--- product_id: 12320205 title: "Rules of Civility: A Novel" price: "₩33169" currency: KRW in_stock: true reviews_count: 9 url: https://www.desertcart.kr/products/12320205-rules-of-civility-a-novel store_origin: KR region: South Korea --- # Rules of Civility: A Novel **Price:** ₩33169 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Rules of Civility: A Novel - **How much does it cost?** ₩33169 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.kr](https://www.desertcart.kr/products/12320205-rules-of-civility-a-novel) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Rules of Civility: A Novel [Towles, Amor] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Rules of Civility: A Novel Review: Great book. - Reviewing “Rules of Civility” is a pleasure. The novel resembles classic American literature, reminiscent of Hemingway's style. The storytelling is engaging, with exquisite language. The plot unfolds at a delightful pace, and the writing's depth and elegance are captivating. Unlike many modern American novels, this one doesn't seem tailored for film or TV adaptations. Reading it is refreshing, like a breath of fresh air. It was an absolute delight, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Review: Loved the first half, but starts to fall apart midway through - I really enjoyed reading this book. No I don't think Amor Towles is the next F. Scott, but I really enjoyed the language and metaphors that some people are blasting in the reviews. Unfortunately, the pacing fell off somewhere around the middle of the book and it just wandered around for a while and then decided to stop. The very ending made sense, but Tinker's desires and goals could have been woven better into the rest of the novel so that the ending would seem to the reader the only way it could or should have ended. Instead it just sort of quietly stopped after meandering around for a while. I felt the introduction of Tinker's brother and the role that character played was completely extraneous, and should have been edited out or fixed to be more effective. The author seemed to try to use the brother to justify Tinker's choices and I didn't buy it. I actually felt that way about a lot of the secondary characters. Their roles were elevated beyond their usefulness. A tighter focus on Tinker, Eve, Katie and Anne (oh, and what about Val? His cameos weren't even long enough to generate interest, and they should have been!) while getting rid of all the girlfriends and the Texan with the maitre d', and and and would have greatly improved this book. Some of the literary allusions fell flat, and the author didn't quite seem to be able to keep a little Mike Hammer or something from his voice, although it detracted only slightly. This review sounds uber-critical for someone who says she loved reading this book, but that is because I was really paying attention, which is the biggest complement I can pay to an author. Now for a few of the things I really liked: I loved the voice of the main character. Her imperfect self was imminently knowable and believable to me, although the intro and the ending had me kind of wondering if I still cared. I loved the description of the Russian club--this author really gets the truth of these Russians and described their emotional way of relating to things beautifully. I felt like I had been there. And my favorite part was the descriptive prose and imagery. On one of the first pages, this caught my eye: "In the 1950's, America had picked up the globe by the heels and shaken the change from its pockets. Europe had become a poor cousin--all crests and no table settings. And the indistinguishable countries of Africa, Asia, and South America had just begun skittering across our schoolroom walls like salamanders in the sun. True, the Communists were out there, somewhere, but with Joe McCarthy in the grave and no one on the Moon, for the time being the Russians just skulked across the pages of spy novels." What a beautifully succinct way to set the time and arrogantly optimistic American mindset for the book! So in spite of its shortcomings, this book is worth the time it takes to read it and I do recommend it although with the caveat that you will probably enjoy the first half and then cruise through the second without the full satisfaction that might have been... ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #10,640 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #106 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #397 in Literary Fiction (Books) #619 in American Literature (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (45,150) | | Dimensions | 1.1 x 5.5 x 8.4 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | ISBN-10 | 0143121162 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0143121169 | | Item Weight | 1.05 pounds | | Language | English | | Print length | 368 pages | | Publication date | June 26, 2012 | | Publisher | Penguin Books | ## Images ![Rules of Civility: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91yPmeFovFL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great book. *by A***A on October 1, 2025* Reviewing “Rules of Civility” is a pleasure. The novel resembles classic American literature, reminiscent of Hemingway's style. The storytelling is engaging, with exquisite language. The plot unfolds at a delightful pace, and the writing's depth and elegance are captivating. Unlike many modern American novels, this one doesn't seem tailored for film or TV adaptations. Reading it is refreshing, like a breath of fresh air. It was an absolute delight, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved the first half, but starts to fall apart midway through *by M***E on October 7, 2012* I really enjoyed reading this book. No I don't think Amor Towles is the next F. Scott, but I really enjoyed the language and metaphors that some people are blasting in the reviews. Unfortunately, the pacing fell off somewhere around the middle of the book and it just wandered around for a while and then decided to stop. The very ending made sense, but Tinker's desires and goals could have been woven better into the rest of the novel so that the ending would seem to the reader the only way it could or should have ended. Instead it just sort of quietly stopped after meandering around for a while. I felt the introduction of Tinker's brother and the role that character played was completely extraneous, and should have been edited out or fixed to be more effective. The author seemed to try to use the brother to justify Tinker's choices and I didn't buy it. I actually felt that way about a lot of the secondary characters. Their roles were elevated beyond their usefulness. A tighter focus on Tinker, Eve, Katie and Anne (oh, and what about Val? His cameos weren't even long enough to generate interest, and they should have been!) while getting rid of all the girlfriends and the Texan with the maitre d', and and and would have greatly improved this book. Some of the literary allusions fell flat, and the author didn't quite seem to be able to keep a little Mike Hammer or something from his voice, although it detracted only slightly. This review sounds uber-critical for someone who says she loved reading this book, but that is because I was really paying attention, which is the biggest complement I can pay to an author. Now for a few of the things I really liked: I loved the voice of the main character. Her imperfect self was imminently knowable and believable to me, although the intro and the ending had me kind of wondering if I still cared. I loved the description of the Russian club--this author really gets the truth of these Russians and described their emotional way of relating to things beautifully. I felt like I had been there. And my favorite part was the descriptive prose and imagery. On one of the first pages, this caught my eye: "In the 1950's, America had picked up the globe by the heels and shaken the change from its pockets. Europe had become a poor cousin--all crests and no table settings. And the indistinguishable countries of Africa, Asia, and South America had just begun skittering across our schoolroom walls like salamanders in the sun. True, the Communists were out there, somewhere, but with Joe McCarthy in the grave and no one on the Moon, for the time being the Russians just skulked across the pages of spy novels." What a beautifully succinct way to set the time and arrogantly optimistic American mindset for the book! So in spite of its shortcomings, this book is worth the time it takes to read it and I do recommend it although with the caveat that you will probably enjoy the first half and then cruise through the second without the full satisfaction that might have been... ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ New York Remains the Hotspot for Aspirations *by M***T on November 18, 2011* With agility and sensuous prose, Amor Towles takes us from the final days of the Depression to the cusp of World War II. He educates the reader through flashbacks starting with New Year's Eve in Manhattan in 1937 and creates a smashing narrator in the character of Katey Kontent. She is an orphan of Russian immigrants, apparently statuesque, quite pretty and smart. Not only smart with repartee, but she is a working girl who, although working in a structured secretarial pool, is determined to be the best. It is hard to believe that she is street-smart, but she can handle herself in any situation, business meeting or hobnobbing with the Gatsbyesque crowd she easily infiltrates. Towles begins with the turning point in her life. Forward to 1966 when Katey and her husband are at a show at the Museum of Modern Art when she recognizes two photographs of Tinker (Theodore) Grey. Towles does not really return to that time until the very end of the novel. In between, from 1937 on, is the story of the smart social milieu of the rich, used-to-be-rich, wannabes and some talented, "civil" young people. Katey Kontent meets Evelyn (Eve) Ross in a boardinghouse. Eve comes from wealth but wants to be a free spirit. Towles depicts her flitting from hotspots to dinner parties with aplomb while she remains a mystery. She literally and figuratively moves away from best friend Katey but carries around her phone number as the emergency contact. Eve and Katey meet Tinker Grey on 12/31/37 and there is a subtle competition for his heart. Tinker is a secretive bon vivant. Along with other WASPy characters, Dicky, Bitsy, Wallace, Mason we get reminiscences of Fitzgerald and Wharton. The most individual character was Eve's father, a wealthy man, who loved his erratic daughter and wanted to protect her. He knew he could not restrain her but his graciousness and fatherly worry was decidedly apparent. He was quite real. Towles' dialogue is filled with snappy retorts, especially from the women. I felt that Katey possessed unusual self-confidence in this era when women were more conventional. Her secret benefactor also had panache. New York is seen in all its splendor and degradation of the period. The tight group of characters Towles developed as a pre-jet jetset, who are often estranged from their families, enjoy their liquor. Sloshing from scene to scene, no one much could get through a day without a drink or the offer of one. Nothing much has changed, it appears, in haute society. Towles does a remarkable job of modeling the plot with "real" aspirations often provoked by quick decisions. Towles is clever: is Gotham, a Conde Nast periodical, really The New Yorker? Do we have a few chances to grab onto the best course for our lives? Is integrity the winner despite the menacing prejudice of real "old" money? We all have the chance to be amazed and can create a new version of ourselves at any point. ## Frequently Bought Together - Rules of Civility: A Novel - The Lincoln Highway: A Novel - Table for Two: Fictions --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.kr/products/12320205-rules-of-civility-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.kr/products/12320205-rules-of-civility-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart South Korea* *Store origin: KR* *Last updated: 2026-05-07*