“’Blue Nights’ is precisely the thrill of those last two minutes in the air: the surge of expectation that comes as the wing flaps drop, the air brakes rise and the plane grinds forward, rocking gently, back and forth, over the water. It’s a book within a hairsbreadth of the landing strip, and its excitement comes from watching one of the greatest careers in modern letters make its final, unsettled preparations to touch down.”

—Nathan Heller, The New York Times