Description

Book Synopsis
Stoner author John Williams's first novel is a searing look at a man's relationship with his absent father, and how early trauma manifests throughout one's life


John Williams’s first novel is a brooding psychological noir. Arthur Maxley is a young man at the end of his emotional rope. Having dropped out of college, he’s holed up in a big-city hotel, living off an allowance from his family, feeling nothing but alone and doing nothing but drinking to forget it. What’s brought him to this point? Something is troubling him, something is haunting him, something he cannot bring himself either to face or to turn away from. And now his father has come to town, a hail-fellow-well-met kind of guy. They’ve been estranged for years, and yet Arthur wants to meet—and so he does, reeling away from the encounter for a night of drinking and dancing and a final reckoning with the traumatizing past that readers will not soon forget.

This edition of Nothing but the Night includes an interview with Nancy Gardner Williams, the author’s widow.

Nothing but the Night

    Product form

    A Paperback / softback by John Williams

    £14.20

    Includes FREE delivery

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Mon 12 Oct 2026.

    3 in stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of Nothing but the Night by John Williams

      Book details

      Publisher The New York Review of Books, Inc
      Published 12 February 2019
      ISBN-13 9781681373072
      978-1681373072
      ISBN-10 1681373076

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Stoner author John Williams's first novel is a searing look at a man's relationship with his absent father, and how early trauma manifests throughout one's life


      John Williams’s first novel is a brooding psychological noir. Arthur Maxley is a young man at the end of his emotional rope. Having dropped out of college, he’s holed up in a big-city hotel, living off an allowance from his family, feeling nothing but alone and doing nothing but drinking to forget it. What’s brought him to this point? Something is troubling him, something is haunting him, something he cannot bring himself either to face or to turn away from. And now his father has come to town, a hail-fellow-well-met kind of guy. They’ve been estranged for years, and yet Arthur wants to meet—and so he does, reeling away from the encounter for a night of drinking and dancing and a final reckoning with the traumatizing past that readers will not soon forget.

      This edition of Nothing but the Night includes an interview with Nancy Gardner Williams, the author’s widow.

      Recently viewed products

      © 2026 Book Curl

        • American Express
        • Apple Pay
        • Diners Club
        • Discover
        • Google Pay
        • Maestro
        • Mastercard
        • PayPal
        • Shop Pay
        • Union Pay
        • Visa

        Login

        Forgot your password?

        Don't have an account yet?
        Create account