Oliver R. Smoot was a newly arrived freshman at the internationally renowned centre of technological excellence, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1958.
Smoot’s Ear - The Measure of Humanity by Robert Tavernor
“Billy Summers sits in the hotel lobby, waiting for his ride.”
– Billy Summers, by Stephen King
“It is early morning, and you’re asleep in bed.”
The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day, by James Kakalios.
“The Martians had landed.”
Sci Fi, by William Marshall (Note that this is a mystery set at a science fiction convention.)
“…I’m older than dirt.”
From a truly wonderful, magical book called “West With Giraffes.” Best I’ve picked up in forever.
“The chauffeur turned off the main road by the synagogue which took up most of the block, and headed past St. Matthias’ Church on the opposite corner, and up the hill.”
I’m Your Man - The Life of Leonard Cohen, by Sylvie Simmons
“Imagine catastrophe.”
Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy, by Tim Harford
“A crucial difference between my brother and me was that he spoke German and I didn’t — which is to say, he inherited my mother’s facility and I inherited my father’s all but total lack thereof; in fact, it became another aspect of Scott’s curious bond with my mother, as they’d lapse into German whenever they wished to speak or yell privately while in my presence.”
The Splendid Things We Planned by Blake Bailey
“When Gullah people die, babies in the family get passed over the coffin so the dead person won’t come back from the beyond to take them away.”
Root Magic by Eden Royce
“My brother, Joe, used to be so cool, then he had two kids and now he’s a loser.”
The New One by Mike Birbiglia
“He’d been sitting on the sidelines, warming the bench, waiting, for almost seventy years.”
Soulmates, by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn. (Note that this is a story collection; the above quote is from the first story, “Benchwarmer”, by both authors.)
“How did I screw up my life so badly?”
Crossing the Line by Derek Sanderson with Kevin Shea
“The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest.”
– Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
“The watch was an eighteen-carat, rear-winding Waltham.”
Ivory Shoals, by John Brandon
“A translation dilemma is among my earliest memories.”
Translating Myself and Others, by Jhumpa Lahiri.
“The shrill sound of the doorbell sliced through the silence.”
An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten
“I am a botanist.”
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
“The pyramids of Giza are the defining symbol of ancient Egypt.”
– The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, by Toby Wilkinson
“Imagine the thrill of seeing what no one has ever seen before.”
Atlas of the Invisible: Maps and Graphics That Will Change How You See the World, by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti.
“For perhaps the thousandth time Coronel Hesparsyn cursed Lord Chiklquetl the Most High; but, as always, he did it silently.”
A Study in Sorcery
Michael Kurland