By Nightfall
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By Nightfall
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Narrated by:
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Hugh Dancy
About this listen
Peter and Rebecca Harris: mid-forties denizens of Manhattan's SoHo, nearing the apogee of committed careers in the arts—he a dealer, she an editor. With a spacious loft, a college-age daughter in Boston, and lively friends, they are admirable, enviable contemporary urbanites with every reason, it seems, to be happy. Then Rebecca's much younger look-alike brother, Ethan (known in the family as Mizzy, "the mistake"), shows up for a visit. A beautiful, beguiling twenty-three-year-old with a history of drug problems, Mizzy is wayward, at loose ends, looking for direction. And in his presence, Peter finds himself questioning his artists, their work, his career—the entire world he has so carefully constructed.
Like his legendary, Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Hours, Michael Cunningham's masterly new novel is a heartbreaking look at the way we live now. Full of shocks and aftershocks, it makes us think and feel deeply about the uses and meaning of beauty and the place of love in our lives.
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Editorial reviews
In By Nightfall, author Michael Cunningham best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours tells the story of a few days in the life of Peter Harris, a New York art dealer with a decades-long marriage to Rebecca; an emotionally and geographically distant daughter; and a habit of falling, as he puts it, “in love with beauty”. The novel, performed by English actor Hugh Dancy, is packed with the gorgeous prose and thoughtful details that are classic Cunningham and Dancy’s flawless narration is well-paced, emotional, and genuine.
Rebecca’s brother an “oops” baby named Ethan but known as Mizzy (short for “the Mistake”) is the golden child of the family, despite years of drug abuse and repeated, failed attempts to live up to the standards his family sets for him. And when he comes to stay with Peter and Rebecca, he’s also the catalyst for Peter’s re-examining of his entire life, from his first crush on an older girl to his relationship with his late brother. Cunningham nails every detail the small moments between Rebecca and Peter, the fears and insecurities Peter has about his own past, the tiny domestic routines that make up a life and Dancy hits every note: His narration moves effortlessly from Peter’s stream-of-consciousness internal monologue to interactions with other characters without a trace of his own English accent, and he adds a hint of Southern drawl to Mizzy and Rebecca (who grew up below the Mason-Dixon line). A cast of supporting characters including egocentric artists, rich collectors, and fellow dealers gets the same meticulous treatment. Cunningham and Dancy both worked on the movie Evening (alongside Dancy’s wife, Claire Danes, who reportedly asked Cunningham to officiate the couple’s private wedding ceremony in 2009) and their collaboration here is poignant and powerful. Blythe Copeland
Critic reviews
“What is signaled in print through the use of design elements, narrator Hugh Dancy does through voice: A change in inflection, a slight questioning, a hesitation, or an increase in speed alerts the listener to a switch from stream of consciousness to public dialogue, from narrative description to personal conversation. Dancy's reading brings authenticity to Peter's emotional journey, saving it from self-indulgence.” —Audiofile
“Emmy Award nominee Hugh Dancy well captures Peter's melancholy…Cunningham's popularity generally and his exploration of universal middle-class dreams and fears make this a good choice for book clubs” —Library Journal
What listeners say about By Nightfall
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Elli
- 11-21-20
Here for Hugh, surprised by some of the depth
I have issues with it for sure, mainly the fact that the love interest is referred to as a shortened version of 'Mistake' the entire novel made it feel like a fake infatuation of it all. the age gap felt gross and I saw the ending miles away, and I did not sympathize with most of the characters' first-world problems. an amazing performance if not much else.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SayF
- 01-15-16
Great Novel, Great Narration
Would you listen to By Nightfall again? Why?
I loved By Nightfall, and would absolutely read it again. The book captured me very quickly, and surprised me with its eloquence, I've set on to read other books by the author. Hugh Dancy narrates the book wonderfully and was an adage to the experience.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I loved the main character, Peter, but more so was fascinated with the impressions left of his brother, Michael, whom, though long-passed, is a heavy presence in the novel.
Which character – as performed by Hugh Dancy – was your favorite?
Hugh Dancy's embodiment of Peter, the main character and narrator, brought the man into dimension alongside the writer's eloquent depiction. His narration made the character feel real and fluid.
Who was the most memorable character of By Nightfall and why?
Mizzy, the younger brother of Peter's wife, Rebbecca, is the main focus of Peter and by far the most memorable character in By Nightfall, if not the main character. His personality is presented to us flatly at the beginning of the novel, but blossoms throughout into our enchantment as well as Peter's, our obsessions with him growing alongside each other.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Maycie Reid
- 05-13-23
Came for Hugh Dancy, stayed for the storyline
I found this book shortly after I watched a television show featuring Hugh Dancy and wanted to discover more of his content, but wow this book all by itself was fantastic. The ending is so frustrating, it’s an ending you will continue to think about even after you’ve moved on with your life. I was unable to resist listening to the book whenever I had the free time to do so. I had no idea what was going to happen and was constantly eager for the words to fall out of Hugh’s mouth. Truly a fantastic work.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Derek
- 01-04-11
true to form
Astonishing.
Cunningham does it again. His vision for the tiny heartbreaking meaningful details of like is just astonishing. Just like The Hours I am sure I will listen to this over and over.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lucia
- 09-06-15
How to get exquisite poetry just by listening to prose
This is my third Cunningham and probably my least favorite of the 3; and.... I adored it. Which just tells you how fabulously much I liked the other two (the snow queen, the hours). Michael Cunningham is extraordinary and in my view, stands alone as a writer whose prose has the power to take your breath away in the same way that exquisite poetry does . His characters and stories are captivating. Sheer genius.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Atldeuce
- 12-17-20
Good narration, thin story
Great narrator. Story line was thin and predictable. Needed more backstory on the intimacy and aftermath
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Skyler Luttrell
- 02-03-24
Literally the best book.
Michael Cunningham, call me. I just want to talk. I just want to know how you do it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Angie
- 11-09-20
Enjoyed It
Definitely an adult read, but not in the sense that it’s R-Rated, it’s an adult read as both the main characters, the husband and wife are at a transition in their lives. Neither one fully satisfied with the life their leading and have used her younger brother as a crutch. If you enjoy this sort of thing, this is the read. Not at all smutty as Tumblr portrayed it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Saint Nevaeh
- 12-09-24
Unlike anything I've ever read in the best way possible!
I'd like to preface this review by stating I am young. 18 and only now finding myself enthralled with literature as an art and medium. That being said, I've yet to stumble across a book quite like this one. It has a mature quality to it that many my age aren't often to wound up in, leading to books like this one not getting recommended to me often. The style of writing is so much more complex and beautifully expressive than any other book I've read. That is something that captivated me from the start.
I found myself here the same way many of you have— through talk of Hugh Dancy narrorating some scandelous book by an Author I've never heard of. Though this book is much less scandalous as those on the various social media platforms implied, I am far from disappointed. There's something so raw and intriguing about the story being told. It doesn't make itself out to be some grand tale. It's not designed to be prophetic nor mystical in terms of some happy ending with sunshine and rainbows. Its much more level headed... Genuine. And that may just be why I enjoyed it so much. We allways seem to long for a happy ending... sometimes for us to be happy, the ending needs to be a rough one, as demonstrated here in this beautiful work by Michael Cunningham. By the end, you're left with a sense of both longing and well...hopefulness that fills your being. Well at least I was!
I've written very few reviews in the past year that I've been diving deeper into literature itself. I never felt the need to repeat what others have already said, reiterating words that have already been sent off into the web (often times with much more detail and conviction than I could conjure up myself), but here, I feel the strong compulsion to express my opinion of this book. Something about not has captivated and inspired me, a young reader, to delve deeper into literature and step outside of my comfort zone. I hope this book evokes that same sense of inspiration and contentment out of you as well.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- James
- 11-13-10
Beauty is truth? Is that all we need to know?
This beautifully-written story of an art dealer's mid-life, mid-career, mid-marriage crisis is, as we have come to expect in Michael Cunningham's fiction, rich in allusions, but, except for the big urn protagonist Peter Harris sells to his favorite client, I don't recall any mention of John Keats. But I kept thinking of the poet's tragic paradox by Peter's impossible attempt to find, in the ineffable beauty of sculpture and of a dangerous lover, an experience of the infinite he well knows is at odds with the temporary pleasures and pains of real life. Along the way, although far shorter than Jonathan Franzen's recent blockbuster, By Nightfall similarly makes us wonder if freedom is all it's cracked up to be.
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5 people found this helpful