Night : a literary companion / edited and with an introduction by Merilyn Simonds

Night, for most of human history, has been feared and maligned. Daytime's dark, secret sister is a time for staying in and saying prayers to ward off whatever evils lurk in its sunless corridors. And yet, darkness is revered as the almost universal murk from which life arose.Nightbrings together an international roster of writers who explore the many faces of night: its myths, its flora and fauna, its human side, too. Galileo ruminates on the moon over Florence, following its path through one of the first telescopes. In the desert, Annie Dillard seeks a total eclipse of the sun. Gretel Ehrlich writes from Greenland, contemplating the months-long Arctic night, while Tim O'Brien makes his way through the deadly nightlife of Vietnam. Bats and fireflies, a writhing confluence of alligators, the shape of a garden in the dark -- this anthology reflects both the terrors and the inimitable beauties of the night.