This is a surprising collection of short stories. They vary in subject matter and are all interesting in their own right. I really appreciate the quality of writing from Amor Towles. Others have described his writing as “elegant and old world.” I agree there is a special characteristic in his writing that reminds me of the classics. He has also written Rules of Civility (2011), A Gentleman in Moscow (2016), and Lincoln Highway (2021). A Gentleman in Moscow was recently added as a series on Hulu which stars Ewan McGregor. It was very entertaining comparing the story as I had imagined it with how the actors interpreted the characters. The production and direction were very well done, and I wasn’t disappointed. The end result was artistic and typical of the smaller European films I adore.
The stories show different aspects of the human race in a mixture of settings from the post Russian revolution to old Hollywood. The last story is considered a novella or short novel and is a continuation of one of the characters from Rules of Civility. One of the aspects of Towles’ writing that I really appreciate is how his writing style is concise yet very descriptive. He seems to know a great deal about human kind and conveys it in the variety of his characters. I definitely recommend his newest book. I hope you’ll find it as satisfying as I did!
