Rules of Civility

by Amor Towles, Rebecca Lowman (Narrator)

Unabridged, 10 CDs, 11 1/2 hours A sophisticated and entertaining debut novel about an irresistible young woman with outsized dreams.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Literary Fiction, New York, Book Club, Adult Fiction

10 pages, Audio CD

Published July 26, 2011

About the author

Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Having worked as an investment professional in Manhattan for over twenty years, he now devotes himself fulltime to writing. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback and was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film and its French translation received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was ranked as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Louis Dispatch, and NPR. Both novels have been translated into over fifteen languages.

Mr. Towles, who lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children, is an ardent fan of early 20th century painting, 1950’s jazz, 1970’s cop shows, rock & roll on vinyl, obsolete accessories, manifestoes, breakfast pastries, pasta, liquor, snow-days, Tuscany, Provence, Disneyland, Hollywood, the cast of Casablanca, 007, Captain Kirk, Bob Dylan (early, mid, and late phases), the wee hours, card games, cafés, and the cookies made by both of his grandmothers.

Reviews

[Trish]

“Old times,” as my father used to say, ”if you’re not careful, they’ll gut you like a fish.”

Debut novelist Amor Towles has captured a moment in the life of a woman when she was up for grabs—emotionally, spiritually, physically.

1938. New York. Two twenty-something women from very different backgrounds meet in Mrs. Martingale’s boarding house located on the lower East Side of Manhattan. They party by their wits and their beauty for they have no money. Together on New Year’s Eve 1938, they run into Tinker Grey, a wealthy enigma who becomes part of their lives.

Lush, literate language channels the period: jazz saxophonists have a “semblance of rhythm and surfeit of sincerity;” Midwestern beauties are “starlight with limbs”; Indiana-born Eve Ross could be a “corn-fed fortune hunter or a millionairess on a tear.” Towles seemed to enjoy choosing words that express locales, movement, inflection. The language glitters, though the larger job—meaning—seemed to lack depth.

Spring turns to summer and when autumn comes, our narrator Kate has compressed the usual time it takes to develop a grown-up sensibility, and has evolved into someone cautious, calculating, focussed. There were moments in this novel when I discovered I didn’t admire nor even like these people very much. I had a sense of distance from events, and meeting our narrator years later didn't reassure me that she'd developed whatever character or grace her younger self had lacked.

This Books on Tape audiobook was performed by Rebecca Lowman with considerable skill. She may have made our narrator slightly colder than strictly necessary, but it was ably done.

[Linda]

I really liked this book. I just couldn't get it all listened to at one library period, so I had to get it from differing sources.
The main character, Katie, really seemed to have a good head on her shoulders even when the rest of her friends and acquaintances may not have.

[JudiAnne]

The spirit and the soul of New York City during the jazz age is captured by this novel in a coming of age story of Katey Kontent and her best friend Eve Ross. When they meet up with Tinker Grey, a handsome young Gatsby like banker, at The Hotspot Bar on New Years Eve in 1937, the three become good friends and their life becomes complicated. As Katey rapidly goes from a secretarial position, barely making ends meet, to a prestigious editorial position in a popular magazine, through circumstances, Eve and Tinker become a couple causing some rivalry between the girls. In the meantime, Katey gets the opportunity to socialize with "the privileged people" but she stays true to who she really is, the daughter of Russian immigrant parents. She's smart and sassy and fun to read about. The author does a terrific job in his descriptions of NYC life in the days between the depression and pre WWII. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in city life in the late 1930s. It is very well done.

[Lisa]

There are already so many reviews for this wonderful book that I don’t think I have anything new to report. I will simply say I have not felt drawn in or connected to a book this much sense The Kite Runner or The Help, so you get the idea of how much I loved this book. My only regret is that it took me 10 years to finally get to it even though I’ve owned a copy of it for years. It’s amazing to me that this was a Debut novel. I am so glad I chose the audio version because Rebecca Loman was the perfect narrator. The writing in this book was so beautiful and lyrical and her interpretation made it play like a movie in my mind. Although it was beautifully cinematic, if ever made into a movie I would hesitate to see it for fear it would ruin my first impression of the story. If you have not yet read this one please don’t put it off anymore. I am now a forever fan of Amor Towels.

[Oat Soda]

First, the writing is absolutely gorgeous from beginning to end.
Now the rest: Much like "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," this struck me as a series of mostly uninteresting anecdotes slapped together for a conclusion I didn't think I cared about.
Except I did, strangely. The first 11 hours or so (I listened to the audio book), I kept wondering why I was listening to this, and would have given up had it not been for nothing else to do between driving back and forth from Alabama to North Carolina.
But the denouement made me realize I DID care about these people, I guess because I'd spent so much time with them and they were, after all, as uninteresting but as real as the rest of us.
I once read an essay on the differences between the writer who loves language and the writer who loves story, and based on this one book, I think the writer is much more the former. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Kris Hansen]

Blech. I really loved Gentleman in Moscow. This book left me bored. Entitled, rich, infinitely lucky people in NYC in the 1930s. Give me the Grapes of Wrath anytime.

[Deb]

This is the debut novel of Amor Towles, known for his book A Gentleman in Moscow. It's set in New York City, beginning in the 1960s but then jumping back to the last night of 1937. Katie, a 25-year-old secretary, is out for New Year’s with her friend Eve, when they meet rich gentleman Tinker Gray in a club. I loved the complexity of Towle's characters and the immersion into the sights and sounds of 1930s New York. Coming out of the Depression and on the eve of World War II, Towles never lets us forget where we are and when. Through Katie’s narration, we see the clothes, taste the cocktails, and hear the music of the time.

I very much appreciated that Katie wasn’t a perfect character, nor a simple one, and this was true of Tinker, Eve, and the other characters in the book. There are moments when Katie is selfish or careless of other’s feelings, but then she’d surprise me, like when a co-worker leaves an important document on the train and Katie chooses to rush after her. She cares about her friends but never loses sight of her own need to survive and to experience what life has to offer. This was anything but a simple love story.

We know, from the framing of the first chapter, that Katie will marry someone named Val, and that Tinker will experience wealth and poverty during his youth. I often enjoy knowing a little bit about where things will end up but not too much, and Towles does this perfectly. In fact I went back and listened to the first chapter again as soon as I finished the book, just to see how Towles set everything up. I loved the way Towles writes about how people become themselves after a few stops on the subway, exposed to the people around them but intensely private as well.

I also loved the audio version of the book, though the print/ebook version might have been just as good. The narrator, Rebecca Lowman, really conveyed Katie’s emotional growth and her sense of nostalgia looking back at her youth. Despite its dramatic setting, this is a slow-moving, thoughtful story full of encounters and conversations. It’s a story of day-to-day life, of work and relationships, of building social networks and ultimately, of growing up and becoming adults. This is the kind of book you look back on and realize exactly how much was there.

My full review is at http://thebookstop.wordpress.com.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles, Narrated by Rebecca Lowman, Produced by Penguin Audio, Downloaded from audible.com.

This is a debut novel, well written, and evoking the time period of F. Scott Fitzgerald and the rich and famous. Set in New York City in 1938, Rules of
Civility tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising 25-year-old named Katey Kontent. The story opens on New Year's Eve in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, where Katey and her boardinghouse roommate, Eve, happen to meet Tinker Grey, a handsome and prosperous banker. The three of them spend some weeks in having a great deal of fun. Then, there is an accident which injures Eve, and everything changes. Katie, at the time of this New Year’s Eve, is working for a law firm as a legal assistant and has the chance of a handsome promotion in pay and responsibility, but quits instead. She becomes involved in the publishing world and begins her career with a particular magazine which will last her the next 30 years. We see her with several different circles of friends from the social elite. She loses total contact with Tinker Gray and the others she has known, until she sees a picture of Tinker 30 years later in the New York Museum of Modern art. Rules of Civility turns a Henry James eye on how spur of the moment decisions define life for decades to come. A love letter
to the great American city of New York at the end of the Depression. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

[Jamie]

The hardest decision here was going between 4* and 5*.

This book is set in 1930s NY, which I actually can't recall reading much during that time period. The setting is so strong, as are the peripheral characters. It also starts in the future, then bounces back to the beginning of the story. What's great about this is that I couldn't remember at all who Katy was talking to in the opening chapter. There are arcs that appear early, but the repercussions don't show up until later.

So, I loved loved loved this story and can't imagine who would NOT like it! The audiobook is also strong - one narrator captures all voices, and the slang of the time period without ever sounding fake or hoky.

Honestly, it is like 4.9 stars!

[Julie]

This was surprisingly entertaining as an audiobook, since it really wasn't plot-driven, but detailed daily life of a single woman in 1938 Manhattan. As the author drove home (perhaps redundantly) at the end of the book, the small decisions you make while in your 20s can determine your life's path. The lives of the rich and details of that time period were described so vividly through Katey's eyes...it was just fun.

I loved the few teaser details about Katey's later life that we got at the beginning, which really made you wonder how it would all play out. And, I have Walden on my Kindle now.

[Nannie Bittinger]

This may be my new favorite book of 2011. The setting is mostly the late 1930's and at times I felt like I was actually listening to dialog from a movie of that era (I used to watch a lot of movies from that era). And how could a book lover not fall in love with the main character, Katie Kontent (pronounced with emphasis on 'tent')? All of George Washington's "Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior" which play an important part in the story (hence the title) are included at the end, Here's an interesting link about those original rules http://www.foundationsmag.com/civilit...

[Rebecca]

As Junie B. Jones, one of my other literary influences, would say, "WOWIE WOW WOW!" Rules of Civility, read by Rebecca Lowman, was FLAWLESS. What writing. What narration. What incredible evocation of a particular time. I think the first few pages about the Depression could stand in for every history lesson everywhere--if they read it, students would "get" the ethos, the issues, the economics. Towles can capture more in a turn of phrase than many writers can in a book. HUGELY recommended--ask anyone who's come near me in the past two weeks. :)

[Susan Ritz]

Loved listening to this while I painted a bedroom. Caught up in 1930's New York. Narrator and protagonist Katie Content is a wonderful guide to a time my grandparents would remember— white tie parties ad jazz bars, a New York where anyone had a chance to climb the social and career ladders if they had brains and chutzpah like Katie, Tinker and Eve. In one way or another the characters were inventing themselves, and how they each did this is the heart of the story.

[Sandi]

I thought this was a great read. The main character, Katey Kontent, was smart, engaging, and the perfect guide through the high society of New York City in 1938. The writing seemed effortless with a fantastic flow and the audio, narrated by Rebecca Lowman, was a joy to listen to.

[Tsheko]

One of the most precisely written novels I've ever come across. Chapter after chapter, I was astounded by Amor Towles' prose. I felt as though I understood the shape and color of every room, of every emotion, of every subtlety of every expression on every face. I don't know how he managed to keep it up for twenty-six and a half chapters!

Unfortunately, the 'Rules of Civility' requires a little bit of work and perseverance. It isn't cheap fiction. It isn't racy and suspenseful. It is subtle and substantive. It is 350 pages spent inside someone's head: eavesdropping on her self-exploration, her indulgences, her process of becoming. It is curious, frustrating, illuminating, surprising. One never really knows what's going on -- not due to some sort of dramatic suspense, but just because this is how the novel keeps in line with the nature of things.

Rebecca Lowman's narration brings the novel to life in all the right ways. Her reading is every bit as meticulous as Towles' writing. She never strays beyond her charter: narration. At no point does she dilute the book's narrative core with the kind of interpretive mediation that is typical in the audio format.

Despite this, the novel is so full and so rich (and, again, so good) that I am going to have to go back, purchase it for my shelf and read it with my own eyes. There are so many things to pencil and underline, so many things to hold up and inspect: I couldn't possibly keep track of all of them on audio book.

That said, taking in the 'Rules of Civility' felt like inhaling a rare and expensive bottle of wine. It was an education; a privilege. Definitely not the sort of thing one yanks out of the cellar on weekdays.

[Clara]

This is the story of a year in a young woman’s life. But what a year! In 1938, Katherine Kontent, ready to make a life for herself in New York City, makes a friend—Eve Ross, a newly-arrived Indianan—and meets a man—Tinker Grey—a well-heeled banker, who will change her life forever.

Amor Towles prose is faultless, and it sparkles. Here, Tinker’s brother Hank describes him:

Never mind that he speaks five languages and could find his way safely home from Cairo or the Congo. What he’s got they can’t teach in schools. They can squash it, maybe; but they sure can’t teach it.
--And what’s that?
--Wonder.
--Wonder!
--That’s right. Anyone can buy a car or a night on the town. Most of us shell out our days like peanuts. One in a thousand can look at the world with amazement. I don’t mean gawking at the Chrysler Building. I’m talking about the wing of a dragonfly. The tale of the shoeshine. Walking through an unsullied hour with an unsullied heart.

Katey is smart, ambitious, and intensely well-read. She—and every other character in Rules of Civility—is drawn with striking specificity and care. Eve, Katey’s first roommate in the City, is one of those for whom the phrase “leaps off the page” was coined, but secondary characters receive no less attention from Towles. He’s a masterful writer, and every word in the novel seems carefully chosen.

Do yourself a favor and read this book. It’s the perfectly absorbing novel for a languid summer read. And I mean that as high praise.

[Coleen]

(3.5 stars) At age 25, Katey is just beginning to really live life in late 1930's New York City. Starting in a boarding house where she meets her friend Eve, her life suddenly flits between the everyday and the edge of glamour. Along the way, she meets Tinker Grey, who influences her life in more ways than one.

This is a hard one for me to review. I'd been looking forward to delving into Amor Towles' writing because of the great reviews I'd seen of his novels from the last few years. Although I think A Gentleman in Moscow is probably his most well known up to this point, I wanted to start with this, his first novel. I liked the "feel" of this one -- New York City just coming out of the Depression with a cautionary hopefulness, yet on the cusp of WWII. A glimpse into some higher society, balanced with the ins and outs of the day to day. Yet I couldn't quite get into this story as I'd hoped to. There were a nice variety of characters, but I never felt that I really got to know any of them as well as I wanted to. I never felt like I knew where the story was going, and at times the narration seemed to drift off into the unnecessary. Ultimately, it just didn't grab me as I'd hoped, given the hype of this author. But, there was enough here to keep me reading and I really do want to read Towles' subsequent novels. So we'll see how those go.

[Marathon County Public Library]

This is the best book I have read so far this year. The story is equal parts moving, methodical and beautiful. Beginning (after a brief prologue) on New Year's Eve 1937/1938 in a Manhattan jazz bar, we meet Katey Kontent and her friend, Eve Ross. Celebrating as only single women in their mid-20s can, they meet Tinker Grey, a shy, wealthy banker. They quickly become a fierce threesome, winding their way through NYC's most glamorous and seedy gin joints. That spring an accident alters their lives, their relationship with one another and everything they've ever known or wanted. The remainder of 1938 follows the three as they try to make sense of what their lives have become since the accident. There are new friends and old friends; a progressive and mysterious widowed socialite; uncomplicated relationships and those of which complex can't begin to describe. The fabric of all these characters are woven through changes in circumstance, ambition, jealousy, self-realization and friendship.

Kristen Z. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Sheri Howard]

A beautifully-written story with an immensely likeable heroine (Katey Kontent) set in New York City in 1938. Perfectly read by Rebecca Lowman. Definitely a good listen.
FAVORITE LINES:
~ “In our twenties, when there is still so much time ahead of us, time that seems ample for a hundred indecisions, for a hundred visions and revisions—we draw a card, and we must decide right then and there whether to keep that card and discard the next, or discard the first card and keep the second. And before we know it, the deck has been played out and the decisions we have just made will shape our lives for decades to come.”
~ “For better or worse, there are few things so disarming as one who laughs well at her own expense.”
~ “As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion—whether they're triggered by anger or envy, humiliation or resentment—if the next thing you're going to say makes you feel better, then it's probably the wrong thing to say.”
~ “It is a lovely oddity of human nature that a person is more inclined to interrupt two people in conversation than one person alone with a book.”

[Debra]

This reminded me of F. Scott Fitzgerald - beautiful writing with much more likeable characters. After reading Gentleman in Moscov I was looking forward to another book with the same depth and literary illusions. I was not disappointed. While this book was much darker, it did reflect New York city in the late 1930's with the lower class people who make the city work, the rich at the top living and partying lavishly and those in the middle trying to climb up the ladder of opportunity and enter the next level of society.
Evie is so beautiful and so shallow with a mean streak that exposes her inner character. Katey is a go-getter, looking for the next break that will use her mind and skills. Katey seems to flow easily between the different layers of society, able to understand and communicate without trading in her innate sense of rightness. At her low point she starts reading Agatha Christie because the deserved always receive justice.
There are so many rich characters in this book, laugh out loud scenes, and heart-wrenching moments, I would have to go on forever. So make yourself a martini and get lost in this story.

[Theresa]

I really, really liked this book! I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it, thank goodness.
All the characters seemed real, and I loved that they had actual sounded-like-the-real-thing emotions, attitudes, and conversations. Something I really, really don't like is constant, never ending "witty repartee* and snappy comebacks.
Fortunately, there was nothing like that in this book.
Throughout, though, I felt like I had missed something (well, I did fall asleep a couple of times; but isn't what I mean, though that was what it felt like). It seemed like someone was holding back something, but I couldn't quite figure out who it was.
Everything came out in the end, making sense out of what I could not.
It isn't a mystery story, but it contained some intrigue; it isn't romance, but I found a bit of it. For me, it presented itself as Literature with a capital L.
I look forward to reading more from this author. I'm glad that I have several more of his writings to choose from.
And I do highly recommend the book to all my reading friends, relatives, acquaintances, etc. I'm confident that it will be a pleasure to read!

[Nicole]

Really enjoyed this earlier work by Towles which explored life in 1930's NYC. This was not about some great event or situation but rather about the routine life of a somewhat ordinary woman who skirts on the outliers of sophisticated and elite New York society. The dialogue and idioms of the time were expertly woven into the novel and it truly felt as if I was transplanted into that era whereas other novels can often feel forced or often melodramatic in the over use of such slang. There was a fair bit of mild humor scattered throughout which would make me chuckle as the main character at times has a bit of an edge to her, along with a ingrained love of literature and books. I'm not giving much away about the plot itself as I think this is a novel best enjoyed without any key points given away from the onset. It was great to read an earlier work of Towles as it demonstrates his excellent writing ability existed long before the world took notice (in such works as "A Gentleman in Moscow" or "The Lincoln Highway").

[Cheyenne]

I'm torn on how to rate this, wavering between 2 and 3. The story was well written, but just not very interesting. There are many interesting characters in this book, but unfortunately, we get the story from the point of view of Katey Kontent who is the least interesting of all of them. On top of that it's hard to get a read on Katey's persona; one moment she's the sidekick being led from place to place, other times she's sassy and independent. A chunk of the story doesn't seem to be taking place in the late 30's either. Some of the things that Katey does, or just the dialogue just makes it seem like this could be happening in a different time. The first 25% of the book was good, then it drags for a while and doesn't pick up until around 66% but then stalls again until the end. I would read another book by this author, because the writing was good, but this one is not on my list of favorites.

[Mary Beth]

This book had me hooked from the prologue when Katey, the main character, reflects on some past memories while at an art show with her husband in 1967. You are immediately transported to Manhattan in the late 30's. Life is breathed into the jazz clubs, martinis, parties, and of course, romance and mystery. I wasn't hyper critical of the book when reading as I found it to be so enjoyable and I didn't want to challenge it. I'm sure some might think the characters weren't developed enough - or that the romance line was predictable, but if you are looking to spend a few hours in Manhattan - knee deep in a love mystery, I strongly recommend this book. For a debut novel I think Mr. Towles did an excellent job! Enjoy!!

[Melissa]

This was a pretty good book, but I often got the feeling that it was trying too hard to be literary. High brow chick lit. I'm not opposed to chick lit, and I hate how that term is used to disparage books and authors. But still, as I read or listened, as the case may be, I was exasperated by the vagueness that is often found in so called literary fiction.

I loved the time period the story was set, New York before the war, and the descriptions of the restaurants, the nightclubs, the apartments, etc. And I really like Katie Kontent, the protagonist. She is plucky, self-sufficient, realistic and a character you can easily get behind and root for, even when she may be wrong.

**reread in 2023. Totally didn’t remember it and liked it better. I’d give it 4 stars now!

[BonLivre]

I wavered throughout this novel if I truly enjoyed it or not. Towels does a beautiful job in creating late 1930s Manhattan full of a wide range of colorful characters. However, I cannot say that I liked any of the characters all that much and found their overall journey (although neatly tied up by the author) disheartening. The beautiful prose of the novel was well presented by narrator Rebecca Lowman; "right choices are how life crystallizes loss." A full star goes to the love of classical literature found throughout the book, an immense appreciation for Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot, and the fun trivia fact that George Washington agrees that dinner rolls should be cut and eaten with a knife and fork.

[Barbara]

In the beginning, I didn't think I liked this story very much. It seemed to be a story only of drinking and frivolity. Though there continued to be plenty of drinking, life's events and the people in Katie's life became more interesting. Gradually Katie's story grew on me and I began to enjoy it more, wondering where the story would take her and the other characters.

My chief complaint with the audio is that I did not realize that nearly the entire story takes place in 1938. Early on I thought it was 1966, when in fact the story had transitioned to New Year's 1937. I had to go back and listen again to catch the transition. Then I waited a while for the story to switch back to 1966, which it didn't do.

[Lianne]

The writing in this book evoked great atmosphere. I felt like I was transported back to what I imagine Manhattan would have been like in the late 1930s for wealthy young men and women -- particularly all the drinking, smoking, and going to parties. However, I just didn't really connect with any of the characters, especially Katey, and I didn't believe the depth of her relationship with Tinker. Perhaps it was because I listened to it on audio rather than reading, or maybe my state of mind while doing so, but I also felt like parts of the story were really disjointed and I couldn't see how they fit together.

[Kathleen]

Rules of Civility describes a slice of life in post prohibition NY C. The reader is introduced to a gallery photo of wealthy Tinker in 1937 and then a down and out photo of Tinker in 1938. What happened to him? This question stays in the back of our minds as we follow the life of Katey Kontent who works in an office by day and hobnobs with some very wealthy friends at night, including Tinker.

I listened to this novel which has wonderfully descriptive language that is enhanced by an outstanding narrator. I looked forward to each listening session with this book, which I rate a very strong 4+.

[Charles Dingman]

Reluctantly, I reached the end of this fine novel, having savored and re-savored sections, relishing the pacing and a narrative perspective so personal it pained me to be in it, and to leave it behind. It is hard to re-create the state of mind evoked in me by its manifest magic. The story unreels in its own good time, so be prepared to slow down and enjoy the sensations and mostly sensible reflections of a young woman who finds herself in Manhattan in 1939. Resistance is futile. Give in. You won't be sorry you did, though you may have vicarious regrets as, with her, you look back on her choices.

It's just the human condition.