Ulysses dreams of finding his wife and child. Some have wondered how Emmett will be able to live with the knowledge that Duchess has drowned; but Emmett is not likely to ever find out. Mostly confined to a single setting Moscow's luxurious Metropol Hotel it spanned 32 years under Stalin's grim rule. But heres my take, for those who want it: As Billy is cleaning the library, Emmett has placed Duchess in the boat and set him adrift in order to buy himself some time. AKA: Professor Abercrombie, Sam. Woolly's brother-in-law. The point here is that hes the clear Alpha among some street toughs in Harlem, and this Alpha like New Yorkers Duchess and Woolly similarly found his way to Salina. Why did you decide to set the story in 1954? Over 8 miles (13 km) in length, it connects Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with Santa Monica.A portion of Lincoln Boulevard is signed as part of California State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway), making it a major route to go along the Pacific Coast in Los Angeles. When I turned to the front page for June 15th to see what had happened, there was a photograph of Times Square all but abandoned. When I finish writing a novel, I find myself wanting to head in a new direction. Still, what bothered me while reading Highway, and what lingers after reading it, is that there was seemingly no one looking over Towless shoulder as quality control expert. One thing smart Billy comes to realize: He belongs to a long tradition of sidekicks who come to save the day. Unlikely. Emmett is raised on the importance of making of your life what you can. Heres the recipe: In a reasonably deep saucepan, cook the onions in the olive oil until soft and translucent, then set the onions aside. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles From HUCKLEBERRY FINN to ON THE ROAD, the road novel has a long and vibrant pedigree in American literature. Duchess dreams of creating a restaurant maybe in California where everyone would feel like the night was something special. THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY Characters - Alphabetical FIRST NAME: LAST NAME: DESCRIPTION: Honest: Abe: Abraham Lincoln's alias. Except for when Towles wanted him to not be. Towles moves between first and third person chapters. Mrs. Simpson's husband. It cannot be stressed enough that seemingly everyone from Salina in the novel is there because of something someone else did, and these same individuals all talk as though they sat alongside Woolly at St. Pauls. AKA: Duchess. The criticism of inequality by both major ideologies is surely beneath both. As previously mentioned, Emmett returns from Salina to a farm that is being foreclosed on. To that end, when I was finished writing the first draft of The Lincoln Highway, I decided to look at the front pages of the New York Times for the ten days on which my story takes place: June 12 to June 21, 1954. His mother is long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett intends to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they . So, when I sit down to write the first chapter of a book, Ive spent years imagining it already. Written by people who wish to remainanonymous. Theyre all set to go, only for Duchess and Woolly to turn up. It turned out that she kept sending them postcards for the first days of her travel, leaving a trail for them to travel after her. He returns to his fathers foreclosed on farm (Mr. Watson didnt know what he was doing), along with an inquisitive, abnormally smart eight-year-old brother named Billy. His and Duchess's intent is to get the money, divide it up, and then get on with their lives. This Study Guide consists of approximately 76pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - The conflict of interest is evident in the book as Emmet and Billy decide to go to San Francisco. Can you talk about the structure of the book? From the cherished book, he knows the tropes of the travel tale, the requirements of heroes. Though capable and self-reliant, Emmett is hardly the master of his own destiny. In my case, I finished what is a 576 page book in a little over 48 hours despite much of those hours being occupied with unrelated work. Where have sons had to work through the role their father played in their upbringing to create their own life? There are many. This helped clarify for me what belonged in the story and how it should be told. What is your Lincoln Highway? Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. The largest operator of Duchess, the engine of the book, seeks his father, seeks atonement and retribution, seeks that safe full of money in the Adirondacks. He imagines driving the Lincoln Highway and heading west with Billy and Emmett and Woolly to fulfill his dream. Book copies are available across from the first-floor circulation desk for a month-long checkout. I see the Lincoln Highway as a metaphorical journey for each of us to travel as we work towards our ambitions or our dreams. I see the Lincoln Highway as a metaphorical journey for each of us to travel as we work towards our ambitions or our dreams. That the photograph should be of the very spot where the Lincoln Highway begins seemed a coincidence too great to ignore, so I added the chapter of Woolly reading the old headlines. One character says we must break bread, Jake Snyder (brother of the Jimmy Snyder who was inadvertently killed by Emmett) has wingmen with him when he settles a score with a back-from-Salina Emmett, nutjob comes up once, and then Ma Belle (head of a raffish circus lounge, and realistically a brothel), upon hearing that Woolly attended (and was kicked out of) prominent boarding schools of the St. Pauls, St. Marks, and St. Georges variety, explains to one of the women in her employ that those are WASP schools; the problem there that WASP wasnt yet part of the lexicon in 1954. What about you, do you like surprises? The novel begins with the warden of a juvenile work camp in Salina, Kansas taking Emmett back to his familys farm in Morgen, Nebraska. It is very much on porpoise. When the Lincoln Highway was conceived by Carl Fisher in 1912, 90% of all roads in America were unpaved. After dwelling for days on the drafts shortcomings to no avail, I suddenly realized that the book wasnt simply a story told over the course of ten days, it was a countdown. Anyone can read what you share. Billy wants to move to California, and its his wish to follow their estranged mothers presumed path on The Lincoln Highway. Anonymous "The Lincoln Highway Characters". refrigerated boxcars in America. All 126 characters in The Lincoln Highway are alphabetically listed along with character descriptions. The narrative always vandalized reason, but its ferocious stupidity continues to animate Lefty commentary. AKA: Woolly. Fettucine Mio Amore, the dish that Duchess makes for Emmett, Woolly, Billy, and Sally on their last night together, is an homage to my old friend and a favorite of the Towles family. What elements did you embrace and what did you reject as you came of age? resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. Emmett has no interest in what his former barrack mates have cooked up, but novels wouldnt be novels if everything went as planned. They each must fashion their own future, having been raised with very different expectations. Amor Towles, author of RULES OF CIVILITY and A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, has decided to make his own contribution to that genre in his third novel, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY. When Duchess and Woolly ultimately borrowed Emmetts car, they soon found that they had lost the signal to Emmetts favorite radio station somewhere back in Nebraska. When Woolly turned on the radio with an eye on hearing the ads that endlessly entertained him, all that came through the speaker was static. Readers of this review will perhaps call this a reach, but call the static Duchess and Woolly endured a metaphor for the genius of inequality. It begins with him returning from a juvenile home, after spending time there because he accidentally killed another boy his age in a fistfight. So far, I havent used the omniscient narrator in my novels. Why are the Duchess and Sally chapters written in first person, while the chapters of the other characters are written in third person? The reason I make a shiftlike this is because it forces me to retool almost every element of my craft. Whether riding boxcars or "borrowed" cars, Towles' characters are constantly diverted by one life-threatening adventure after another offering Billy plenty of material for a rousing Chapter Y, once he figures out where to begin. The boy had been taunting Emmett. They were serving time at Salina with Emmett, and theyd climbed into Warden Williamss trunk ahead of him driving Emmett home. Escaped prisoner. By 1954, that had grown to 30 million and by 1959, 88% of US households would have at least one set. Is Towles political? By extension, business founders almost as a rule have to be very careful with money. With The Lincoln Highway, from the first I imagined a story told over ten days. In The Lincoln Highway, the main characters undertake a would-be cross-country road trip in Emmett Watson's pride and joy, a 1948 powder-blue Studebaker Land Cruiser. What do you remember of how you fashioned who you are today as you came of age? But once Ive completed the draft and cleaned it up, I give it to my wife, my editor in New York, my editor in London, and a few friends, asking that they all give me feedback within a few weeks. A household should serve pasta in twenty different ways, he would argue, and each preparation should highlight a few essential flavors through intensity rather than volume. Helps Billy on the His decision to start fresh leads to a second choice Texas or California? Amor Towles talks at length in his interviews about the historical placement of this tale, in particular the events that are soon to occur desegregation, the advent of the birth control pill and rock and roll coming to the stage. Abacus Abernathe, the author of Billys beloved compendium, is found on the 55th floor of the Empire State Building and coaxed from his narrative perch back into the world. Be sure to add marmaladeandmustardseed@gmail.com to your contacts so the newsletters will come to your inbox. While Rock & Roll is often referenced as a complement to the rise in youth culture in America, I would argue that it was a fundamental cause of the modern youth movement. I then use their varied responses to reconsider the books strengths and weaknesses and begin the process of revising. Its very enjoyable. His interest is in those whose zeal has not yet been tamped down by what Duchess (the only first-person narrator) describes, with improbable flair for a poorly-educated 18-year-old, as "the thumb of reality on that spot in the soul from which youthful enthusiasm springs." Particularly, Emmett and Billy. What stories do you have that have become lore? Bookfinity has a video interview with Towles that again talks about his writing process and reflecting on what the story is after he completes the first draft. Emmett Watson is the main character in the novel. Ludwig von Mises always described the rich as individuals whose commercial advances had removed unease from the lives of others. In The Lincoln Highway the biggest connection, of course, is the character Wallace "Woolly" Martin, the nephew of Wallace Wolcott from Rules of Civility . The Wolcotts camp in the Adirondacks also figures prominently in Rules of Civility as the retreat where Katey goes to meet Tinker in seclusion. How do you define a hero? Ok, it all makes sense, but in a paragraph about gag wording, were treated to how after they returned from a great time in Seward, Emmett slept soundly as any night in his life. Oh come on! When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Towles has snipped off a minuscule strand of existence 10 wayward days and when we look through his lens we see that this brief interstice teems with stories, grand as legends. The Lincoln Highway begins with eighteen-year-old Emmett, recently returned from juvenile detention in 1954, reuniting with his little brother, Billy, on their foreclosed Nebraska farm. "How easily we forget we in the business of storytelling that life was the point all along," Towles' oldest character comments as he heads off on an unexpected adventure. The novel probes questions about how to structure a narrative and where to start; its chapters count down from Ten to One as they build to a knockout climax. Which is to say that pop music before 1954 was a crooners game. The man who was convicted for a crime he didn't commit. Its tempting to speak of the books cast of minor characters, though one gradually learns that there are no minor characters. Emmet's mother vanished eight years ago and has never been found. Like his first two novels, The Lincoln Highway is elegantly constructed and compulsively readable. Emmett has big reasons to leave the state, and a plan. Another fortuitous discovery relates to the photograph thats in the book. At no point in prior history did teenagers anywhere in the world have an effective means by which they could share their perspectives with each other. On page 456, when Woolly winds his watch sixteen times for six days in a row on porpoise, is that a typo? Generally, I can remember where I was when I had the initial notion for a book. At the same time, theres so much within the novel that reads as trite, out of place, and untrue. The faculty representative at Woolly's school. Then say hello to New York. The latter is 3.390 miles long, and its the U.S.s very first cross-country highway. This bit of history is eye-opening, and highly relevant in an economic sense. Obermeyer expresses great remorse, and makes plain that no bank makes a loan in hopes of foreclosing. No, they dont. The medium? . Its certainly possible, but then as has already been written at length, to varying degrees Towles draws Emmett, Duchess, and Woolly as victims of simple bad luck. Woolly comes from a prominent and well-to-do family, and theres $150,000 in the safe at the familys camp up in the Adirondacks. It wasnt until June 1956 with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act that that the country began building the Interstate Highway Systemthe multilane, highspeed highways that crisscrossed the nation, supporting not only the transportation of goods, but of workers, vacationers, and the curious. Finally, in 1954 the road culture of modern American was about to begin. Find old, forgotten alignments of US 60 or 80. The Lincoln Highway: About the Book Click the image to expand A #1 New York Times Best Seller In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. Trite utterances were everywhere. Emmets mother had left the family eight years prior, and his fathers untimely death from cancer secured Emmett an early release. At nearly 600 pages, "The Lincoln Highway" is remarkably brisk, remarkably buoyant. Hither and yon. About his mothers remarriage to Richard after his fathers death, the supposedly vacant of mind Woolly has enough mind to acidly comment on their mothers commitment to her first marriage as till death do them part but not for a minute longer.. But as I say, all of this was about to happen. In 1954, television and rock & roll, two of the greatest cultural influences of the 20th century, were about to take off. thissection. While I avoid doing applied research before writing a novel, I do like to do some research once my first draft is complete to sharpen details or identify new threads for possible inclusion. Add back the onions, the white wine, and let simmer for a few minutes. Amor Towles' new Great American Road Novel tails four boys three 18-year-olds who met in a juvenile reformatory, plus a brainy 8-year-old as they set out from Nebraska in June, 1954, in an old Studebaker in pursuit of a better future. Billy has a plan too, a journey mapped by a mysterious . On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, initiating the end of legal segregation and the concept of separate but equal, at least on paper. Mr. Cunningham's grandfather. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. Again, one of the ideas Towles explores is how evil can be offset by decency and kindness on any rung of the socio-economic ladder. (In another fun connection for Towles nerds, nave trust funder Wallace "Woolly" Wolcott Martin is the nephew of Wallace Wolcott from Rules of Civility.). How did they become lore? The warden in charge when Emmett arrived in Salina. Absent the federal government, the profit motivations or private motivations to build that which connects us would still be great. How do you think Woollys upbringing impacted his choice? Escaped prisoner. Winter 1946 Billy bornJuly 1946 Emmetts mother leavesFirst week of October 1952 Emmett and Jimmy Snyder fight at fair and Jimmy diesMarch 1 1953 Emmett sentenced to 18 monthsApril 1954 Emmetts father diesJune 12-21 1954: 10 days in the lives of Emmett, Billy, Duchess, and Woolly as they travel from Nebraska to New York. What about those stories has made them memorable? The three movies also happen to be American classics and definitely worth a watch. When I first outlined The Lincoln Highway, the plan was to describe the story from two alternating perspectives: Emmetts (in the third person) and Duchesss (in the first person). Order our The Lincoln Highway Study Guide. Did you get a different nuance of a scene by seeing it from various points of view? About the ads that Woolly cant get enough of, Duchess described them as pitches from businesses promising consumers that their products would remove the lumps from their life. Yes. Thoughtco provides a brief timeilne of the 1950s that helps frame what had and hadnt occurred by the time the four travelers set out on their journey in June of 1954. An author Billy likes. What will be described asHighwaygoing forward is Towless third book, after he garnered major popularity with his debut (The Rules of Civility), followed byA Gentleman In Moscow. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is a big work of fiction about the complicated journey of adulthood.. Towles' previous book A Gentleman in Moscow published in 2016I loved that novel and thought it was such a warmhearted tale. Me, I love surprises but some people just dont like being caught off guard, even by good news. chapter Ten Duchess. Emmett's co-prisoner. I suppose thats because they have such strong and vocal personalities. To settle upon all the key particulars of this story that was sure to be told in the halls of the orphanage for decades to come. chapter Eight Emmett. It certainly is. Adam Smith called savers public benefactors with good reason. Lincoln Boulevard is a major northwest-southeast boulevard near Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County in California. When a young person sets out on their own, they will inevitably have to solidify some personal ethos by which they are going to live. Is it in the content? (Add a little more chicken broth as necessary, if the sauce is drying out.) 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