J. Neil Schulman's Alongside Night (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Elliot Vreeland felt uneasy the moment he entered his classroom..." (more)
Key Phrases: security alcove, photo badge, New York, Lawrence Powers, Revolutionary Agorist Cadre (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An absorbing novel--science fiction, yet also a cautionary tale with a disturbing resemblance to past history and future possibilities." -- Milton Friedman, Nobel laureate in Economics

"An unabashedly polemical , libertarian novel which packages its message in a fast, effectively told action adventure." -- Publishers Weekly

"Anyone interested in freedom will find this more than readable." -- Jerry Pournelle

"Engrossing." -- Thomas S. Szasz, MD

"Here is a frightening and all too plausible picture of the near future. America is already a long way down the road that leads to it. Yet there is also a hopefulness in the story, for the author develops a philosophy, in considerable practical detail, that we could begin living by today, if we will choose to be free." -- Poul Anderson

"High Drama ... A story of high adventure, close escapes, mistaken identities, and thrilling rescues. ... A fast-moving tale of a future which is uncomfortably close at hand." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

"I received Alongside Night at noon today. It is now eight in the evening and I just finished it. I think I am entitled to some dinner now as I had no lunch. The unputdownability of the book ensured that. It is a remarkable and original story, and the picture it presents of an inflation- crippled America on the verge of revolution is all too acceptable. I wish, and so will many novelists, that I, or they, had thought of the idea first. A thrilling novel, crisply written, that fires the imagination as effectively as it stimulates the feelings." -- Anthony Burgess

"Let me begin with a disclaimer: I don't really agree with many of J. Neil Schulman's ideas about society or politics or money. But his first book, Alongside Night, is as enjoyable piece of cautionary fiction as I have read in some years ... Like Ayn Rand and Robert A. Heinlein, Schulman can tell a good story!" -- Sunday Detroit News

"One of the most widely hailed libertarian novels since the classic works of Ayn Rand." -- Reason Magazine

"Probably the best libertarian novel since Atlas Shrugged." -- Science Fiction Review

"This is a radical novel. It pulls no punches, offers no compromises. It effectively presents a social, moral, and political point of view without polemic, without stridency. Without hysteria, it projects a bleak future for us all, but not without hope, for there's a deep affection for humanity despite its foibles underlying every sentence." -- F. Paul Wilson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

"A cautionary tale with a disturbing resemblance to past history and future possibilities" (Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate), "Alongside Night" portrays the last two weeks of the world's greatest superpower and ends on a triumphant note of hope.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pulpless.com (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584451203
• ISBN-13: 978-1584451204
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #113,648 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flying Alongside Night, May 5, 2009

By	Thoreau - See all my reviews

I bought a paperback of "Alongside Night" about twenty years ago. When I learned it was the Freedom Book Club book of the month for May 2009, I got it out and re-read it. The author, J. Neil Schulman, is amazingly prescient.

One of the things that struck me as unlikely in 1989 was the telecommunications system. Wall-size screens. Interactive tools for getting information. Today, these are common. And to think the book was conceived in 1977 or so. Amazing.

General Motors plaza, in the book, is boarded up. The company is now being restructured, with the United Auto Workers pension to hold about 39% of the company. Chrysler has declared bankruptcy. The economy is not yet in the dire straits described in "Alongside Night," but it is very close. And, as in the book, Americans are responding with verve and elan.

I was delighted to be invited to a Facebook group celebrating this novel, and to learn that it is being adapted to a graphic novel and a feature film. It is high time that someone created a community for practicing agorists where we can meet, discuss, and exchange not only ideas but products and services.

Perhaps the online game being planned will feature "underground" mercantile centers like Aurora as described in the book. The technologies for dropping off the identity-controlled grid are well along. It's going to be fun!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty far alongside...., April 6, 2009

By	James E. Davidson "Sovereign Individual" (Earth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Back in 1987, a friend gave me a copy of the Avon paperback of "Alongside Night." I read it with great interest.

This novel reminded me a great deal of Robert Heinlein "juveniles" such as "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel." It is a bildungsroman following young Elliot Vreeland as he comes of age in New York City.

In the thirty years since J. Neil Schulman wrote the book, the dollar has been inflated more and more. The government has become larger, more corrupt, and much more like the government portrayed in the book. So, coming of age has gotten more and more difficult.

The great appeal for me in this book was its deliberate depiction of parts of society where government interference is not only gone, but actively prevented from getting involved. Free markets as part of an underground culture where people behaved without coercion had always appealed to me. In this book these markets were shown as real, vibrant, and substantial.

Nor is the future depicted any sort of utopia. There are problems in the Revolutionary Agorist Cadre with abuse of power and authority. There are problems with the government, too, which are far more pernicious. Yet, people manage their affairs and get by. Some thrive. Others suffer and die. Life's rich tapestry.

A decade ago, few would have believed that the monetisation of the government debt was threatening a hyperinflation of the dollar. Today it seems much more likely than ever. Who could have believed General Motors would be nationalised? Or Lehman Brothers and dozens of other companies would go under? Yet, today these are facts.

Alongside Night does an excellent job of showing a troubled world as a place to grow up. It also showcases agorism and individualism in ways never before or since.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A winner then, a winner NOW!, September 27, 2000

By	David Wright "dcwusmc" (Vallejo, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first read Alongside Night not long after it came out in 1979. I could surely see then the conditions that Mr. Schulman describes so elequently, and today we have extremely similar circumstances, minus only the double-digit inflation. Mr. Schulman wrote a book that captures most capably the essence of what a FREE society could be like, and does so without preaching. His story is well-written and INTERESTING. Give a copy to your statist friends and watch their reactions to it! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!