An irresistible and astonishingly assured debut about working class-women and world-weary WASPs in 1930s New York...in the crisp, noirish prose of the era, Towles portrays complex relationships in a city that is at once melting pot and elitist enclave - and a thoroughly modern heroine who fearlessly claims her place in it. -O, the Oprah Magazine

With this snappy period piece, Towles resurrects the cinematic black-and-white Manhattan of the golden age...[his] characters are youthful Americans in tricky times, trying to create authentic lives. -The New York Times Book Review

This very good first novel about striving and surviving in Depression-era Manhattan deserves attention...The great strength of Rules of Civility is in the sharp, sure-handed evocation of Manhattan in the late '30s. -Wall Street Journal

Put on some Billie Holiday, pour a dry martini and immerse yourself in the eventful life of Katey Kontent...[Towles] clearly knows the privileged world he's writing about, as well as the vivid, sometimes reckless characters who inhabit it. -People

[A] wonderful debut novel...Towles [plays] with some of the great themes of love and class, luck and fated encounters that animated Wharton's novels. -The Chicago Tribune

Glittering...filled with snappy dialogue, sharp observations and an array of terrifically drawn characters...Towles writes with grace and verve about the mores and manners of a society on the cusp of radical change. -NPR.org

Glamorous Gotham in one to relish...a book that enchants on first reading and only improves on the second. -The Philadelphia Inquirer