Saturday Night

by Susan Orlean

A close-up look at what Americans do on Saturday nights draws on travels throughout the country to describe classic weekend situations, types of people, places and communities, entertainment patterns, and other topics

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Journalism, History, Travel, American

258 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

I'm the product of a happy and uneventful childhood in the suburbs of Cleveland, followed by a happy and pretty eventful four years as a student at University of Michigan. From there, I wandered to the West Coast, landing in Portland, Oregon, where I managed (somehow) to get a job as a writer. This had been my dream, of course, but I had no experience and no credentials. What I did have, in spades, was an abiding passion for storytelling and sentence-making. I fell in love with the experience of writing, and I've never stopped. From Portland, I moved to Boston, where I wrote for the Phoenix and the Globe, and then to New York, where I began writing for magazines, and, in 1987, published my first piece in The New Yorker. I've been a staff writer there since 1992.

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for women’s bingo 2020

I think for all of us, Saturday night is about to become like any other night of the week if we let it. This might be my last review for awhile. I can barely focus on reading much less writing reviews. Perhaps as I settle into my new normal, that will change but for now, I will be offering small snippets rather than lengthy reviews. It is what it is. Thirty years ago Orlean set out to find what differentiates Saturday night from all other nights of the week. Although the book is dated, I was interested in her findings as she traveled the United States to see how Americans spent their Saturday nights. Sadly there was no chapter on attending athletic events but there was one on babysitting albeit short. That one brought back memories so I found it the most amusing to read about. Orlean has evolved into a respected nonfiction writer and I’ve enjoyed her later books which read much better than this debut effort.

[sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea for this book is incredible. The idea is so incredible that the book is entirely mediocre by comparison.

Worth a read, but it took me inexplicably far too long to get through it.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I misjudged this book. It is still my view that it is horribly out-of-date, but the chapters on the Bowery Mission in NYC, and Missile Defense in Wyoming surprised me pleasantly. I find myself referencing it more than I should for a book I find irrelevant, like when Saturday Night Live airs, or when I see city apartments with large dining rooms. This book does have some timeless observations, worth finding as you snicker through "the new advent of videocassette recorders" and the "LA mod scene."

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Turns out I wasn't as surprised as I thought I'd be by the way regular folks spend their Saturday nights. Maybe if I was sheltered by academia or life in a huge metro are this would've been more of a revelation :-)

[La Central · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Podríamos coincidir en que el sábado noche es una de las mejores noches de la semana, tanto por el descanso anhelado como por lo que prometen. Los sábados noche nos reunimos de una forma u otra, por la diversión, para emborracharnos, bailar o dormir, incluso la mayoría de los crímenes violentos se producen durante esa noche. En general convenimos en que el sábado por la noche es nuestro “tiempo mágico” y que la mayoría de las experiencias más reveladoras de nuestras vidas se producirán en ese lapso temporal.

En el año 1990, la autora de El ladrón de orquídeas o La Biblioteca en Llamas, Susan Orlean publicó Saturday Night, una exploración antropológica por los sábados noche en los Estados Unidos. Mediante entrevistas y una exhaustiva observación la autora despliega una antología vertebrada por dieciséis voces: fanáticos de los coches, bailarines o adolescentes adinerados. Treinta años más tarde, nos llega Sábado Noche (Temas de Hoy), como un estudio curioso al que se le puede añadir un valor temporal. Además de representar a una sociedad americana con características propias que distan del gusto europeo, representa una sociedad que en cierta manera se ve obligada a salir, puesto que todavía no tiene la posibilidad de quedarse en casa y seguir conectado con el prójimo. Susan Orlean traza un curioso viaje recopilando testimonios de entretenimientos que están por desaparecer y con los que podemos identificarnos." Anna Aguiló

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing idea for a book, but pretty mid execution. The diversity of people, communities, and activities that Orleans covers was pretty fun. (And the now outdated takes from 1990.)

But I kinda felt like she described all of it with a low key sarcastic and distant tone... Which is interesting, because I found this book via (How To With) John Wilson, who cited this book as an inspiration for his show, where he films normal people living normal lives. That’s one of my all time favorite shows, in large part because of how he captures his subjects with a much more empathetic, honest and non-judgmental lens.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

After four years of reading this lovely book exclusively on Saturday nights when I had nothing better to do, I'm finished! While it was published nearly 30 years ago, the frank humanity of a Saturday night still rings true today. I'm grateful for this book, and I highly recommend you spend a Saturday night reading it.

[Rika Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people spend their Satuday nights at a polka dancing place. Many people like to shop it up in Los Angeles. Others just like to simply kick back and watch some television. But the best way by far to spend a Saturday night is to read Saturday Night, by Susan Orlean.
Saturday Night, simply put, is the perfect combination of information and humor, each when on its own doesn't account for being Saturday Night worthy. In this book, Orlean elaborates on her experiences of stalking people as they go about their business on Saturday nights. Well, more than that. Built around the motif of "the next day," Orlean describes the very different Saturday nights of people across the United States, but how they all do it for similar reasons.
The beautiful thing about Saturday Night is that it is about real people – real people doing real things, whether it is quirky or not. Orlean also goes out of her way to find the most intriguing Saturday Night activities. The vivid details and dialogues bring life to each of the chapters.
Orlean also uses the style of her writing to add to the pleasure of the book. She is humorous and often spaces her ideas out, making the book more enjoyable and thought provoking at the same time.
How do the lives of a middle aged polka dancer, a Hispanic girl's debut into society, and college undergrad busses interconnect? What do work shifts, murders, and automatic teller machines have in common? Satuday Night explores the diverse cultures and entertainment in America, and also even gives a feeling of the craziness of it all.
Saturday Night is truly admirable book for Orlean's sense of humor and eye opening experiences. The relatable (or sometimes not so much) topics addressed in this book will continue to captivate the Saturday Nights of all.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Orlean's Saturday Night is one of my favorite works of creative non-fiction ever. She travels all around the country to find out what various eclectic groups of people in radically different locations are doing for fun, or attempts at fun, on Saturday night. The staff of a nuclear reactor, dieters at the Pritikin Institute venturing out into the dangerous outside world of food, young students at Princeton who all have incredibly high expectations for what their futures have in store for them.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason, I just didn't connect deeply with this book. I attribute it mostly to a mild dislike of the characters, as I did appreciate the historical aspect of the story.

[Heather Bushman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best editor I’ve ever had also gave me the best piece of journalism advice I’ve ever heard - some stories are just worth telling. Nothing so wonderfully encapsulates that idea like this book.

Every day I’m less convinced that being a journalist serves anybody or makes any kind of real-world impact, and being a culture journalist in particular feels like writing into the void. Who’s reading this stuff anyway? What’s the point? But here come lovely, endearing chapters full of that point: some stories - especially the stories that reveal some intimate universal truth about us - are just worth telling.

From cruising nights in small-town Indiana to cover band sets in Portland to church dances in Houston (the best chapter in the whole thing, if you ask me), everyone is simply looking for something to do an people to do it with. That’s the point of everything. It’s theme so persistent that the 40-plus years between this book’s publication and my reading of it feel nonexistent. That Susan Orlean is a masterful writer with a real knack for taking ordinary occurrences and phrasing them with incredible color and wit is just the icing on the whole thing.

This is an instant favorite that brought me so much joy in, candidly, a pretty strange transitory period for me career-wise. I got really close with my coworkers at my last job, and this book was actually a parting gift from one of the elder statesmen in the newsroom who always took the time to check in and start a great conversation. He couldn’t have picked a more perfect present. Working in media can suck, but we’re still here, we still got it. And, to me, there’s no story that’s more worthy than one that reveals how we choose to spend our time.

(Also there are approximately a thousand phrases and stylistic choices from this that I’m stealing for my own stuff. Happy I decided to take my time and mark this up.)

[Linsey Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever begrudgingly gotten ready to go out on a Saturday night, then wound up one of the last ones lingering at the party, spending the night on a sofa, or piling into someone's ride and heading to a 24 hour diner just to keep the good vibes going, you know what it's like to read "Saturday Night." Because it's a series of essays, I never felt eager to dive back in, but I committed to reading it cover to cover and am so glad I did. Thanks to "Zydeco" I'll never again have to make up words as I sing along (however badly) to Paul Simon's "That Was Your Mother." Whew! "Sitting" and "Missileering" put me in touch with my younger self and my late father, respectively, and the afterward was a beautiful goodbye to an era I did a little living in but don't really remember. At times quirky to the point of being tedious (like applying winged eyeliner symmetrically), "Saturday Night" is a worthwhile 0.5K. You'll feel like you went on a two week tour of yesteryear with Orlean as your private guide, and earning an understanding of her poinant 2011 reflections feels like reminiscing on summer camp with a dear old friend, knowing things will never be the same again, but celebrating that you took the ride together just in time.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I wasn't in the tenth month of quarantine due to the Covid virus, then I might not have enjoyed hearing about the good old days of 30 years ago. As it is all the normal activities of Saturday night that she writes about are not allowed as we shelter in place. During healthier times she observed the following: cruising, riding, debuting, lounging, polka dancing, scene making, killing, dining, dieting, hostessing, praying, socializing, watching television, sitting, & missileering.

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because John Wilson, of How To with John Wilson, said it was his favorite Susan Orlean book, and after reading I can see why. It has that same open-eyed curiosity that manages to be funny without being overly snarky or judgmental, in situations where it would be easy to be snarky or judgmental. And it's insightful about the pursuit of leisure and 'fun'.

Also, an interesting time capsule. It's something of a supernostalgic pandemic read.

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an entirely original and simple concept for a collection of essays: What customs and rituals do Americans partake in on Saturday? Cruising in Indiana, hosting parties in New York, dieting in Miami, polka dancing in Maryland, being seen/scene in California, quinceaneras in Arizona, etc.

Susan Orlean has a way of making just about anything interesting and is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine, joining the ranks of Joan Didion, Jonathan Safran Foer and Susan Sontag.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it was new, and it's stayed with me all these years. Saturday night can be really lonely, really sad, really fun. It just depends on your definition of all of the above. I wish I hadn't lost this book along the way; I'd love to read it again and see how Saturday nights have changed.

[Madeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saturday Night presents an interesting enough premise that ultimately falls a bit flat. Yes, it's dated.
But as a collection of stories gathered in the late 1980s, it is also a curious little time capsule of American social life before the influence and accessibility of social media and smartphones.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Susan Orlean, but this one was a slog for me (although a characteristically well written slog). Some of the negative reviews of this book complained that it was dated (it was published in 1990), but I found that to be the most interesting part. Tell me more about these new VCRs and video cassette tape rental stores!

[Chris Duray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone told me about this book when I saw the Susan Orlean was writing for How To With John Wilson, and that show is truly the purest possible adaptation of this work.

It's great but I'm desperate for someone to do a follow up with all of these people.

[Steven Yenzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendous! Orlean is such an effortless and engaging writer. I can’t wait to read more by her.

[Valerie Blanton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably all I need to say by way of a review is that I started this book in August 2006 and finished it today.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and memorable look at how we entertain ourselves.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like looking in a time Capsule. The book itself is 30 years out of date and even the afterward is almost 10 years old. But it’s a pleasant look back.

[Sabra Kurth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder, mayhem, throw in som dancing and food—Saturday night across the United States. Lots to see and do—see and be seen.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turns out I just love composite portraits.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a collection of New Yorker articles. Doesn’t really come together into a greater whole. I didn’t learn much from the various chapters, but they’re all well written and enjoyable enough.

[LAUREN LEVY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of surprises

[Jack McDaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still relevant and fun after all these years.

[Cat LaMendola · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did - I ordered it because John Wilson mentioned it in an interview he gave. I think the premise is fun and interesting but several of the chapters fell flat. In some cases this could partly be attributed to the fact that the book is now 32 years old and it's difficult to relate to some of the Saturday night specificities of 1990.

[Anupama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Upon reading the non-fiction writing, one would be surprised that Saturday Night is Susan Orlean’s first book. Orlean brings the readers along on her journey to find out how the American people spend their Saturday nights. Orlean’s deep interest in the subject is seen as the reader progresses through the chapters, realizing that Orlean was strongly devoted to traveling across the United States to truly find out about the Saturday Night culture in the U.S. She writes of many different activities that the American people spend their time on. Each chapter is divided by the different activities, moving from city to city. Her most successful chapters are the ones with real stories in which she presents her findings. Her knack for the art of description is clearly seen through these chapters. Orlean defamiliarizes with skill and paints a clear picture in the reader’s mind. Every description is absolutely unique, because she strays away from the regular, cliché descriptions, using her creativity to articulate descriptions. For example, “The Pritkin Diet eschews fat, salt, and protein…things like fat-marbled twelve-ounce medium-rare sirloins, which combine the forbidden three into an intoxicating but toxic form, are looked upon as edible forms of the devil.” (Orlean, 130) Through her descriptions, Orlean beautifully characterizes each character in her non-fiction text so that the reader really gets a definite feel for what’s happening. Her descriptions are the highlight of the text, especially when juxtaposed by the paragraphs and even chapters which never seem to end. Yes, in this book with the magical descriptions, Orlean successfully bores the reader at many points. Her excellent strength in description is equally horrible in being able to thoroughly bore the reader. There were many a time I wanted to put down the book and go do something else. Orlean uses too much background information when she doesn’t have a strong story to tell her information. She drones on and on by writing these gigantic lists full of wearisome background information, which just drag the story. Background information is definitely necessary so the reader knows what and why something is happening. But making entire chapters with just uninteresting information? Not a good idea. This book is not for the voracious reader looking for something that moves at a fast pace. It’s for those who have an interest in subjects like culture, and are patient enough to plow through the flat moments to see Orlean’s shining moments. It will be interesting if you enjoy reading about other people. It’s really just a long human-interest story, all about how Americans spend their Saturday nights.