I have read all of this New York author’s previous books. Rules of Civility was so-so, A Gentleman in Moscow was superb, and The Lincoln Higway was a bit disappointing. I have had this one on hold for months.
In this one he tries his hand at six fictional short stories set in York City in the 20th century and one longer two part detective tale set in Los Angeles in the 1930s. It is a though he is testing his own skills in entirely new genres, although how he will judge success is not clear.
I enjoyed all of the New York short stories, some more than others. The Bootlegger in particular is a beautiful tale. All of the short stories are infused with Towles distinctive reflections on human nature with smooth prose and interesting similies and metaphores. But in The Didominico Fragment, Towles seems to be a bit too absorbed in demonstrating his knowledge of the rarified world of antique art collections to the reader.
The detective thriller/murder mystery is in Hollywood with a host of confusing characters. A retired New York homicide detective becomes involved, along with various others in the two-way mirror image of a nude Olivia de Haveland, among others admiring herself in what she thought was a solitay photograph used as blackmail by amateurs.This turns into an extremely complex plot involving a murder mystery within a murder mystery, a feindishly complicated massive blackmailing scam, and numerous famous Hollywood actors and actresses. I almost gave up, as it seemed that it would be impossible to connect all the characters, but I think that Towles ultimately does so with aplomb- but you will know this for sure only if you are better at keeping all the characters straight than I am. I trust that he succeeded, but I am not entirely sure. I am sure that lovers of murder mysteries will love it, but that is not my favorite genre.
How does this book compare with the author’s previous works? In my assessment, it is not as good as A Gentleman in Moscow, but better than the other two.
9/10
The Passionate Reader 