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The Night People
Book by Jack finney
215 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1977
1 person is currently reading
233 people want to read
About the author
Jack Finney
118 books478 followersMr. Finney specialized in thrillers and works of science fiction. Two of his novels, The Body Snatchers and Good Neighbor Sam became the basis of popular films, but it was Time and Again (1970) that won him a devoted following. The novel, about an advertising artist who travels back to the New York of the 1880s, quickly became a cult favorite, beloved especially by New Yorkers for its rich, painstakingly researched descriptions of life in the city more than a century ago.
Mr. Finney, whose original name was Walter Braden Finney, was born in Milwaukee and attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. After moving to New York and working in the advertising industry, he began writing stories for popular magazines like Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post and McCall's.
His first novel, Five Against the House (1954), told the story of five college students who plot to rob a casino in Reno. A year later he published The Body Snatchers (later reissued as Invasion of the Body Snatchers), a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans whom they have taken over. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold-war allegory that dramatized America's fear of a takeover by Communists. Mr. Finney maintained that the novel was nothing more than popular entertainment. The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice.
Mr. Finney first showed an interest in time travel in the short-story collection The Third Level, which included stories about a commuter who discovers a train that runs between New York and the year 1894, and a man who rebuilds an old car and finds himself transported back to the 1920s.
He returned to the thriller genre in Assault on a Queen (1959) and tried his hand at comedy in Good Neighbor Sam (1963), a novel based on his experiences as an adman, played by Jack Lemmon in the film version.
In The Woodrow Wilson Dime (1968), Mr. Finney once again explored the possibilities of time travel. The dime of the title allows the novel's hero to enter a parallel world in which he achieves fame by composing the musicals of Oscar Hammerstein and inventing the zipper.
With Time and Again, Mr. Finney won the kind of critical praise and attention not normally accorded to genre fiction. Thomas Lask, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, described it, suggestively, as "a blend of science fiction, nostalgia, mystery and acid commentary on super-government and its helots." Its hero, Si Morley, is a frustrated advertising artist who jumps at the chance to take part in a secret project that promises to change his life. So it does. He travels back to New York in 1882, moves into the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West and experiences the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age: its trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, elevated lines, and gaslights. This year Mr. Finney published a sequel to the novel, From Time to Time.
Mr. Finney also wrote Marion's Wall (1973), about a silent-film actress who, in an attempt to revive her film career, enters the body of a shy woman, and The Night People (1977). His other fictional works include The House of Numbers (1957) and the short-story collection I Love Galesburg in the Springtime (1963). He also wrote Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories (1983) about sensational events of the 19th century.
Mr. Finney, whose original name was Walter Braden Finney, was born in Milwaukee and attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. After moving to New York and working in the advertising industry, he began writing stories for popular magazines like Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post and McCall's.
His first novel, Five Against the House (1954), told the story of five college students who plot to rob a casino in Reno. A year later he published The Body Snatchers (later reissued as Invasion of the Body Snatchers), a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans whom they have taken over. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold-war allegory that dramatized America's fear of a takeover by Communists. Mr. Finney maintained that the novel was nothing more than popular entertainment. The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice.
Mr. Finney first showed an interest in time travel in the short-story collection The Third Level, which included stories about a commuter who discovers a train that runs between New York and the year 1894, and a man who rebuilds an old car and finds himself transported back to the 1920s.
He returned to the thriller genre in Assault on a Queen (1959) and tried his hand at comedy in Good Neighbor Sam (1963), a novel based on his experiences as an adman, played by Jack Lemmon in the film version.
In The Woodrow Wilson Dime (1968), Mr. Finney once again explored the possibilities of time travel. The dime of the title allows the novel's hero to enter a parallel world in which he achieves fame by composing the musicals of Oscar Hammerstein and inventing the zipper.
With Time and Again, Mr. Finney won the kind of critical praise and attention not normally accorded to genre fiction. Thomas Lask, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, described it, suggestively, as "a blend of science fiction, nostalgia, mystery and acid commentary on super-government and its helots." Its hero, Si Morley, is a frustrated advertising artist who jumps at the chance to take part in a secret project that promises to change his life. So it does. He travels back to New York in 1882, moves into the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West and experiences the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age: its trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, elevated lines, and gaslights. This year Mr. Finney published a sequel to the novel, From Time to Time.
Mr. Finney also wrote Marion's Wall (1973), about a silent-film actress who, in an attempt to revive her film career, enters the body of a shy woman, and The Night People (1977). His other fictional works include The House of Numbers (1957) and the short-story collection I Love Galesburg in the Springtime (1963). He also wrote Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories (1983) about sensational events of the 19th century.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 12, 2010
Great book for lousy sleepers. Read this a long time ago, but it really stuck with me. It's an adventure story about two couples who live in the suburbs of San Francisco and decide to start taking walks in the middle of the night. They have adventures that get wilder and wilder, although nothing mean-spirited. It's a book about boredom, and about looking at things in new ways. Light-hearted, but genuinely fun. It reminded me of when I was a kid and would walk out in my back yard in the middle of the night, just to see what the sky looked like at 3 a.m.
June 8, 2013
The book starts out with some excitement, however, there is little substance that follows. There is well developed characters however there is no real motive for anything that ensues. In reading other reviews, perhaps this is how books were written in the time, which is why I will give it the benefit of the doubt.
June 12, 2014
Read my review on my book blog: http://quirkyreader.livejournal.com/3...
April 28, 2020
Found the story about two mischievous couples too long, dull at times, and completely implausible. The first half of the book meanders along with some relatively high points, barely enough to keep my attention. The story picks up toward the end but the long, drawn out climax just wasn't as rewarding as I hoped it would be.
After just finishing "Marion's Wall", this was a letdown.
After just finishing "Marion's Wall", this was a letdown.
July 1, 2024
I enjoyed it, but not a Finney favorite for me. The story Develops well IMHO, but doesn’t quite deliver. The story follows the exploits of two couples as they seize the moment and experience, as well engage the world like some of us, may have only gleamed in our fantasies.
May 6, 2019
Finney is one of my most favorite novelists, for clever and crazy plots and occasional gleams of brilliance in his writing. The Night People is not great literature but it is great fun.
June 19, 2019
exciting, significant
March 3, 2021
Boring! Too long by about 50 pages. I didn't enjoy it at all!
August 6, 2022
I've loved everything else I've read by Jack Finney. I was very disappointed with this one.
July 18, 2014
Unfortunately, I don't have many positive things to say about this book, since it's one of the worst that I've plowed through in a long time. It's not a new book, but really manages to feel extremely dated. Not just in the references and surroundings, but even the overall lameness of the characters and their dialogue.
The main four characters do have personality, but it's irrational and inconsistent from scene to scene. I don't feel like I really understood any of them. The plot of experiencing the world late at night is interesting, but was not well-explored in this novel (try Richard Laymon's "A Night in the Lonesome October" for proper treatment of that concept). Finally, the climax was over the top, unrealistic and even worse: just corny.
I don't like giving negative reviews, but if you thought this book was unfulfilling, hard to complete and generally lame, you are not alone. If these are the types of people that are out at night, I'll take solace that I'm sleeping.
The main four characters do have personality, but it's irrational and inconsistent from scene to scene. I don't feel like I really understood any of them. The plot of experiencing the world late at night is interesting, but was not well-explored in this novel (try Richard Laymon's "A Night in the Lonesome October" for proper treatment of that concept). Finally, the climax was over the top, unrealistic and even worse: just corny.
I don't like giving negative reviews, but if you thought this book was unfulfilling, hard to complete and generally lame, you are not alone. If these are the types of people that are out at night, I'll take solace that I'm sleeping.
February 14, 2017
Not his best. I'm not truly sure what he was going for with this one. Still good Finney. I think I had hoped/expected something else.
June 12, 2013
This book was interesting and a nice quick read. Seems like these people in the story were quite bored with life and looked for various ways to spice up their lives. It was a less drastic measure psychologically than wife-swapping/key parties which were popular in the time the book was written, but alas a more dangerous one in the physical aspect because of their brushes with the law. I found it a nice thought provoking book that makes one ponder what will one do to escape the boredom of everyday life. It seemed like this group of people never really grew out of their immature teenage attitudes in a sense.
November 21, 2012
about 2/3 great- starts out a little edgy but ends up as a comedy.
February 14, 2013
clearly written as a movie. One of thse sad pointless ones that were so popular in the late sixties. For me the don't hold up, and neither does this.
February 20, 2015
A fun read.
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November 12, 2016Loved this story, my mother told me to read it years ago. It made me want to do what they did, on a warm summer night.
April 2, 2024
The concept is brilliant and the execution flawless. A perfectly wonderful and quite original novel. Also extremely Bay Area!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews