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Table For Two

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Table For Two

By: Amor Towles
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, J. Smith Cameron
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Summary

Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood.

The New York stories, most of which take place around the year 2000, consider the fateful consequences that can spring from brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise that 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.

Praise for The Lincoln Highway:

"A rollicking cross-country adventure, rife with unforgettable characters, vivid scenery and suspense
that will keep readers flying through the pages." Time

"Elegantly constructed and compulsively readable . . . hitch onto this delightful tour de force and you'll be pulled straight through to the end, helpless against the inventive exuberance of Towles' storytelling." NPR

"Wise and wildly entertaining . . . Towles goes all in on the kind of episodic, exuberant narrative
haywire found in myth or Homeric epic." The New York Times Book Review

Anthologies & Short Stories City Life Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Short Stories Urban New York Witty
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Critic reviews

Aficionados of Amor Towles 's carefully crafted fiction will be thrilled by this latest collection of elegantly presented short stories along with a novella. The tales focus on vignettes of turn-of-millennium New York life, while the longer Eve in Hollywood sees the reappearance of Rules of Civility’s inimitable Evelyn Ross in 1930s Los Angeles. The recent adaptation A Gentleman in Moscow has raised the author's profile to new heights, and long-standing admirers and new readers alike will take great delight in this entertaining collection. A new novel soon please, Mr Towles
If you only take one book on holiday... Make it Amor Towles’ short stories… Towles has a genius for immersive scene-setting, and most of Table for Two, a collection of six short stories and a novella, feels more mythically New York than a Woody Allen storyboard painted by Edward Hopper… There is a great deal to relish in Table for Two... The collection is varied but hangs so well together. If you take only one book on holiday this summer, you couldn’t ask for a better literary capsule wardrobe
A knockout collection . . . Sharp-edged satire deceptively wrapped like a box of Neuhaus chocolates, Table for Two is a winner
Amor Towles reminds you why books still do it best. Joyous, discreet and a pleasure to read, each timeless story reconnects you with your own humanity. Every perfect sentence leaves you nodding in wonder. There is no better writer working today (Chris Cleave)
He makes it all seem effortless (Tana French)
Towles is a craftsman
Superb ... This may be Towles' best book yet. Each tale is as satisfying as a master chef's main course, filled with drama, wit, erudition and, most of all, heart
Delightful
There’s more than a mischievous glint of irony in these scintillating, sly stories from Towles. Set in new York and L.A. the city locations are fertile territory for a writer a penchant for power plays between good sports and the unscrupulous machinations of chancers and con men… the collection closes with the brilliant Eve in Hollywood, a noirish tale of blackmail and blaggards starring Evelyn Ross, who has all the glamour and guts of an on- screen heroine. Wonderful
Storytelling of the highest order
All stars
Most relevant
Amor Towles has quickly become one of my favourite authors, if not my favourite. I’ve enjoyed all of his novels, they are both easy to enjoy but also very insightful. I really enjoyed his short story collection, especially the NYC section. However, I was slightly disappointed to discover that the second half of the book is essentially an epilogue/side story to Rules of Civility. It’s been a while since I read the novel and I didn’t remember all the details which made these stories less meaningful. I would have preferred stories with new characters. Despite that, I cannot fault Towles writing and ability to capture different human experiences in different time periods.

My favourite author, however…

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Brilliant moving stories full of wit and poignancy. Really excellent gripping read. Will be buying the book for family and friends. Highly recommended.

Perfect pairing between author and narrator

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Disliked lengthy descriptions with examples of the statements made repeated when the meaning was already perfectly clear

Different voices the narrator procuced

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The first story was magical, just like A Gentleman in Moscow. It was such a shame the tale was only a short short as I wanted to hear the rest of the tale. Not all of the rest of the stories lived up to the first,, but all in all, Towles shows his artistry once more.

A stellar first story

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A beautifully written work, superbly performed. It has been compulsive listening and satisfying in every way.

Outstanding

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