Amor Towles

A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.Brimming with humour, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavour to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s AmericaIn June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future.Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles’s third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes.

From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a richly detailed and sharply drawn collection of stories set in New York and Los Angeles. The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise which operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles’s novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September, 1938, with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in the midst of Hollywood’s golden age. Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next.Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction.

This sophisticated and entertaining first novel presents the story of a young woman whose life is on the brink of transformation. On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society—where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. With its sparkling depiction of New York’s social strata, its intricate imagery and themes, and its immensely appealing characters, Rules of Civility won the hearts of readers and critics alike.

Nature or nurture? Neither. Discover a bold new way to raise a child in this unsettling story of the near future by the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow.When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that his child could lead, the more he begins to question his own relationships and the choices he has made in his life.Amor Towles’s You Have Arrived at Your Destination is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

The further adventures of Eve Ross, best friend of Katey Kontent in Rules of Civility, the New York Times bestselling novel by Amor Towles Near the end of Amor Towles’s bestselling novel Rules of Civility, the fiercely independent Evelyn Ross boards a train from New York to Chicago to visit her parents, but never disembarks. Six months later, she appears in a photograph in a gossip magazine exiting the Tropicana Club on Sunset Boulevard on the arm of Olivia de Havilland. In this novella made up of six richly detailed and atmospheric stories, each told from a different perspective, Towles unfolds the events that take Eve to the heart of Old Hollywood. Beginning in the dining car of the Golden State Limited in September 1938, we follow Eve to the elegant rooms of the Beverly Hills Hotel, the fabled tables of Antonio’s, the amusement parks on the Santa Monica piers, the afro-Cuban dance clubs off Central Avenue, and ultimately the set of Gone with the Wind. With the glamour and grit of the studio system’s golden age as a backdrop, Towles introduces in each story a memorable new character whose fate may well be altered by their encounter with Eve. In following the thread of these varied encounters, we watch as Eve forges a new and unexpected life for herself in late 1930s Los Angeles.

1 hour, 47 minutes From the New York Times best-selling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility comes a stylish and alluring new story about art, money, and a precious family heirloom - brought magically to life by the beloved voice of six-time Emmy-winner John Lithgow. Like many well-to-do Upper East Siders over the age of 65, esteemed art appraiser Percival Skinner had planned to spend his retirement living off his savings. But a market correction has left him living below his prior means. One day he’s visited by a dapper fixer in search of a famous work by the Renaissance master Giuseppe Didomenico. Skinner knows the work well: The original was owned by his ancestor, and was passed down through his family over the generations. If, as an intermediary, he can coordinate a sale, a small fortune awaits. Problem is, he might not be the only one on the make. Told with the quixotic energy of a classic Henry James tale and the gleeful absurdity of drawing-room comedy, this playful and effortlessly heartwarming story from one of America’s most gifted writers is a welcome reminder that sometimes what we find is more valuable than what we are looking for.

Read my short piece for Condé Nast Traveler which is on my great-great-grandfather’s hat box and his travels in the Belle Époque here.

This Amor Towles 3 Novels Collection Set 1. Rules of A Novel 9780143121169 2. A Gentleman in A Novel 9780143110439 3. The Lincoln A Novel 9780735222366

A Gentleman in A Novel

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

An essay by Amor Towles, which in part appeared on Oprah.com

This sophisticated short story by award winning and best selling author Amor Towles is at once playful and unsettling. He brings his reader into the rarefied, but imperfect space of cultured New York and cannot help but expose the flaws embedded at its core. On what was meant to be a happy date, a young investment banker takes his wife to Carnegie Hall and observes an elderly man secretly recording the concert. His indignation is not without consequence.

Five connected essays by Amor Towles

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

A Gentleman in Moscow recounts the story of Count Alexander Rostov. In 1922, on the heels of the Russian Revolution, the count is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal and sentenced to permanent house arrest in Moscow's grand Hotel Metropol. In something of a literary feat, as the count's story progresses over three decades, the walls of the Metropol seem to expand, rather than close in around readers. Brimming with humor and wit, an unforgettable cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this remarkable novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose. Amor Towles joins us for an evening of conversation with Liesl Schillinger on this thrilling new work. With a reading by Tony Award-winning actor Boyd Gaines.

Strappato alla campagna, un contadino dall’indole mansueta viene convinto dalla moglie, fervente bolscevica, a trasferirsi a Mosca per unirsi alla Rivoluzione, ma finirà dall’altra parte del mondo, a New York. Un aspirante scrittore in cerca di esperienza trova lavoro in una libreria che tratta edizioni rare, del tutto ignaro del brutto guaio in cui lo caccerà il suo capo. Un viaggiatore, bloccato all’aeroporto LaGuardia per maltempo, fa amicizia con un altro una serata improvvisata che prenderà una piega davvero stravagante. Una giovane donna sospetta che il patrigno tradisca la madre; deciderà quindi di seguirlo, innescando una catena di eventi sfortunati e rivelatori. Un banchiere smaschera un anziano che registra abusivamente gli spettacoli alla Carnegie Hall, ma com’è noto le apparenze ingannano, e ogni azione avrà conseguenze. Un pensionato cerca di manipolare un parente affinché venda un raro dipinto rinascimentale a un collezionista; nulla però andrà come previsto. Dopo Eve a Hollywood, Amor Towles si sposta sull’East Coast e mette in scena una New York con le sue mille facce, popolata da un turbinio di personaggi – i ricchi e famosi che si mescolano con gli ambiziosi e gli innocenti tra inganni, illusioni e desideri, talvolta discussi davanti a un bicchiere in un bar. Tavolo per due è un ritratto tagliente della metropoli americana di fine Novecento, una narrazione «fascinosa e ingannevole come una scatola di cioccolatini Neuhaus», emozionante come «il brivido di un martini ghiacciato» (The New York Times).Quando Timothy arrivò a casa, si lasciò cadere su una sedia. Ascoltò con soddisfazione i rumori che provenivano dalla strada, otto piani più in il clacson delle auto, le urla degli ubriachi, i latrati dei cani, persino la sirena di una macchina della polizia. Tutti insieme, formavano la sinfonia della città di Manhattan, in una calda notte d’estate. «Un talento Towles ricrea un’atmosfera newyorkese pari a uno storyboard di Woody Allen o a un dipinto di Hopper». The Times «Un maestro della lingua, uno dei migliori narratori dei nostri tempi». Bookreporter «Un banchetto di racconti deliziosamente maliziosi, insaporiti dal tipico humour della “buona società” di Towles». Time Magazine «L’autore di Un gentiluomo a Mosca ci regala una narrazione sofisticata e originale». Tampa Bay Times

A Gentleman in Moscow recounts the story of Count Alexander Rostov. In 1922, on the heels of the Russian Revolution, the count is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal and sentenced to permanent house arrest in Moscow's grand Hotel Metropol. In something of a literary feat, as the count's story progresses over three decades, the walls of the Metropol seem to expand, rather than close in around listeners.Brimming with humor and wit, an unforgettable cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this remarkable novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose. Amor Towles joins us for an evening of conversation with Liesl Schillinger on this thrilling new work. With a reading by Tony Award-winning actor Boyd Gaines.

“Çünkü gözlerimizi kaçırmak istememize neden olan şeylerin üzerine gitmezsek, dünya sadece bir seraptan ibaret kalır.”Bir çiftçinin sıradışı kararı, beklenmedik şekilde yıkılan bir iş imparatorluğu, yanlışlıkla üstlenilen bir sorumluluğun beklenmedik sonuçları, gizlice izlenen bir akrabanın açığa çıkan hayatı… Amor Towles, bu kez edebi hünerini öykülerde konuşturuyor. Altı kısa, bir uzun öyküden oluşan bu seçki, okuru Sovyet Rusya’nın kırsalında başlayıp modern New York’un sokaklarına ve eski Hollywood’un ışıltılı ama tehlikeli dünyasına kadar sürükleyici bir maceraya çıkarıyor.Her hikâye, sıradan görünen karakterlerin sıradışı olaylarla sınandığı anlara odaklanıyor. Öykü formatının sınırları içinde bile karakterlerine derinlik kazandırmayı ve her öyküyü sürükleyici hale getirmeyi başaran Towles, kitabın kapanışını ise “Nezaket Kuralları” romanının hayranlarının yakından tanıdığı Eve karakterinin Hollywood’daki macerasını anlatan uzun öykü “Eve Hollywood’da”yla yapıyor. Gerçek ve kurmaca karakterlerin iç içe geçtiği bu hikâye; bir dostluk hikâyesi, başarısız bir soygun planı ve parıltılı bir çağın gölgesindeki karanlık gerçekleri bir araya getiriyor. Towles’un uzun romanlarını sevenler için bu eser bir özlem giderme fırsatı; öykü sevenler içinse tam anlamıyla bir edebiyat ziyafeti.