Table for Two

by Amor Towles

Five days a week they were proving their fealty to their calling through the unwavering completion of menial tasks for menial pay—while at the same time enriching their creative sensibilities through strategic osmosis.

i wonder how this might bend many career paths

The road along which a young man discovers what he is capable of is no midwestern interstate. It has no uninterrupted views to the horizon, no painted white lines, no brightly lit signs indicating the distance to one’s destination. Rather, it is a narrow and winding byway crowded with undergrowth and overhung with branches.

The afternoon was warm and sunny—more beginning of summer than end of spring.

clever

There was a moment of collective silence set in relief by a few coughs, then a round of applause as Mr. Isserlis took the stage, accompanied by his accompanist.

what a perfect desription of the moment before a live performance.