Table for Two: Fictions

1. General Impressions

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

• Consider the novella “Eve in Hollywood” in relation to Towles’s novel Rules of Civility, in which Eve Ross, the novella’s protagonist, is also a central character. How does the novella deepen or complicate your understanding of the novel’s characters and setting?
• Which stories stood out to you as most compelling? What do these standouts have in common?
• How do the stories fit together, even though they feature unrelated characters and take place in different times and places? What makes them work as a single book? 

2. Personal Reflection and Connection 

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences and perspectives.

• Choose a story that made you feel grief, anger, laughter, or any other strong emotion. How did the story evoke this emotional response, and how did your emotional reaction contribute to your understanding of the story’s themes?
• Throughout these stories, characters negotiate social boundaries—seeking freedom and self-expression while trying to maintain the approval of their communities. Reflect on a time when you felt that your identity, desires, or freedom of expression were at odds with social expectations. How did you navigate this tension?
• The ending of “The Line” seems to suggest that Pushkin will resume his life in the US more or less exactly as he lived it in post-revolutionary Russia.