The Last Days of Night: A Novel
Graham Moore
Paperback
(Random House Trade Paperbacks, May 23, 2017)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ⢠âA world of invention and skulduggery, populated by the likes of Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla.ââErik Larson âA model of superior historical fiction . . . an exciting, sometimes astonishing story.ââThe Washington Post From Graham Moore, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and New York Times bestselling author of The Sherlockian, comes a thrilling novelâbased on actual eventsâabout the nature of genius, the cost of ambition, and the battle to electrify America.New York, 1888. Gas lamps still flicker in the city streets, but the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. The person who controls the means to turn night into day will make historyâand a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paulâs client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country?The case affords Paul entry to the heady world of high societyâthe glittering parties in Gramercy Park mansions, and the more insidious dealings done behind closed doors. The task facing him is beyond daunting. Edison is a wily, dangerous opponent with vast resources at his disposalâprivate spies, newspapers in his pocket, and the backing of J. P. Morgan himself. Yet this unknown lawyer shares with his famous adversary a compulsion to win at all costs. How will he do it?In obsessive pursuit of victory, Paul crosses paths with Nikola Tesla, an eccentric, brilliant inventor who may hold the key to defeating Edison, and with Agnes Huntington, a beautiful opera singer who proves to be a flawless performer on stage and off. As Paul takes greater and greater risks, heâll find that everyone in his path is playing their own game, and no one is quite who they seem.NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRERâA satisfying romp . . . Takes place against a backdrop rich with period detail . . . Works wonderfully as an entertainment . . . As it charges forward, the novel leaves no dot unconnected.ââNoah Hawley, The New York Times Book Review