Amor Towles was running out of time.
He needed to submit his manuscript to his editor, but he still hadn’t come up with a title for his new collection of stories.
In a recent What We’re Reading interview, Amor explained how hectic the publishing schedule can be, “You are reading that manuscript from beginning to end 10 times. You're doing it almost on a daily basis, or every other day...You're reading the piece from beginning to end as you're fixing things and looking for errors and refining sentences and double checking everything and reading it to yourself.”
He re-read the stories and finally a theme emerged: two people sitting at a table, talking.
He said, “I think we do end up eventually…literally or figuratively at the table with our spouse, with our child, with our sibling, with our colleague, with a potential lover…where life is being hashed out in real time. And where those conversations can have a great impact on the way the relationships evolve going forward.”
The collection was finally named: Table for Two.
Earlier years
Although Amor Towles had wanted to be a writer since he was in first grade and went to college for his masters in English, his first career was in finance—he and a friend started an investment firm.
Amor explained, “I ended up being a little claustrophobic in my illegal sublet. A little impatient and also broke.” He worked in that firm for 20 years.
In his forties, Amor wrote his first novel, Rules of Civility. After it was published in 2011, he left the firm to write full-time. He would go on to publish A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) and The Lincoln Highway (2021).
Table for Two
Table for Two was published in 2024 and recently re-released in paperback. The book consists of six short stories and a novella. Amor explained that he turns to short fiction when he’s between novels.
He said, “For me, writing a novel is a three or four year effort and all-consuming, so before I'm about to launch myself into that next novel, I may write a few short pieces, just sort of as a variation, just because it's enjoyable.”
The six short stories in Table for Two are mostly set in New York City—a Russian farmer and his wife emigrate to New York on a whim in “The Line;” a businessman finds himself responsible for a recovering alcoholic when their flights are cancelled in a snowstorm in “Hasta Luego,” and more, each with Amor’s signature wit and storytelling mastery.
Eve in Hollywood is set in Los Angeles. A novella, it brings 1930s Hollywood noir alive, told from seven points of view. Amor was pleased with the harmony of the selected stories and thought Eve in Hollywood was a good bookend to them.
He explained, “New York and Los Angeles stand out in that they have reached a mythic status, not only for Americans but around the world, anywhere in the world…because they're both cities of dreams. So it was very nice to have the collection sort of be thinking about it in those two cities, sort of juxtaposed.”
A new novel?
Yes--a new Amor Towles novel is in the works. Avid readers know that Amor tends to incorporate characters from his other stories into his new works: Eve Ross from Eve in Hollywood was originally a character in Rules of Civility who Amor thought deserved more of her story told, and Dicky Vanderwhile was another character from Rules of Civility that ended up in A Gentleman from Moscow.
So, can we expect to see a returning character in Amor’s next novel? He answered, “This novel…begins in Cairo at the end of the Second World War. And I'm maybe halfway through it now…yes, two of the characters from Table for Two will appear in the story, but I wouldn't tell you which ones.”
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Learn more about Amor Towles and his work on his website.
Looking for a good book recommendation? Want to recommend a book you've just read? Check out our What We're Reading page on Facebook, or text us at 218-326-1234.
What We're Reading is made possible in part by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
