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I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

- Amor Towles
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Author:
Amor Towles
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I have been writing since I was a kid. I also traveled a good deal for my work and did extended stays in places like Geneva.

Of course, you wouldn't want to re-create the era of aristocracy; it was a totally unfair era. The finer aspects of it were admirable, and so there's nostalgia for that: the behavior, the values, the cultural sensitivities.

In the contemporary world, we think of politeness as surface behavior, like frosting - it's sweet and attractive and finishes off the cake. But 19th century nobility and the enlightened thinkers and stoics before them viewed manners in a very different way. To them, manners are an outward expression of an inward struggle.

Growing up, I didn't come from a musical family. Neither of my parents played an instrument, sang out loud, or listened to the radio with frequency. The record collection in the living room was only about 2 feet long - and that included 4 solid inches of Neil Diamond and Herb Alpert.

I've been writing fiction since I was a kid. From the age of 15 to 25, I probably wrote more than 50 short stories, one of which was published in 'The Paris Review' in 1989.

When I visited Moscow for the first time in 1998, I wandered into the historic Metropol Hotel as a curious tourist simply to ogle the giant painted glass ceiling that hangs over the grand restaurant off the lobby. It was the memory of that short visit that prompted me, some years later, to set 'A Gentleman in Moscow' in the hotel.

I had read Harold Bloom's 'Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?' Late in his life, having read everything, Bloom asked which books had given him wisdom. I had just read a bunch of contemporary novels that had no wisdom for me.

I make extensive outlines before I write a book. I usually know what will happen. I know the characters, and I know what they are about.

Strangely enough, my favorite airport is Logan Airport in Boston - but largely for sentimental reasons. My first real summer job was working as a journeyman for the airport's resident maintenance crew - a small army of union electricians, plumbers, and carpenters.

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I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.

I totally remember that: being 25 and unemployed and trying to stretch each cappuccino for 60 minutes.