graveyard shift, the art of darkness, and endless nights. With infections curiosity, a lyrical, intimate tone, and an eye for nighttime beauties both natural and man-made, he paints a captivating portrait of our hours in darkness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Essays, History, Art, Mythology, Philosophy

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2004

About the author

Christopher Dewdney has served as writer-in-residence at Trent, Western, and York universities. Featured in Ron Mann’s film Poetry in Motion with William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Michael Ondaatje, and Tom Waits, Dewdney has presented his groundbreaking poetics across North America and Europe.

Reviews

[Ramzzi · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Tonight, I can write the saddest lines.”
—Pablo Neruda

Acquainted with the Night: Excursions Through the World After Dark is the book that took me the longest time to read. Christopher Dewdney is to be commended for his efforts. As a trove of history, mythologies, the art and the science of the night—it is also a romantic homage to light and darkness after the day. However, this ambitious work of his covered only most of the western knowledge and enthusiasm when the clock begins at 6 PM. There were so many unsung cultures from various countries, particularly the Southeast Asian region. Although he exerted his best to reach the depths of darkness in Japan, India, Indonesia and others—it was still a partial research that made it a typical generic reference book, usually published by the American and Anglo-Saxon capitalist-institutions. Imagine if he inserted the Filipino and Vietnamese practices in farming and fishery in the night, where as early as 3 o’ clock in the morning, the farmers and the fishermen already hit the fields, be it soil or sea for them to plow and spread their nets while the stars above watch. Dewdney then is sub-par—an elite intellectual, that is contained in the glamour and the grim of elite western tradition and modernism.

As a poet, Dewdney somewhat excelled in procuring the best verses, prose and quotes from the greatest writers and artists. This amazed me for I knew this would render a great help in future writing. However, copying and pasting imagery from the romantics and surrealists pointed out another flaw: Where was one of the Bob Dylan’s finest verses? Where was, “At midnight, all the agents..?” Ignoring the poet-rock and counterculture icon simply implied that Dewdney is truly an elite author, not basing much from popular culture, though again, he tried to. From one of the films that cemented a unique style, the style of Tim Burton’s visions and an impeccable portrayal of Jack Nicholson as the Joker, this line could summarize Dewdney’s best shot in being cosmic:

“Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?”

[Diogenes Grief · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Whenever we look into the night sky, we look back in time, back towards the beginning of the universe."

First off, I'd like to say that this is a truly enjoyable read, one that ended with this reader feeling childlike, resting on a grassy hill free of bugs, the celestial tapestry of the night sky wheeling above, eyes wide with wonderment.

I call these types of works "umbrella books." By that I mean the author takes an abstract concept (e.g., night, the ocean, war, love, etc.) and then creates a cornucopic encyclopedia of everything that can be crammed beneath the umbrella. In this case, Dewdney does a fantastic job of it. It cannot be called "in-depth" to any degree (I mean the entire history of "dream interpretation" is summarized in 18 digital pages), but what it does is sprinkle the faerie dust of multicultural knowledge, wisdom, and wonder throughout at such a pleasant pace that one hardly notices the lapsing of time in the real world. If one has this as a physical book, I'd say it's a keeper.

[Eye of Sauron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book accidentally, and I was pleasantly surprised. This poetic nonfiction work is more contemplative than explanatory, and Dewdney infuses each thematic chapter with enough poetry and beauty to lend any subject an air of sublimity. Acquainted with the Night is divided into twelve chapters, each one roughly corresponding to an hour of the night and containing its own theme, ranging from stars to mythology to the creatures of the night. Every aspect of the night is thoughtfully turned over and presented in a fashion that omits some clarity and substantial research in favor of poetic prose, and I can't say I'm disappointed.

If you're looking for a textbook, or a book to give you detailed information on a particular subject for a research project, look elsewhere. If you're just the right kind of person who would read a book like this for no other reason than a sense of wondrous curiosity, this book is written for you.

[Olivia Mitas · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75* I’ve been attempting to expand my reading into more non fiction. This was so boring though SO VERY BORING. I think about 3 chapters out of 14 had me hooked.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a fluke find in the $2 bin at a local bookstore, readers will understand when I say “it found me”. Who knew? The night, it harbours our fears, exposes our weaknesses but the darkness is a pivotal key to our health and the health of our planet. Unearth a primal sense that is weakening as our nights become artificially brightened. It was a fantastic ride getting “Acquainted with the Night".

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An elegantly written, fascinating journey through the nocturnal realm exploring such themes as sunsets, nocturnal animals, bedtime stories, festivals of the night, fireworks, nightclubs, astronomy, sleep and dreams, and insomnia through art, history, literature, mythology, science, and more.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as I'd hoped — full of incompletely digested research.
'At Day's Close' is much better.

[Luann]

This book awed me, educated me, and brought me back to my childhood laying in the yard gazing at stars. A wonderful read and a book that I would recommend.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dewdney proposes to examine experience with night through a collection of essays corresponding to the typical 12 hours of the night. What results however is a disjointed patchwork of elements and style. The transitions among prose, block quotes, and occasional poetry are without proper structural linkages and, as a result, are jarring. In the stargazing chapter he poorly outlines the stargazing experience and then goes on a recap of Greek mythology for a while before returning to stargazing.

The content is variable in depth to an extent that his research into each aspect he describes appears inconsistent. Some key aspects like his explanation of civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight fall short of the needs of this book. Twilight is an interesting subject, yet he glosses over it in a manner that is not entirely accurate or representative of the historical origins of each type.

I came to this book out of an interest in the night as an avid amateur astronomer. When we arrive in that chapter, Dewdney provides a surprisingly ignorant and short description of the experience of stargazers and astronomy in general. He claims that the movie Beatlejuice "featured the star Betelgeuse" (it did not). He even assigns it to Orion's right shoulder which only makes sense if we assume Orion the person is facing us. He claims the southern cross cannot be seen from the northern hemisphere (It can be seen anywhere below 25 degrees N, including Florida and southern TX), and he refers to Venus as the evening star (it is the evening and morning star depending on where it is in its orbit).

While the technical accuracy and varying depth are an annoyance, the disjointedness made this a single star.

I'm still looking for better options on the subject.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars would be closer to it.

Acquainted with the Night is everything its subtitle implies. There's not much to be said about how night happens, it's clear night slips in as the earth rotates, and then slips out again, but even that gives the lie to night "fall," and was interesting in itself. There's more - the categories of night determined by navigational starlight, qualities of night by geographical consideration, but the meat of the book is what happens at night, and what happens in darkness. Mr. Dewdney examines every hour of the night according to the activities that generally take place, and then he takes a dive into the history of those activities. e.g., bordellos are most often visited at night, well here's a history of bordellos; UFO's are most often seen at night, here's a bit on UFO's; darkness has its creatures, and here's a bit on the qualities of darkness, where darkness lies, and what inhabits the darkness. For all this and more Acquainted with the Night is a good read. I'm putting it on the shelf right next to Dawn Awakening by Diane Ackerman - they make good companions.

[Sherry Seymour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dewdney has curated our relationship with night and all its magic. Each chapter is an homage to art and science. Awake your senses and read it. Search online for some of the references he makes to appreciate it even more. You may find deeper understanding in the familiar!

[Shaoola · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you read and flip through the pages of this book, you do feel more acquainted with the night more familiar with it and more intrigued in the world after daylight.

[Nancy Pitre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t quite know what to expect from this book. Stimulates looking at night in a whole different light ( pun intended).

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this interested me more than others, but the language was always beautiful

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half Poetry half prose this enchanting book takes the reader through the full cycle of night and provides many points to ponder and reflect on.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has now become my favorite book about the night.

I liked this book better than “At Day’s Close” by A. Roger Ekirch, which was more of a scholarly examination of a very specific subject: how night was experienced before electric lighting. That book was interesting, but in a dry, factual way.

“Acquainted with the Night" is chock-full of facts, too, but covers a broader range of night-related themes. These themes include such things as sunsets, constellations, dreams, insomnia, bedtime stories, nightclubs, even a visit to a sleep clinic.

These subjects are covered in 12 chapters – one for each of the 12 hours of the night -- and are written in a very engaging, readable voice. The author is also a poet, which probably accounts for his writing style, and he intersperses night-related snippets of poetry into the book.

This book does contain one curious error, however. In the chapter entitled “The Art of Darkness” in which the author describes various famous paintings that depict night, he says about Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks: “Outside, on the sidewalk in front of the windows, an anonymous man walks by, bathed in the green light flooding from the diner.”

Either Mr. Dewdney has never seen the painting and was repeating an erroneous description he was given, or he was looking at a bad reproduction of it.

I live in Chicago, where the original Nighthawks hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago: There is no man walking by outside the diner in Nighthawks. All four characters in the painting are inside the diner. I’m surprised that this mistake wasn’t caught by the editors, and that no one else seems to have noticed it.

In spite of this error about one of my favorite works of art, I can’t hold it against Mr. Dewdney when he has also portrayed the various aspects of night so evocatively. It’s still worth reading.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that is not easily classified. I found it in the science section of my favorite used bookstore (and there is a lot of information in this book about subjects typically associated with science--the animal kingdom, the stars, circadian rhythms...) but the book could as easily have been shelved in the poetry section--not only because of some of the other topics in the book (romantic poetry, fireworks, dreaming) but also because of the lyrical and vividly imagistic style of the writing.

A very informative book, and a great reading experience--I think few reading Dewdney's book will feel that their time was wasted.

Acquired Sept 22, 2008
Powell's City of Books, Portland, OR

[Mickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is arranged in "hours" of the night, starting with 6 PM and ending at 5 AM. Within each hour, there's a focus on one part of night, such as night creatures, dreams, stars, children's view of night and children's night literature, ancient and modern night celebrations, deep sea creature, etc, etc. Each section is informative and entertaining. The subjects were obviously well-researched as well as Dewdney taking the time to arrange the pieces into a cohesive whole.

What makes this collection so amazing is the deep lyricism that Dewdney brings to the material. He reminds me a lot of Annie Dillard, although without the deeply mystical bent she has. There were several passages that were truly, achingly beautiful.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there was ever a book to page through when you're stuck on a red-eye flight and you simply cannot sleep, this is it.

Moving hour by hour through an "ideal night," Dewdney rambles and meanders through a wide range of topics. The book never goes terribly deep into any particular subject, but the point here is breadth not depth. Rather than read it cover-to-cover, you can pick and choose your way through it, and you're bound to find something that will draw you in: the animal world, nocturnal festivals, fairy tales, dreams, fireworks, ghosts, astronomy, and many other things, including insomnia. A fun and entertaining read for night owls.

[Amanda Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hard to classify, but the writing is almost like poetry. Dewdney breaks down an imagined "ideal night" into 12 hours from 6 PM to 6 AM. He begins each hour with a lyrical description of what night is like at that hour in a city, a suburb and the countryside. Then he delves into something about the nighttime for the rest of the chapter. He discusses our fears of the night, why we sometimes suffer from insomnia, creativity at night, nocturnal animals... For those of us like myself who find themselves often struggling to fall asleep, or who find they are most creative and inspired at night, this book is a pleasure to read.

[Phillip Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the process of describing the physics of sunset, Christopher Dewdney, in his meditation on all things nocturnal Acquainted with the Night, tells of a group of friends, nature lovers, peace seekers, poets, and fellow scholars who gathers to watch the sunset each evening in Toronto. And although he explains both the science and mystery of that planetary spectacle, he talks too about the healthy reasons he looks west with friends each night.

- from http://nicomachus.net/2007/01/the-out...

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acquainted With The Night is an amazing book that chronicles the twelve hours of the night. Seemingly disparate topics such as science, art, history, philosophy, fireworks, astronomy, psychology, bed time stories, nocturnal animals and dreams are woven together to create a fascinating look at a time when most people are asleep. Not just for night owls, Acquainted With The Night is for anyone looking for a book that balances scientific facts with lyrically wrought sentences that allude to Dewdney's background as a poet. Highly recommended!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful, imaginative and meaningful book to read. It is along the same lines as "Oranges" by McPhee, or other books of that nature. I found his scope impressive - he took on so many aspects of night - mythology, lighting, dreams, sleep, lightning bugs, prostitution, and so on. Yet - it all tied together in a really natural way. I read this book every night before bed and was sorry when it ended.

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. In fact, I'm eager to start reading it again from the beginning. Poet Christopher Dewdney breaks the night apart into hours, the better to examine, well, everything from the stars above to night in art to creatures who live in caves or the abyss under the sea. The book is reminiscent of A Natural History of the Senses, without the manic jumping from topic to topic. Dewdney's writing is clear, descriptive, lovely, and everything to which I aspire.

[Elijah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical, literary and poetic elements were well done. However, I was sometimes left with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth due to some pop psychology and pseudoscience elements in a few of the chapters (such as some unsubstantiated junk on dream interpretation and the occasional expounding of outdated Freudian theory as 'modern psychology', among other things). Other than that, an enjoyable read.

[Cor Heuvel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this a while back. While the first half, or maybe two/thirds, was a fascinating recreation of aspects of experience with different periods of the night, especially with nature and natural events at those times, the last part of the book got bogged down, I felt, with too many intellectual, and scientific details that were hard to relate to. Since I can't give five stars to just the first 2/3ds of the book (which it deserves!), I'll just give the whole book 3 stars.

[Carol Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fascinating. The author explores "night" hour by hour, from sunset to sunrise. In the 300 or so pages of the book he discusses everything from astronomy to zoology, from acetylcholine to Zoroastrian festivals. And of top of that, it is beautifully written and a pleasure to read. "The night sky is a window into an incredible, dizzying abyss that drops away in every direction we look." You will come away from reading this with new perspectives on the dark hours!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to relieve my fear of the dark. (Yes, I was a grown woman afraid of the dark! I blame it on my older brother, who taunted me as a child!). It worked. Dewdney shares facts and myths about night. He even delves into the nature of twilight and the scientific evidence related to the 3AM hour, among other things.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book about the twelve hours of night, hour by hour. Nocturnal animals, bedtime stories, vampires/ghosts, stars, myths, insomnia, sleep rhythms, etc. Very interesting to learn more about the "other half" of life. I was also glad to re-learn why sunsets and twilight get longer closer to the poles, and why at the equator the sun drops out of the sky and it's almost immediately dark.

[Carolyn Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was enthralled with the first part of this book where he deals with the science and culture of night, the mythology and psychology and physiology. Toward the end, however, during the discussion of paintings that captured and were influenced by night, my interest flagged. Still, I recommend it for anyone fascinated by the dark hours.