Table for Two
Rules of Civility #1.5 incl'd
by Amor Towles
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, J. Smith-Cameron
Why Listen to This Audiobook?
Six New York stories and an LA novella from Amor Towles — proof that a master novelist is even sharper when he only has room for the essential cuts.
- Great if you want: literary short fiction with moral bite and social precision
- Listening experience: intimate and episodic — each story lands like a short film
- Narration: Ballerini and Smith-Cameron trade off naturally, matching Towles' tonal shifts
- Skip if: you need a single sustained narrative arc to stay engaged
About This Audiobook
Manhattan cafes and Hollywood studios provide the intimate backdrops for this collection of interconnected stories that explore the pivotal moments when lives intersect across restaurant tables and chance encounters. Set primarily around the turn of the millennium in New York City, these tales examine the delicate negotiations of modern relationships, the consequences of split-second decisions, and the fragile architecture of human connection. The collection's centerpiece follows the indomitable Evelyn Ross as she abandons her planned return to Indiana and instead ventures to 1930s Los Angeles, where she navigates Hollywood's golden age and reinvents her destiny among the ambitious dreamers of Tinseltown.
Edoardo Ballerini and J. Smith-Cameron bring remarkable depth to Towles's sophisticated prose, with each narrator capturing the distinct rhythms of different eras and social milieus. Ballerini's measured delivery perfectly suits the contemplative nature of the New York stories, while Smith-Cameron's performance infuses the Hollywood novella with period-appropriate glamour and grit. Their combined talents illuminate the subtle psychological undercurrents that drive these character studies, making the audio format ideal for savoring Towles's elegant observations about human nature and the unpredictable turns that define our most consequential conversations.