Every scene is a new surprise, as facile men and women traipse up and down the Gotham and Long Island social ladders. His characters are deeply subtle, with complex interactions and nuanced behavior. Towles actually surpassed my expectations. Since I have been a fan of Edith Wharton and Henry James for half a century, I was bound to adore Rules of Civility. “Labour to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire Called Conscience.” Some of Towles’s characters manage to achieve that goal, some do not, and therein lies the tale. The 110th rule turns out to be the most important in Towles’ New York. Towles goes beyond the unvoiced, however, by printing a schoolboy’s version of the code, George Washington’s Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation, by giving his characters access to young George’s axioms, and by holding them accountable. In an urban landscape controlled by finance and breeding and culture and aspirations, everyone acts and reacts according to an unspoken set of “rules of civility.” They, of course, were describing social intrigues of more than a century ago, while Towles is focused on New York in the late 1930s, but all their characters move in the same moneyed circles and follow a tacit code of conduct.

How does an author fit with his predecessors? How has he or she fallen short or moved beyond the masters’ acknowledged achievements? When I think of Amor Towles and his new novel, Rules of Civility, for example, I fondly remember his literary forebears, Edith Wharton and Henry James. In the case of these two we see and learn that they are both career oriented and not prepared to make their commitments until they did some more living on their own.As I read books for “Bookin’ with Sunny,” I realize that I’m always trying to put new publications in the context of the old. Sometimes we have to live through different things before we're ready. Plus, with the lack of interest at that time - it's apparent that the timing would not have been right. I know I've crossed paths many times with some people. I think it's important that Val makes a quick entry and exit. We have evidence that she's attracted to both the free spirit (Dicky, Tinker, Hank) and the judges (Wallace, Mason, Anne) IMO, the 2 she loves most have both aspects: Eve and Tinker. Val's looks are a cross between an aviator and a judge.

We see some matchmaking and in the last pages when she looks at the pictures, she revisits the memory of her and Val hugging him at their wedding. The father suggested he take the sports car - but he chose the conservative car. The father suggested he take the sports car - but he chos …more (view spoiler) It was the son of the man who gave the party she went to as Judy Lindow (view spoiler) It was the son of the man who gave the party she went to as Wallace's friend.

Rules of civility author