Rules of Civility

A Novel

By: Amor Towles

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

From the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Lincoln Highway and A Gentleman in Moscow, a “sharply stylish” (Boston Globe) book about a young woman in post-Depression era New York who suddenly finds herself thrust into high society - now with over one million readers worldwide.

On the last night of 1937, 25-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.

Hear why Rules of Civility is Our Book of the Summer.

©2011 Amor Towles (P)2011 Penguin

A pivotal year in 1930's Manhattan

A middle aged couple walking through a photography exhibit at MOMA in the 1960's when the wife is surprised by two photos of a friend from years ago. The rest of the book is a flashback for Katey Kontent of a golden, fast, sophisticated, pivotal year of her life.

Wonderful characters (Katey, Evelyn Ross, Tinker Grey, Wallace, Anne Grandon, and many more). This novel is fabulously visual and with a tapestry of places, characters and books.

Rebecca Lowman's narration was spot on. Many driveway moments with this book. I can't wait to see what Towles writes next.

Miscast Narrator

Rebecca Lowman, whose reading contributed to making Anthropology of an American Girl kind of a bummer, is, in my opinion miscast as reader of this book. Her voice and manner of speaking are too contemporary for the period of the story. I haven't finished listening yet, so will reserve judgment.

Thoroughly enjoyed story and reader

I really enjoyed this book. The story was easy to follow, plenty of interest and well written. The reader was also excellent. Highly recommend to women. Don't think the guys will care for this one much.

Well written!

Even though I thought the plot was that interesting, I found I wanted to keep listening to find out what was going to happen... very interesting, and well written... we would all like to be as clever as Kate, but we wouldn't really like to be her!

highly recommend

I loved this book! Set in New York society in the late 1930's, it is a tale of the times. Narration was spectacular.

Very enjoyable

I especially loved the setting of New York in the 1930s. It was glamorous and gritty, and the characters were always going somewhere intriguing. This made the book a great escape for me. I liked the story and that it was unpredictable yet believable. At times, I felt the main character was a little aloof and I wished I could understand her motivations and personality a bit better. But the narration was lovely and the book was very enjoyable overall.

this is the best novel i've read in ages

Would you consider the audio edition of Rules of Civility to be better than the print version?

i didn't read the print version but the performance was pitch perfect.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rules of Civility?

there are so many crystal-perfect moments in this book, i can't even choose when asked to pick 'one of the most memorable moments'. meeting tinker, the accident, katey getting her hair colored and buying the dress to wear on her birthday, katey and tinker in the cabin, katey and tinker down in his brother's tenement apartment....i could go on and on.

Which character ??? as performed by Rebecca Lowman ??? was your favorite?

katey, katey, katey.

If you could rename Rules of Civility, what would you call it?

my crystalline year.

Any additional comments?

this is literature. the book sings, it buzzes, it offers metaphors that are at once original and so spot on, they're like poetry of old. a perfect marriage of poetry and prose, of plot and voice, of intellectual experience and emotional journey. everything i've read since has paled...and much that i've read before has, too.

Ho-hum narrator, excellent book!

I loved this book. I found myself wanting to drop "swell" and "hey sis!" into my daily vocabulary! It inspired me to read some Agatha Christie, and play more games with my friends over Martinis. In other words, the author transported me to the late 1930's, and I say thank you! I wish I could have really lived then, what a great time to be alive....other than the depression, but hey, we're going through that today and with half as much class.
New York was it's own character in the book. I felt like I got a private tour, how I would love to through snowbals in the street with the kids, or listen to my neighbor play piano music in the evenings.
All that being said about the book, the narrator came close to killing all the fun. I found myself getting the sense that Katie was a beautiful woman that men were drawn to, but left to the melancholy tones of the narrator, you'd never know it. She made a fun story, oddly boring. I would liken it to Ban Stein singing you "Happy Birthday"....are you tracking with me? If only they had given someone a bit more fun a crack at it. I imagine it being read by a smart sassy woman like the one being portrayed, this narrator was quite the opposite of the heroine which just sucked the fun right out sometimes.
Still worth the listen though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Amor, you can take me to New York anytime!!!

Great book!

I thoroughly enjoyed the beautifully written prose of this engaging story about a young woman in New York City during the late 1930s. Certain parts of the book may have been a little slow but overall the experience was delightful. I would highly recommend!

Excellent listen

Although I'm aware of many of the details and the era in which this book was set, I found the perceptions and intrepretations by the author (of the characters & the time period) enjoyable and enlightening. I hope we hear more from this author.