The Istoriaphile’s Corner

People interested in books are fascinated by first lines.  Their favorites usually include the evocative “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly”  and Orwell’s line about the clocks striking 13 and of course, “Happy families are all alike.”  These are great first lines.  Whether they fill less than an line (“Call me Ishmael”) or take the entire paragraph,  first sentences grab the reader’s attention and set the tone of the book all at once and they make the next line seem inevitable.  My favorite first line comes from a book few people know or love but for a rip-snorting, gut-grabbing sentence, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.   Let me clear my throat, I’ll share it with you…. “Mister Deck, are you my stinkin’ Daddy?“ That, ladies and gentleman was the voice of T. R., the heroine of Larry McMurtry’s novel, Some Can Whistle.  (You could tell the young lady was from Texas, right?)   This furious young voice is directed at Danny Deck, a failed novelist, and retired sitcom writer who is spending his middle years retreating from the active life that made him rich and unhappy.  Part of this retreat is fueled by overexposure to the…