Reading Schedule for "A Gentleman in Moscow"

Plus alternate book covers

Okay, we admit it. It’s been a heavy year on Close Reads. As I Lay Dying. 1984. Tess. Laurus. Those are all great books, but that isn’t exactly a happy reading list, is it? Not much of a vacation list. Hopefully our next book will be a bit of a salve, though.

One of the most beloved and popular novels published last decade, Amor Towles’ novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, is a charming and stylish example of contemporary historical fiction, a book that takes place in Russia but doesn’t pretend to be Russian, that is about difficult subject matter but is dripping with optimism and joy. It’s about finding camaraderie in the face of loneliness and pleasure in the face of tragedy. It’s about what it means to be happy, what is means to be brave, what it means to be hopeful, what it means to be virtuous. Is it a Great Book, capital G, capital B? No, probably not. But it’s a book worth reading and discussing, and it’s a book that itself brings a lot of people joy. So with that in mind, I’m excited to dig in and chat about it with this community.

Our good buddy Ian Andrews, from Center for Lit, will be joining Heidi and I as we dig in. If you listened to the Lord of the Rings episodes from last year, you know Ian is an elite conversationalist, so that should be fun.

Of course, you will be wanting the schedule, so without further . . . beating around the bush . .

Schedule

Please note: the following dates are when the episodes will be posted, not when they will be recorded. I included details on the sections for those listening to the audio book.

Episode 1 (September 19): Pages 1-53 (through “anyway”)
Episode 2 (September 26): Pages 54-105 (to the end of book one)
Episode 3 (October 4): Pages 109-167 (book two)
Episode 4 (October 11): Pages 171-247 (through “adjustments”)
Episode 5 (October 18): Pages 248-317 (to the end of book three)
Episode 6 (October 25): Pages 321-375 (book four)
Episode 7 (November 1): Pages 379-462 (to the end of the book)
Episode 8 (November 8): Q&A Episode

Alternate Covers

In the United States, A Gentleman in Moscow has has been printed with the same cover since its original publication, a sure sign of its popularity (when books have a new cover for the paperback you can usually assume it didn’t do quite as well as the publishers hoped and are taking advantage of the opportunity to rebrand), but there are a few covers from overseas that are worth looking at.

Check out this one, for example, from the U.K. edition.

Penguin Random House shared an interview with designer, Melissa Four, in which she shared her process for this cover. You can check that out here.

Meanwhile, here is a cover from China:

Most of the other covers I found tend to follow the pattern of the American version, a cover which I find to be nondescript but which was highly successful in generating sales.

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When she reviewed the book for Vox upon its publication, Constance Grady described it as “relentlessly charming,” and she didn’t exactly mean it as a compliment. I agree, but I also find it compelling because Towles relentlessness is ripe for dialog, so I can’t wait to see where the conversation takes us: what criticisms will be levied, what passages will be enjoyed, what scenes will be replayed. Hope you’ll join us along the way.

Happy reading.