Table for Two
Table for Two ~ Amor Towles
Table for Two is comprised of 6 short stories and a novella. Without going into too much detail, because I don’t want to ruin anything for you, below are the bare outlines of the stories.
The Line – Irina is a fierce believer in the Bolshevik cause, and she and her husband Pushkin leave their farm to go to Moscow in 1916. Irina is able to find work, but Pushkin cannot, and spends his days standing in line for food and other items, making friends along the way.
The Ballad of Timothy Touchett – Timothy works in a rare bookshop, and follows the work of famous authors. His boss convinces him to forge a signature on a first edition book, thus increasing its worth by magnitudes. He gets used to the good life.
Hasta Luego – Jerry and Smitty meet at the airport in New York, and their flights are cancelled when the airport is snowed in. Smitty helps Jerry to procure a hotel room for the night, and they spend the evening in the hotel bar, where Smitty is the life of the party.
I Will Survive – Nell’s mother asks her to follow her stepfather, John, and find out whether he is having an affair. Her mother changes her mind, but Nell wants to know. She cannot picture John doing this, but wants to be able to put her mother’s mind at rest.
The Bootlegger – Mary and her husband attend musical performances at Carnegie Hall. Mary enjoys herself, though her mind wanders some, but her husband Tommy is driven to distraction from the get go, when he notices that the elderly man next to him is recording the performances.
The DiDomenico Fragment – A 15th century painting by Renaissance artist DiDomenico, Annunciation, was owned by a wealthy patriarch. He has it cut into smaller pieces for his four sons, who then have it cut into smaller pieces each generation. Skinner is one of these descendants, and has long ago sold his fragment, but is trying to earn a commission by helping a wealthy collector to purchase the fragment owned by his cousin, Peter.
Eve in Hollywood – This is the novella, and reunites us with Evelyn Ross, one of the characters from Towles’ earlier book, Rules of Civility (Link to my review). At the end of that book, she leaves New York on a train to Chicago. In this novella, we learn that she extended her trip beyond Chicago to Los Angeles, where she befriends several people. Each chapter of the novella is told from the point of view of one of these characters, the most famous of which is Olivia De Havilland, who played Melanie in Gone With the Wind. It is her friendship with Olivia that provides most of the drama.
I have really enjoyed all of Towles work, my favorite being A Gentleman in Moscow. This collection was no exception, he is a gifted storyteller, and is particularly good at painting characters that you come to care about. Sometimes they have interconnected lives (like in Eve in Hollywood) and sometimes they do not. He clearly takes great care in crafting his stories. Highly recommended.
20 Comments
Kyria @ Travel Spot
I have really enjoyed the works I have read by Towles — The Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway, so am glad to hear that you liked this one, as I will have to put it on my TBR. So far, I am batting 0 on the books you are reviewing, as in, I have not yet read ANY of them! Let’s see if the streak continues!
J
Kyria, I really like Towles work too. I loved A Gentleman in Moscow so much, I listened to it twice.
I’m sure you are going to have read quite a few of my books, some of them really made the rounds with the Cool Bloggers.
Ernie
I have not read this author’s work. It sounds interesting. I’ve not ready many collections of short stories, but you’re review is convincing me that I need to give this a try. I really want to know how I Will Survive ends. On the edge of my seat!
J
Hint…not how you expect!
Jenny
The only book I’ve read by Towles is Gentleman in Moscow, and I really enjoyed that. I defintely want to read more by him- I’ll put this on my TBR.
J
I hope you like it! The novella includes a character from Rules of Civility, but I don’t think one has to have read that in order to enjoy this one.
Maya
This is my book club’s pick for December… I haven’t read it yet, because I don’t want to forget the details before we discuss it 🙂
(Saving your review to read when I’ve read the book.)
J
Oh, fun! I hope you enjoy it!
Sarah
I love this series because I am updating my library holds and Libby holds fior winter, so these posts are great timing for me 🙂
J
Glad to be of service Sarah!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Mhm… I dont know this author… And I am not much into essays. I think I pass on this one.
J
I’m not always a fan of short stories either, but I love his work.
Elisabeth
This is so exciting. A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my all-time favourite “modern” books. I’ll admit after re-reading some classics and hating them a second time around, I don’t think I’m brave enough to re-read it just in case I no longer like it…
BUT, I also loved The Lincoln Highway. Rules of Civility was a miss for me (actually a DNF), but I had no idea he had a collection like this which seems perfect. I rarely read short stories or novellas but I have a feeling he will write a great collection! Going to add this to my library hold list ASAP.
J
I think you will enjoy it! A Gentleman in Moscow is my favorite, and was the first book I ever listened to. I loved it so much I listened to it twice. <3
Margaret
I’ve read at least one by Towles (Lincoln Highway) and loved it. Not sure how essays/short stories would work to discuss in Book Club. We’ve avoided them for that reason.
J
Maya above said it was her book club’s choice for December, so maybe you’ll have to check back. I think there’s plenty to discuss here, and not a LOT of short stories, so it could work.
Tierney
Table for Two is excellent! I highly recommend. Also, have you considered writing episode synopsis for Netflix? The ones that tell you nothing important/no spoilers but still, actually, technically tell you about the entire episode. These were really, really good synopsis. I was laughing at all that was left unsaid.
J
LOL, thanks! If the layoffs continue at my work, I may keep this in mind…
coco
I didn’t like the gengleman in moscow when i tried 2 years ago, maybe I should give this a try as they are short stories.
J
I’ll be interested to know if you like these better, since you didn’t like the book you read. It’s interesting when authors write things that are a different genre.