Rules of Civility

”She was indisputably a natural blonde. Her shoulder-length hair, which was sandy in summer, turned golden in the fall as if in sympathy with the wheat fields back home. She had fine features and blue eyes and pinpoint dimples so perfectly defined that it seemed like there must be a small steel cable fastened to the center of each inner cheek which grew taut when she smiled. True, she was only five foot five, but she knew how to dance in two-inch heels--and she knew how to kick them off as soo [...]

The prologue to this novel takes place at an exhibition of photographs by Walker Evans in 1966. The author tells us that Evans had waited 25 years to show these photos to the public due to a concern for the subjects' privacy. The photos are taken with a hidden camera in the NYC subway car and "captured a certain naked humanity." Kate sees an old friend, Tinker Grey in two of these pictures. In one he's clean shaven, wearing a custom shirt and a cashmere coat. In a photo dated one year later he l [...]

$1.99 Kindle Download special today! -- GREAT DEAL!!! (I spent more!) FANTASTIC.FABULOUS!!!!!! I LOVED THIS NOVEL TREMENDOUSLY!!!!This review is filled 'mostly' with quotes --as these are quotes I want to remembert without the context of the story itself there are NO SPOILERS. Special thanks Sara. We are buddy-reading this together having our own private book club discussionds much richness to a novel like this one. Whatever setbacks Katey's father faced in life, he said, "however daunting or d [...]

This is just delightful fun. It's a love letter, a limerick, a lollipop, a literary longing. Grab your shaker of martinis and your cocktail onions and take a ride with Katey Kontent through the streets of 1938 Manhattan. She's just a working girl trying to make it on her own, but with the right (or wrong?) friends, she manages to borrow a little glamourd a helping or two of trouble besides. The book is not without its flaws. I was only going to rate it four stars. After I read the epilogue and t [...]

If a novel could win an award for best cinematography, this would take home the gold. Amor Towles's sophisticated retro-era novel of manners captures Manhattan 1938 with immaculate lucidity and a silvery focus on the gin and the jazz, the nightclubs and the streets, the pursuit of sensuality, and the arc of the self-made woman.The novel's preface opens in 1966, with a happily married couple attending a Walker Evans photography exhibition. An unlikely chance encounter stuns the woman, Katey--a pi [...]

Blargh, I'd been having such good luck with Choice finalists.I really should have put it down after page two, when the female, working-class narrator describes her roommate as follows:"Eve was one of those surprising beauties from the American Midwest.In New York it becomes so easy to assume that the city's most alluring women have flown in from Paris or Milan. But they're just a minority. A much larger covey hails from the stalwart states that begin with the letter I--like Iowa or Indiana or I [...]

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”The road not taken by Robert Frost.Katey Kontent stands on her balcony overlooking Central Park in 1966 and reflects on the journey of her life and the road she chose to walk more than twenty years ago. Vulnerable and voluptuous like Billie Holiday’s voice in “Autumn in New York”, Katey remembers the one and only genuine love of her life, the irresistible banker Tinker Grey. [...]

This book was strange for me, at points, it was a 5, at other points a 1. There were passages (usually not parts of the narrative, but Katy's aphorisms - presumably the product of her middle-aged mind looking back) that moved me nearly to tears. These little nuggets are Katy's own "Rules of Civility" and they made the book worth reading. (E.g "Right choices are the means by which life crystallizes loss.").But those little tidbits are not the bulk of this quite plotty pacey novel, which is a fair [...]

This is the rare example of a book that makes you appreciate the art of writing. It is indeed remarkable that this first time author has created a debut novel that succeeds in every way. Mr. Towles has crafted a true masterpiece. This stylish, elegant and deliberately anachronistic debut novel transports readers back to Manhattan in 1938, where authentic, human characters inhabit a playground that comes alive with the manners of a society on the verge of radical upheaval.This book is art deco, j [...]

Thank you, Amor Towles, for writing such a lovely and sophisticated novel. Your book was a soothing tonic for this bruised and battered reader.Rules of Civility is the story of Katey Kontent in New York City. The novel opens at an art gallery in 1966, and then flashes back to 1937 after Katey sees a photo of her former lover, Tinker Grey. She thinks back to her single days and to the night she first met Tinker in '37. She remembers how getting to know him inadvertently set her on a path that cha [...]

Immigrants or Trust Funds?“Rules of Civility” is a love story for a city. Specifically New York City during the last few years of the 1930’s. That’s not to say that Towles's characters aren’t fully realized. They are. In fact the dialog is outstanding. When a character opens their mouth you know immediately if they haunt the docks or Park Avenue. At one point the three principle protagonists are out larking and sneak into a Marx Brothers movie. Think of how exaggerated the accents and [...]

I waffled between a one or two star rating, but I'm not feeling particularly generous today, so one star it is.Basically: upper-class middle-aged man tries to write as/about working-class young woman. And fails. I think I enjoyed about the first twenty pages of this one, and the rest just fell utterly flat. First of all, the main character (with the terrible name of Katey Kontent) was completely unconvincing and not at all compelling. It's rare that men can write convincingly in a female voice, [...]

I don't want to say a lot about this book. I'm a bit tired this morning. Wanted to finish this book and denied myself a few hours of sleep.This is the story of Kate, Eve and Tinker in the New York of 1938, where it was possible to climb the social ladder with a few rules from the father of the American republic's, George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior; a few well-positioned social connections; and and a whiff of intelligence. Everybody had a chance if you knew the rules. In 1 [...]

New Year’s Eve 1937, Katey Kontent and Evelyn Ross meet handsome, well-heeled Tinker Grey at a bar and they see in 1938 together. They make resolutions for one anotherd one of those resolutions is to get “out of your ruts.” Well, this chance meeting shakes up all their lives and not a rut is left when 1938 whistles itself into history. With New York City as a delicious backdrop, Katey navigates both the heights of society and the working class world, and along the way she learns a lot abou [...]

Rating 3.5There is a movie by Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (awesome movie), that many say 'its a love letter to Paris'. A love letter to a particular time in history, the roaring 20s, where many literary and artistic people socialized. The Rules of Civility, I felt, was Towles love affair. His love affair with New York city, his love affair with the late 30s, and his love of literature.The story follows Katey Kontent (really?) who is twenty five, living in New York's Greenwich Village, moving [...]

I enjoy character-driven novels. This one is made perfect by focusing on a specific time and place: 1938 in NYC. It's a year between the Great Depression and the beginning of WWII. Even the poised, reflective characters are carefree enough to hang out and drink, listen to jazz and have madcap adventures. Fun to eavesdrop on all that. There's a wonderful device used to demonstrate one person's character. At the beginning of the book, our narrator finds Tinker Grey's picture twice in a photographe [...]

"If we only fell in love with people who were perfect for us, then there wouldn’t be so much fuss about love in the first place."I first came across this author when I read A Gentleman in Moscow, which I absolutely adored. Reading this was my chance to see if he was a one trick pony. Let me tell you- he is not!Amor Towles writes beautifully and evocatively of the late 1930s in New York. The book is an exploration of love, of choices made, of life fulfilled, of connections made and disguarded a [...]

In summary, I loved listening to this audiobook. Why? First of all, this book is a must for anyone who loves NYC. Secondly, almost every line refers to places and books and artists. There is a wonderful message. The author is a master of metaphor. Most every sentence implies more than the bare words. One example: Katey pronounces her surname Kon-TENT. Don't you see the difference between that and KON-tent? Think about it. The plot throws you a looper. The characters become real people .In the be [...]

Sometimes you’re fortunate enough to read a book that can make you gasp, make you laugh, and bring a poignant tear to your eye, all at the same time… your throat literally swells with it. If you have read such a book then I’m sure you know what I mean. Rules of Civility was not just a book to me, but an experience which embodied all those feelings. If you’re wondering, Rules is written with the charm and imagination equal to that of A Gentleman in Moscow, but they are very different stor [...]

Entertaining - light but not fluffy - what it does best is capture the high drama of being a New Yorker during the late 30’s. A city where the upper class live large and lavish, hang out in jazz bars, frequent hotels like The Plaza & Essex House and generally fritter their lives away drinking & smoking up a storm. Katey Kontent, a social climber extraordinaire and her flaky friend Eve hobnob with rich elitists with names like (seriously) Tinker, Dicky & Bitsy… Throw in a bitter s [...]

So much has been said about this book here and elsewhere that I'm not sure what else to add. I did love this book for many reasons: The sense of time and place, the wonderful use of language (love the use of metaphor), sparkling dialog and internal narration, and wonderful descriptions of New York City itself that raise its presence to another character.We have all lived through our twenties (or most of us through most of that decade). So much happens, so many decisions are made that impact our [...]

It's really hard to put my finger on what made me like Rules of Civility so much. I'm partial to debut novels and their authors so when 4 to 5 star reviews started pouring in on GoodReads for this book, I quickly added it to my list. The setting of New York, the city would not normally make me clamor to read this book, but the 1938 New York that Rules of Civility depicts captured me right away. I can only believe this is due to Amor Towles ability as a writer. The story seems fairly simple. Two [...]

—Oh stop, Eve said. It’s dreadful. What is it?—Virginia Woolf.—Ugh. Tinker brought home all these novels by women as if that’s what I needed to get me back on my feet. He’s surrounded my bed with them. It’s as if he’s planning to brick me in. Isn’t there anything else? Rules of Civility left me cold. I did not hate it, I did not like, I certainly did not love it as much as other people, including a lot of readers whose reviews I value, loved this book.I don't even know whether [...]

Amor Towles has his own style of writing. He is like yoga for the brain. I will first say, it's amazing to me how Amor Towles can write from a women's perspective. I would think most men would find that painful. I'm just kidding. Rules of Civility is about two roommate's that meet a wealthy man on New Years night and how it changes the course of their lives. For a period of time.It was told from Katey's point of view and all of the characters were ones that grew, and you were able to connect wit [...]

Rereading this wonderful book, just for fun and joy! Better the second time around. Just like watching a movie the second time, you get to see all those little details you missed the first time, and just wonder, how you didn't catch that! Read it again!

What were you afraid of as a kid? What did you always want that your parents never gave you? If you could be anyone for a day, who would you be? If you could relive one year in your life, which one would you be? Strangers in the night, two girls and a young man, meet and try to discover each other through a little game of 'what if ' Sounds like my GR friend Dan and his Ongoing Security Question Quiz, or like that running gag inThe Way We Werewhen Robert Redford picks up the best of everything he [...]

Update 4/23/2017I need to clarify a comment I made regarding the prison population in my community. Since they are people and they are part of the population and the facility is within our city limits, for census purposes they are counted as part of our population. After all, they do reside within our city limits. However, very few, if any, lived in the community or the surrounding area prior to their arrest and conviction. I assume that the prison population wherever it might be located is incl [...]

4 1/2 if I could. What a wonderful book, tones of Fitzgerald but so much better. The words are beautiful, the writing fantastic. Three people, Evie, Katy and Tinker have an profound influence on each other, their relationships and many many secrets. First book so I just have to wait patiently for his next. Such a great feel for the Jazz Age.

I cannot possibly write a review that reflects the intelligence and sophistication of this book. Integrating art, photography and literature into his portrait of 1938 New York, Amor Towles also tells a great story about the choices made by one young woman -- Kate/Katey/Katherine Kontent, and her friends.Kate is smart, funny, unpredictable and determined, all qualities that make a fine heroine. But she's also imperfect, which makes her infinitely more interesting. Likewise the characters that int [...]

Hard for me to get too excited about this nostalgic tale. It is great on tone and atmosphere in the life it portrays for Manhattan social climbers in 1938. The story told by Katie in retrospect from middle-age strives strives to be wise about life’s choices and the power of friendship to guide such choices with true integrity. But the paradoxes of Katie’s character makes it hard for me to buy-in well on her plausibility.In her early 20’s, Katie moves from Brighton Beach to Manhattan, takes [...]