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Rules of Civility
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Review
'Impossibly glamorous . . . Towles conjures up vintage New York so marvellously that it made me feel nostalgic for a place I've never been to.' (The Times )
'The summer's must-read: gripping and beautiful' (Sunday Times )
'...my book of the year. If the unthinkable happened and I could never read another new work of fiction in 2011, I'd simply re-read this sparkling, stylish book, with yet another round of martinis as dry as the author's wit' (Jackie McGlone, Herald )
'This book feels special...Towles was born to write' (Sun Herald )
'Rattles along at the pace of a riotous night out in the book's vividly evoked Manhattan. It is atmospheric, satisfying Great Gatsby-lite complete, with fish-out-of-water first-person narration, country house parties and a fabulously wealthy male protagonist who is not all that he seems.' (Ben Hoyle, The Times )
'Achingly stylish...witty, slick production, replete with dark intrigue, period details, and a suitably Katharine Hepburn-like heroine'
(Guardian )'The summer's must-read: gripping and beautiful' (Sunday Times )
'Terrific. A smart, witty, charming dry-martini of a novel'
(David Nicholls, author of One Day )'This is a flesh-and-blood tale you believe in, with fabulous period detail. It's all too rare to find a fun, glamorous, semi-literary tale to get lost in... While you're lost in the whirl of silk stockings, fur and hip flasks, all you care about is what Katey Kontent does next'
(Viv Groskop, Observer )'Irresistible... A cross between Dorothy Parker and Holly Golightly, Katey Kontent is a priceless narrator in her own right - the brains of a bluestocking with the legs of a flapper and the mores of Carrie Bradshaw'
(Elena Seymenliyska, Telegraph )'Because who doesn't want to be transported to Thirties Manhattan?'
(Lucy Mangan )'Jazz-age New York is the setting for martinis and girls on the make in Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. As glamorous as it is gut-wrenching, this is the summer's must-read'
(ELLE )'...my book of the year. If the unthinkable happened and I could never read another new work of fiction in 2011, I'd simply re-read this sparkling, stylish book, with yet another round of martinis as dry as the author's wit' (Jackie McGlone, Herald )
'Set against a soundtrack of clinking glasses and saxophones, the book is a love letter to the city and the era, so confidently written it instantly plunges you into Thirties New York. Towles creates a narrative that sparkles with sentences so beautiful you'll stop and re-read them. A delicious and memorable novel that will leave you wistful - and desperate for a martini'
(Stylist )'This book feels special...Towles was born to write' (Sun Herald )
'Even the most jaded New Yorker can see the beauty in Amor Towles' RULES OF CIVILITY the antiqued portrait of an unlikely jet set making the most of Manhattan.'
(San Francisco Chronicle )'Rattles along at the pace of a riotous night out in the book's vividly evoked Manhattan. It is atmospheric, satisfying Great Gatsby-lite complete, with fish-out-of-water first-person narration, country house parties and a fabulously wealthy male protagonist who is not all that he seems.' (Ben Hoyle, The Times )
Product Description
WHAT THEY SAID about RULES OF CIVILITY:
'Everything about this novel, set in 1930s
'If you want shopping at Bendel's, gin martinis at a debutante's mansion and jazz bands playing until 3am, RULES OF CIVILITY has it all and more . . . While you're lost in the whirl of silk stockings, furs and hip flasks, all you care about is what Katey Kontent does next. Another one bartender, please.' - Observer
'Irresistible . . . A cross between Dorothy Parker and Holly Golightly, Katey Kontent is a priceless narrator in her own right - the brains of a bluestocking with the legs of a flapper and the mores of Carrie Bradshaw.' - Telegraph
'Towles creates a narrative that sparkles with sentences so beautiful you'll stop and re-read them. A delicious and memorable novel that will leave you wistful . . . and desperate for a martini.' - Stylist
'My book of the year. If the unthinkable happened and I could never read another new work of fiction in 2011, I'd simply re-read this sparkling, stylish book, with yet another round of martinis as dry as the author's wit.' - Herald
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book reminded me of 'The Great Gatsby' and I disliked it for all the same reasons. It is the triumph of style over substance. The book tries so hard to convey the period of the 1920's that it forgets about the importance of an interesting plot. In addition, none of the main characters are remotely sympathetic. The only character I liked, Wallace, suffers a very predictable fate.
There is no tension in the novel, we know from the prologue that Katey, the main character, does not end up with Tinker, Dicky or Wallace, so why should I care about her relationships with these men?
Katey the central character is one-dimensional and we never really get beneath the surface of her character.
This is the perfect example of 'don't judge a book by it's cover'. It has a beautiful sumptuous cover that you can't wait to start reading but the contents are flimsy and unengrossing.
There is no tension in the novel, we know from the prologue that Katey, the main character, does not end up with Tinker, Dicky or Wallace, so why should I care about her relationships with these men?
Katey the central character is one-dimensional and we never really get beneath the surface of her character.
This is the perfect example of 'don't judge a book by it's cover'. It has a beautiful sumptuous cover that you can't wait to start reading but the contents are flimsy and unengrossing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story takes place in New York City, in 1938, where cocky Katherine Kontent, a struggling secretary, is rooming with her best pal, Evie, in a shabby boarding house. A chance meeting with a handsome and wealthy young man introduces the girls to his world of elegant restaurants, opulent house parties in the country, and a roller coaster of emotions over the course of the next year and their lives are forever changed.
Pros:
1. The male author did a very job of sounding like a sarcastic, smart-alec young woman.
2. The carefree, easy life of the rich is described wonderfully.
Cons:
Everything else.
There were no truly likable characters in the story; the main character, Katherine, is so hard-boiled I wouldn't want to know her and she speaks only in brittle, snarky one liners that put me off. People come and go in her life and she doesn't really connect with any of them. Her toughness keeps her from being a relatable, real person and kept me from caring about her. The author uses annoying dashes instead of quotation marks, which seems a silly affectation and made reading sometimes confusing. The story takes place at the height of the Depression, yet there is no mention of it.
Although I enjoyed the parts showing the good life of the idle rich, I had to force myself to finish the book. It ended with no real climax and I felt like I had wasted my time.
Pros:
1. The male author did a very job of sounding like a sarcastic, smart-alec young woman.
2. The carefree, easy life of the rich is described wonderfully.
Cons:
Everything else.
There were no truly likable characters in the story; the main character, Katherine, is so hard-boiled I wouldn't want to know her and she speaks only in brittle, snarky one liners that put me off. People come and go in her life and she doesn't really connect with any of them. Her toughness keeps her from being a relatable, real person and kept me from caring about her. The author uses annoying dashes instead of quotation marks, which seems a silly affectation and made reading sometimes confusing. The story takes place at the height of the Depression, yet there is no mention of it.
Although I enjoyed the parts showing the good life of the idle rich, I had to force myself to finish the book. It ended with no real climax and I felt like I had wasted my time.
32 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I decided to read "The Rules of Civility" because the blurb on the Amazon page mentioned a jazz quartet in 1937 and stated that the protagonist, Katey Kontent, knew " how to type eighty words a minute, five thousand an hour, and nine million a year and that if you can still lose yourself in the first chapter of a Dickens novel then everything is probably going to be fine". With those two lines, I had already identified with Ms Kontent, despite the fact that I have never been to New York City. If you are a male reader, please do not click away now as this is most definitely NOT chick-lit. In fact, there is plenty of drinking (Martinis and Champagne, primarily), there are cars and even a few guns here and there. Oh, and jazz.
In brief, the plot revolves around Katey and her friend Eve; they meet Theodore `Tinker' Grey, a wealthy young man while celebrating New Year's Eve in a dingy jazz club and, without giving away the story, the encounter will change their lives for ever. A love triangle is among the central elements of this story, but the triangle changes shape at one point and anyway, this is a novel with a story, rather than a plot. It's about love, of course, but also about ambition, social mobility, and that aspirational quality that is quintessential to the mythology of New York City and that will inevitably bring up comparisons with F.S. Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'. Indeed, it would be hard not to see the similarities between Tinker and Jay Gatsby - young men who pretty much incapsulate the American Dream of the early 20th century at the start of the novel and who, by the end, confirm that the dream is just that: an illusion.
A lot of `new' writers are too often hailed as The Next Big Thing to then only disappoint; but on the contrary, I haven't managed to find a shred of information about Amor Towles; who is he? I am amazed at how he managed to create such believable and above all, likeable, female characters. And the male `cast' are equally memorable, none of them too perfect, none of them falling into the trappings of prince charming characterisation that could have taken this book down the pastel cover route.
I would be really surprised if 'The Rules of Civility' didn't become a literary fiction best-seller, as it ticks all the relevant boxes; great characters, gripping storyline, jazz, Martinis and a social commentary; it's peppered with literary references and quotes and I'm sure I won't be the only one reaching for a copy of Thoreau's "Walden" as a result of reading this book. And when a book makes you want to read more books, to paraphrase Katey Kontent, `everything is probably going to be fine'.
In brief, the plot revolves around Katey and her friend Eve; they meet Theodore `Tinker' Grey, a wealthy young man while celebrating New Year's Eve in a dingy jazz club and, without giving away the story, the encounter will change their lives for ever. A love triangle is among the central elements of this story, but the triangle changes shape at one point and anyway, this is a novel with a story, rather than a plot. It's about love, of course, but also about ambition, social mobility, and that aspirational quality that is quintessential to the mythology of New York City and that will inevitably bring up comparisons with F.S. Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'. Indeed, it would be hard not to see the similarities between Tinker and Jay Gatsby - young men who pretty much incapsulate the American Dream of the early 20th century at the start of the novel and who, by the end, confirm that the dream is just that: an illusion.
A lot of `new' writers are too often hailed as The Next Big Thing to then only disappoint; but on the contrary, I haven't managed to find a shred of information about Amor Towles; who is he? I am amazed at how he managed to create such believable and above all, likeable, female characters. And the male `cast' are equally memorable, none of them too perfect, none of them falling into the trappings of prince charming characterisation that could have taken this book down the pastel cover route.
I would be really surprised if 'The Rules of Civility' didn't become a literary fiction best-seller, as it ticks all the relevant boxes; great characters, gripping storyline, jazz, Martinis and a social commentary; it's peppered with literary references and quotes and I'm sure I won't be the only one reaching for a copy of Thoreau's "Walden" as a result of reading this book. And when a book makes you want to read more books, to paraphrase Katey Kontent, `everything is probably going to be fine'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A delightful period piece
This book is triumphs at conjuring a particular place, time and class (or rather classes). The fact that it is all achieved by artful pastiche work does nothing to undermine the... Read more
Published 10 days ago by Shank
Not too much plot, but for me that was part of its charm...
What an excellent debut. I actually found it hard to believe that this was Tovey's first novel as he has done such a believable job in evoking 1930's New York, with its sense of... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Nicola F (Nic)
Really not very good
Despite the hype and some rave reviews this is not a very good book. The plot is contrived and thin, bookended by a visit to Walker Evans exhibition and some of Evans' photos are... Read more
Published 1 month ago by JBear
A good story spoilt by its misplaced focus
Rules Of Civility by Amor Towles is a Thirties set society novel. It begins in the Sixties when protagonist Kate visits a photography exhibition with her husband. Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. A. Davison
An Excellent Read
Great book every time I put it down I could not wait to get back to it. Kept wondering what the characters were up to. Read more
Published 1 month ago by plum
Stylish and elegant tale of 1930s New York
This book took me a little by surprise. I bought it simply because it looked nice, and conjured up an image of cocktails in Manhattan that always appeals to me, and at first I... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Geek Goddess
Lightly Sparkling
This isn't the kind of book I would ususally go for, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It was quirky and whilst written in quite a light-hearted style it caught my... Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. Frost
More style than substance?
Set in Manhattan in the late 30s, this starts off really well with our heroine Katey Kontent (I *really* hated that name) seeing in the New Year with best friend Eve, no money, and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Roman Clodia
Lots of talent searching for a plot.
I found this an exasperating read.I thought the prose style generally witty and cleverly of the time of its setting. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Valentine Gersbach
Charmed by details
I just loved the mise-en-scene - Manhattan, in the last years of the 1930s - and it's so full of charms and delights on the way to the plot that I wanted to throw up my hands and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by D. M. Purkiss
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