Rules of Civility

by Amor Towles

I was sixteen when the Depression began, just old enough to have had all my dreams and expectations duped by the effortless glamour of the twenties. It was as if America launched the Depression just to teach Manhattan a lesson.

house salad—a terrific concoction of iceberg greens, cold blue cheese and warm red bacon. If I were a country, I would have made it my flag.

when some incident sheds a favorable light on an old and absent friend, that’s about as good a gift as chance intends to offer.