Rules of Civility

1. General Impressions 

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

• What genre did this novel feel like to you? Mystery? Noir? Allegory? What other associations did you have with Towles’s style? 
• Does the version of 1930s New York that Towles paints here feel authentic? Does it seem based on research, or is it primarily influenced by other literary depictions? Why or why not?

2. Personal Reflection and Connection 

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

• Katey believes in the power of choice over that of luck to determine the trajectory of a person’s life; for instance, her choice to cede Tinker to Eve has dramatic and far-reaching results. Have there been seemingly insignificant decisions in your life that turned out, in retrospect, to be momentous? Do you believe that people are primarily the result of their choices or of the lucky breaks they do or don’t get?
• The novel considers different kinds of sexual and romantic mismatches. For example, Tinker and Eve have a loveless but guilt-fueled relationship; Tinker and Anne have a transactional understanding and an affair that the outside world would disapprove of; Katey and Wallace are failed lovers turned friends. Discuss the idea of inappropriateness in romantic pairings—is it worse when this mismatch is based on internal issues? External pressures?
• Eve’s accident and resulting disfigurement and disability completely transform her worldview—so much so that she rejects Tinker’s offer of marriage and leaves for LA. How does her reaction to a health crisis speak to responses to major health concerns you’ve witnessed?
• The novel is ostensibly the result of Katey’s encounter with a set of Walker Evans photographs that happen to feature Tinker from 30 years earlier. Have you ever had a profound moment of introspection from seeing a piece of visual art that seemed connected to your life?
• Most of the characters in the novel are on the make in some way; those who aren’t, like Henry, are considered odd outliers. What is your opinion of social climbing? What do you consider acceptable massaging of the truth to get ahead? What are the limits?

3. Societal and Cultural Context 

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

• The mindset of most characters is one of acquisition, competitiveness, and status-seeking—portrayed as reactions to the Great Depression of the 1930s. How does this understanding of New York’s demi-monde compare to the post-war vision of the American Dream or to the 21st-century focus on individual achievement?
• Several characters enlist to fight in WWII (or its precursor wars), a choice made possible by the small size of the standing army in the 1930s US. How does the proximity of the armed forces as an escape route differ from the way enlistment in the army is viewed today?
• The plot relies on the relative ease of reinventing oneself, which is portrayed as a key foundational feature of the US: Tinker remakes himself into a gentleman by using the same Rules of Civility that George Washington first laid out for himself; Eve escapes to LA, where she becomes a fixer for actress Olivia de Haviland. Is this kind of self-creation possible in the US today? Why or why not?

4. Literary Analysis 

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

• Discuss the idea of mirrors and echoes in the novel: Tinker is doubled in both of his photographic representations (the two Evans photographs and the prank photo Wallace has; Katey and Eve start the novel as foils of one another; Henry paints in the style of his hero Stuart Davis. Why are there so many doubles in Towles’s work?
• Why do the novel’s characters find Washington’s Rules of Civility and Thoreau’s Walden so meaningful? Discuss these books’ influence. 
• Consider the pun of Katey’s last name, “Kontent”: She insists that the stress falls on the first syllable, making the name mean the substance of something, while others are prone to putting the stress on the second syllable, making the name synonymous with satisfaction. Why does her name carry these associations? Do other names in the novel have symbolic meaning (Anne Grandyn? Tinker Grey?)
• How do ethnic, racial, and national identities play into characterization and self-determination in the novel? How does gender?
• Financial patronage, or the lack of it, is an important and pervasive feature of the novel’s relationships: Anne funds Tinker; Eve refuses her father’s money; Tinker wants to support Henry, who rejects this support. How does the novel treat money and its connection to power? Are there other considerations in whether someone accepts or turns down an offer of patronage?

5. Creative Engagement 

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

• Towles’s collection of short fiction Table for Two features “Eve in Hollywood,” a noir novella that explores what happens to Eve when she leaves New York and becomes a fixer for Olivia de Haviland and a major studio after resolving a thorny mystery. If you’ve read this work, how does the Eve portrayed there compare with the one here? If not, are you interested in reading it? Why or why not?
• Cast the movie of this novel. How did you picture each of the characters as you were reading?

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