Finally Friday - Table for Two by Amor Towles

 Table for Two  by Amor Towles is  a delight - six stories  based in New York City and  a novella set in Hollywood.  

The  NY tales take place in 2000 - brief encounters,  compromises, modern marriages and all the complications of life.

cover blurb :  Towles novel Rules of Civility had Evelyn Ross head west from NYC.  But  what if  she actually headed to Los  Angeles.  "Eve in Hollywood" is a hoot. She  crafts a whole  new  future, exerts her power, and we enjoy her  life through  movie sets, bungalows, and the dive  bars of LA.

I  love Towles' writing and enjoyed this collection.  Truly a treat.

Whatever Wednesday - Rules of Civility

 Flat out - classy writer.  Every word is pristine. Every character is rich.  Amor Towles writes a great book, seemingly effortlessly.  And yet, when you read it, you realize how deep the book is - that the story has  so many layers. When one finishes, one could almost start again and dig deeper.  Rules of Civility is excellent. 

It's 1937. A jazz bar. (back blurb) Katey Kontent knew how to sneak into a cinema and steal silk stockings  from Bendel's; how to type eighty words a minute, five thousand an hour, nine million a year; and that if you can still lose yourself in a Dickens novel then everything is going to be fine. 

By the end of the year she'd learned: how to  live like a redhead and insist upon the very best, that riches can turn to rags in  the trip of a heartbeat, chance encounters can be fated, and the word "yes" can be a poison.  Oh NYC - so dangerous. 

I could pick out paragraphs from every page to use as examples of brilliant writing. Katey is so smart as our narrator.  Tinker will break your heart. Evelyn, oh you wish her well. And Wallace - dear stuttering sweetheart of a man.  The rules come from George Washington - how to be civil in any age. Easy to read. Tough to accomplish. 

Thanks Amor Towles for an excellent  book. 

Finally Friday - peruse and cruise The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

 The  Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is a tour de force of a book. Settle in as a passenger as Towles takes you on quite a multilayered journey with rich settings, cleverly fleshed out characters, and themes of honor, choice, friendship, and family. 

It's 1954 and Emmett Watson (18) has returned to Nebraska after a stint at a juvenile work farm. His father has passed, the family farm is foreclosed. Emmett has his little brother,  Billy (8) and his Studebaker, plus some cash that his father had hidden. Time to hit the  road  for California. Emmett's plan is to find an old home, fix it up, and sell it and keep moving up with real estate. Billy's goal is find the mother that left them years ago. 

Speaking of hidden, turns out two friends from the work farm, Duchess and Woolly managed to sneak in a ride to Nebraska. The big plan is to go to New York, get Woolly's family fortune, split the money, and then move on. Duchess is the schemer, working  the deals, paying back both good and bad. Woolly's a sensitive soul who came from money and has drifted through the world lost, but with a life code. Emmett's got the burden of the world on his shoulders and needs to be the leader and a voice of reason. Little Billy turns out to be a grounding factor for all and at times the most level headed. 

The author gives backstories and weaves the past, present, and  future together with the Lincoln Highway (a road that starts in Times Square NY and finishes in San Francisco, CA) to provide an incredible tale. I loved this book, the characters; I worried for them; I laughed with them; I feared for them; and  I was very sad when I finished The Lincoln Highway.  I just wasn't ready to exit the vehicle. 

Book Review - A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

He can't leave. You won't want to.   That's on the cover blurb and it is so true.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is a rich well written lovely book. This book 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. (cover blurb)

1922, thirty year old Count Rostov is an unrepentant aristocrat and sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. The Count is moved to an attic room and must make do with a new life. However, in is reduced circumstances he forges new friendships. Fate suddenly puts a young girl in in his hands, he must draw on all his ingenuity to protect the future she so deserves.  (cover blurb)

This summary is far too simplistic. The writing is rich, the cast and characters in the hotel are well developed. The writing is divine. So many simple moments that give one pause.

p. 12
 "A king fortifies himself with a castle, " observed the Count, " a gentleman with a desk."

Early on, he mourns possessions and his loss of the glorious life of freedom he once had.  As he ages, he truly learns about people, priorities, politics, and his capacity to love and fight.

A Gentleman in Moscow is a book to read, savor, and probably read again.