• Rules of Civility

  • A Novel
  • By: Amor Towles
  • Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
  • Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (9,650 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

What listeners say about Rules of Civility

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5,632
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent novel of NY City High Société

This book kept me up throughout the night to finish it. Engaging characters, twists and surprises kept my interest throughout. The narrators voicing was clear and provided in a pleasant unobtrusive manner.

I came to this after reading A Gentleman in Moscow. To me that is the better of the two novels, being a tighter story with less of the sometimes slightly wordy style from this earlier book. Both are worth a read or listen.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not Relatable

socialite looking for a step up into money world. lots of old money earned by someone else and the kids spending it.

More emphasis on Tinker would have been nice...he was genuine.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Pleasure to listen

Well written and well read. Nice details of NYC and some of its peoples in 30’s, their reaction to global military struggles of some other nations. Great acting out of NYC conversations as well as soothing voice reading the narrative. Probably great for driving.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great story

Amor Towels is a good story teller. enjoyed his book. Interesting characters and storyline. performance was very good.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Nice period book

Well written and presented. Good flow and easy to follow. Excellent character development. Captivating story. End a bit off putting

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Clarity grows with time

Maybe it's just me, but I was slightly confused in the first third. I couldn't quite tell where this was going. But then once I understood the premise, and the very story was about the almost mundane life that this interesting man "chose" to lead, it became one of the best books I've ever read. So beautifully written, such a wonderful depiction of how one acts when their life becomes very very small, but they somehow make simplicity dignified, meaningful, and beautiful.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

enjoyed this

greatly enjoyed this, great narrator and I quite liked the progression of the story. IT doesn't read like a typical modern novel, which is a good thing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A memorable romantic book

For the first time I read this book years ago. The audio version is perfect. I cannot imagine anyone could read this better than Ms Lowman.
The story reminded me of a hundred years old Hungarian book by Antal Szerb ( Journey by Moonlight).
I wanted to refresh my memory of Eve Ross after I read Eve Goes to Hollywood.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect narrator for this intriguing book.

Sometimes it is hard to follow an audiobook with a lot of different characters, but not this time. The interesting mixture of people springs to life, without the accents being overly done. The characters develop in unexpected directions, but maintain their integrity. It starts as a poor working girl falls in love with rich boy story, but it is actually a much more complex tale of human emotions. The different layers of plot keep you guessing to the very end. Well worth the read!

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110 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great tone, setting and characters

I really enjoyed the tone of this book. The author brougth the city to life in it's pages. You could just picture these girls out and about around town just trying to figure it all out. I love this story of just an average girl who is anything but. I also like the little attention to detail that help you to conjure what life was like in NYC during the late 30's.

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23 people found this helpful