• Rules of Civility

  • A Novel
  • By: Amor Towles
  • Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
  • Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (9,656 ratings)

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Rules of Civility  By  cover art

Rules of Civility

By: Amor Towles
Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
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Editorial reviews

Amor Towles is approaching 50 and making a living as a principal at an investment firm. One wouldn’t expect his debut novel to be told from the perspective of a wise-cracking young lady of 25, but Towles is good at surprises. Katherine Kontent (“like the state of being”) is a legal secretary trying to climb the social ladder and squeeze all the juice out of Manhattan. She is the only slightly less seductive sidekick to Eve, who leaves her wealthy family behind to act like a mash-up of Christopher Isherwood's Sally Bowles and Truman Capote's Holly Golightly. It's the Upper East Side in the winter of 1939 — ripe for ripping off F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway or whatever writer you prefer from the era of roaring alcoholism, but Amor Towles doesn’t take the bait.

Neither does narrator Rebecca Lowman, who has good fun with the zippy dinner conversations while managing to keep Kate's sporting sense of dignity intact as both lovers and day jobs threaten to collapse her up-and-comingness. Lowman, who has a long string of television series bit parts from Will & Grace to Law & Order to her credit, slips easily into the everywoman role and adds notes of believable determination to our heroine's struggle for better circumstances. Who will marry Tinker Grey and who will get the promotion at Conde Nast are interesting plots, but none of this is the surprise - the plot surprise is all the more devastating. Towles gives us some glitter, but he doesn't gloss, and that is the biggest surprise. The women in this book are fraught with the tremendous burden of appearing charming but unintelligent, and Lowman lets in enough sharp tones to give their dilemmas and revelations a substantial bite. Towles has fleshed out these familiar archetypes in a unique direction, so much more rich and thick than the flat characters with which novels of this time period are usually laden. Megan Volpert

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
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What listeners say about Rules of Civility

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

truly one of the best books I have ever read

I can't stop thinking about this book. I listen to a LOT of books and this one was perfection. Gorgeous narration. Incredible story.
To be honest, I started and restarted this one several times. And it took me a few hours to get into it. But once the story picks up it takes off running.
Very well done.

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Great story and narration

This is a great book. Writing was superb and prosaic at times. Really entertaining and a bit whimsical at times. Must read

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My new favorite author!

I’ve been reading Amor Towles’ novels in descending order of publication and have enjoyed each one more than the last. Rules of Civility may be my favorite yet. A paean to 1930s New York. Hope Mr Towles is working on his next masterpiece!

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I ❤️NY

I have always loved NYC and live it even more now. This was an amazing story— so well written and narrated. Perfect descriptions of the city- the time-the characters. Definitely a must read.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Delightful (fictional) memoir

Hard to characterize this book - a fictional memoir, I suppose. I didn't really care that much about plot or motivation because the writing is so enchanting and the narrator so delightful to listen to (oops, the protagonist would hate it that I ended a sentence with a preposition!) I loved the author's A Gentleman in Moscow so bought this book on faith and I was richly rewarded. Will look for other books with this narrator - could listen to her for hours (guess I just did!) She was perfectly suited to the character she narrated - although I did wonder why she didn't have more of a Brooklyn accent, I was glad she didn't.

As a bonus - I learned for the first time about Washington's Rules of Civility and have bought a copy. Worth looking up even if you don't listen to or read this book, but I strongly suggest you DO get this book.

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wonderful

story was well written.
performance by reader was excellent.
most of the Washingtonian rules of civility are still a propos.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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It's no "Moscow" but it's very good!

I read "A Gentleman in Moscow" before reading "Rules of Civility" and enjoyed both, but for different reasons. If you are looking for "A Gentleman" but set in NYC, you will be disappointed. Towles had crafted two beautiful fish-out-of-water stories where the protagonist must make their way through the unknown. Both do so, but that is where the similarities end. "Civility" is a fantastic look at 1938 New York through the eyes Katie Content. Though she was not born into the wealth and grandeur of the New York elite, she soon finds herself moving deeper and deeper into those gilded circles. How she maintains a sense of self, and self-preservation, is what moves this narrative along. With dazzling and evocative locations, a bevy of entertaining and endearing characters, and style to spare, "The Rules of Civility" is not to be missed!

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Really liked it

This book was a little slow to start, but I couldn’t put it down for most of it. Highly recommend.

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Best Towles so far

I have read other books by Towles but THIS ONE is the best yet. I love the way he writes, his similes, his descriptions, knowledge of his history of the times and details of the history of his setting. The story is simple yet enticing and his character development is wonderful. I highly recommend this book.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

This would be a good book to read

I like Audio books when I don’t have to marvel at the mastery of the language and don’t have to savor a slow moving story… That’s just me, I could not just get into the story..
Narrator’s voice to me sounded childish, nasal and distracting… Again just me, lots of people may love her and this book…

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