Table for Two is divided into two parts, one labeled “New York” and the other “Los Angeles.” The New York part consists of six short stories set mostly in the Big Apple. The first story, “The Line”, set in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, follows a farmer dragged to Moscow due to his wife’s fervent devotion to Communism. Genial despite his joblessness, he finds a niche for himself by cheerfully waiting in lines that others cannot, for bread, milk and other essentials. Eventually, he expands the operation, hiring others to wait in even more lines. The booming business feels a little too capitalistic for his wife, but even her idealism has its weak spots. Eventually, the farmer and his wife come to New York, where his friendliness finally goes too far.
The other five stories are more firmly rooted in New York, and even more narrowly, in Manhattan. A wannabe writer discovers a talent for forgery while working in a used bookstore, with disastrous results. A husband desperate to appear cultured slowly loses his mind when his neighbor at a classical music concert is breaking the rules by recording the performance. An old-money art expert nearly done spending off his inheritance sees one last chance to sell off a curious family heirloom, and goes to desperate lengths to make the deal happen.
These stories are imaginative and well-written, but the repetitiveness of the subject matter quickly rankles. It’s hard to care deeply about the quirky foibles of wealthy Manhattanites. Over and over again, the stories reminded me of the kind of thing that might appear in the New York Times’s Metropolitan Diary column. If you’re familiar with the treacly stories that appear there, you’ll know what a damning assessment that is.
The Los Angeles part consists of a novella titled Eve in Hollywood. This is ostensibly a sequel to Towles’s novel Rules of Civility, though the titular character, Evelyn Ross, is the only character from the original present. I read and enjoyed Rules of Civility years ago, but I had largely forgotten the details, such as the reason behind Evelyn’s scar and noticeable limp. Evelyn is a character that is a easy to root for in spite of the fact that she is so thinly drawn. She is barely more than a plucky girl with a heart of gold, but that is a tried and tested formula for a reason.
Evelyn’s story begins when she impulsively decides to change her railway ticket for Chicago with one for L.A. On her way there, she meets a retired police officer, and when she moves into a hotel she quickly befriends a washed-up movie star and his chauffeur, a wannabe stuntman. The plot doesn’t really kick into gear until Evelyn meets a young Olivia de Havilland, about to appear in a supporting role in Gone With the Wind. When some pernicious photographers conspire to tarnish de Havilland’s squeaky-clean image with the public, Evelyn goes to war. It’s a cute story, but one lacking much in the way of substance.
Amor Towles’s has written three novels, two of which I really loved, and the third of which I mostly liked despite a terrible ending. When he returns to longer fiction, I will be waiting eagerly, but I think I’ll pass on any future short story collections.