Reading: Table for Two
Follow
I didn’t understand the structure of this book—six unrelated short stories, and one novella with some characters from Rules of Civility—till well after I was inside the novella. I wish I had had the good sense to read Towles’ own description of the collection:
“When I finished assembling the collection, it occurred to me that in most of the pieces, a critical moment involved a pair of family members or strangers facing each other across a kitchen table to confront some new reality in their lives. I wasn’t conscious of this while writing the stories, but it must have sprung from a conviction in my subconscious that our lives can often change materially due to a single conversation at a table for two.”
As usual, Towles' writing is impeccable and the foibles of the upper class are well-observed. My favorite from the first half was “The Bootlegger,” about a man who illicitly records concerts at Carnegie Hall—super engaging, vivid, memorable. And I absolutely loved “Eve in Hollywood,” the novella, which was an enjoyable potboiler.
I absolutely loved Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow, so it surprised me that it took me so long to get into this collection. I'll chalk it up to busy-ness. Highly recommended.