“Real drinkers make good murder suspects.”
Something More Than Night, by Kim Newman
At this point my question is probably foolish. But if a book has a short prologue, and then has a first chapter, what is considered the first line? The prologue or chapter line? And I’m speaking of fiction here.
I use the first sentence from the first chapter. If the first line of the prologue (or the foreword of a non-fiction book) is interesting enough, I might give both of them.
Thanks for the reply. I’m restartin a favorite series of books, and the prologue tells you how things got started, but the conversation between two important characters opens the first chapter.
"New York City: the blue USPS mailbox, the bodega with English and Spanish signs in the window, and the guy selling bagels out of a cart.
Move back five more feet and it’s a movie set in Toronto: the C-stands holding reflector boards, the lights, and a dozen crew members waiting to pounce on the ‘cut!’"
Every City is Every Other City by John McFetridge
“The new doctor took her by surprise.”
The Silent Companions, by Laura Purcell
“It began the usual way, in the bathroom of the Lassimo Hotel”
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
I will be interested in your reaction to this book. I wasn’t a fan, and neither was @Elendil_s_Heir.
Oh, I liked it! Finished it this morning. I didn’t necessarily identify with the characters, but I identifed with the general zeitgeist. I actually liked some of the characters while not necessarily “approving” of them. It was a tour de force of writing though. I know some people found it confusing, but I didn’t.
“Genie Chance sat at the typewriter in her bedroom, returning a letter from an acquaintance in Juneau.”
This Is Chance!: The Shaking of an All-American City, A Voice That Held It Together, by Jon Mooallem
“It was nighttime, February 1943, and I was standing next to my mother, thinking about the war in Europe.’”
My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business , by Dick Van Dyke
“What we want,” said Harris, “is a change.”
Three Men on the Bummel, by Jerome K. Jerome
It was a lazy, late summer’s evening in St Kilda.
Death in Daylesford, by Kerry Greenwood
The Embarcadero and Market Street were bustling at noon on Tuesday, November 25, 1941.
Stranded in the Sky: The Untold Story of Pan Am Luxury Airliners Trapped on the Day of Infamy, by Philip Jett
Move along, move along, there’s nothing to see here…
“Everyone has always assumed that I will die young.”
Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism, by Elsa Sjunneson.
“With the night came north winds, blowing bitter and cold across the uneasy city.”
Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire by Richard B. Frank
“The old artilleryman thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks.”
Hell to Pay: Operation DOWNFALL and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 by D.M. Giangreco
“Six months in and Bobbi Ricci couldn’t take any more, couldn’t lie there listening to whatever was hibernating down Lonzo’s throat.”
Cradle of the Deep by Dietrich Kalteis
“Rusul traveled to meet his death.”
Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard, by Lawrence M. Schoen
HEY, WAIT! Listen to the lives of the long-ago kids, the world-fighters, the parent-unminding kids, the improper, the politeness-proof, the unbowed bully-crushers, the bedtime-breakers, the raspberry-blowers, fighters of fun-killers, fearing nothing, fated for fame.
Bea Wolf, by Zach Wienersmith