A Day in the Night of America

Ingeniously conceived, superbly executed, freelance journalist Coyne's first book examines how Americans live--and, in particular, work--at night. At least 10 million people in the U.S. are on the job between midnight and 6 a.m., he reveals, and this defiance of day's end did not begin with Edison: Americans worked the late shift as early as 1646. Some night workers are ubiquitous--convenience store clerks, radio call-in show hosts, bakers preparing food for the breakfast trade--but others are easily overlooked, including steelworkers who maintain the ultra-high temperatures of foundry furnaces and Wall Street traders in foreign currencies. Beginning with fishermen in Gloucester, Mass., Coyne visited after-hours laborers in 41 states, ending his tour with a look at tugboaters on Puget Sound and a trip to Alaska for the briefest night of the year. The book resonates with Coyne's great interest in the ``nightsiders'' as people and in the work they do. ( Nov. )