Home » Episodes » What Makes A Great Book Opening Line?

What Makes A Great Book Opening Line?

What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984 (Bookshop|Amazon), E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web (Bookshop|Amazon) and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Bookshop|Amazon). As writer Alice McDermott observes in her essay collection What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction (Bookshop|Amazon), the most compelling first lines convey a sense of authority and the idea that you can relax into a story told with confidence and verve. This is part of a complete episode.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More from this show

Slip Someone a Mickey

To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...