Talking Volumes: Amor Towles on 'The Lincoln Highway'

Host Kerri Miller’s third Talking Volumes event of the season took place on Oct. 13 with Amor Towles, whose latest book is “The Lincoln Highway.”

From the publisher:  

Amor Towles is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “Rules of Civility” and “A Gentleman in Moscow.” The two novels have collectively sold more than 4 million copies and have been translated into more than 30 languages. Towles is back with his third novel, “The Lincoln Highway.” 

In June 1954, 18-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served 15 months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his 8-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction — to the city of New York.  

Spanning just 10 days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters and themes.  

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