The Lincoln Highway
A novel by Amor Towles set in 1954.
Where The Lincoln Highway comes up1 episode or test
- 1Read four 1954 novelsAll written within about 18 months
- 2Span four different worldsSouthern Gothic, Harlem, LA noir, commuters
- 3Absorb period sensibilitiesA reminder of different sensibilities then
- 4Draft The Lincoln HighwaySet in 1954
From Amor Towles on The Lincoln Highway
What was said about The Lincoln Highway
Towles read four 1954-era novels to absorb the period's sensibilities. Before drafting The Lincoln Highway, set in 1954, Amor Towles read Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and Chandler's The Long Goodbye. All were written within about 18 months of each other, with totally different vocabularies and concerns.
He says he is not a research-driven writer; the reading was "triggering for me a reminder of some of the different sensibilities of that time." The four span Southern Gothic, Harlem, Los Angeles noir and veterans commuting from Connecticut to Madison Avenue.
The Mindset Behind An Unforgettable Novel (Amor Towles Interview)
Before writing it, Towles read four books from the 1954 era (O'Connor, Baldwin, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Chandler) to recall the sensibilities of the time, without doing heavy research.
Towles read four 1954-era novels to absorb the period's sensibilities. Before drafting The Lincoln Highway, set in 1954, Amor Towles read Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and Chandler's The Long Goodbye. All were written within about 18 months of each other, with totally different vocabularies and concerns.
He says he is not a research-driven writer; the reading was "triggering for me a reminder of some of the different sensibilities of that time." The four span Southern Gothic, Harlem, Los Angeles noir and veterans commuting from Connecticut to Madison Avenue.
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