Nullius in Verba

Think about how you are drawn into a book and then the story—especially by an author you’re not familiar with. Perhaps you saw a book review, perhaps you heard how good it was from a friend, or perhaps when you walked into the bookstore (or Costco) you saw the book on a table.

First, you saw the cover’s color and design.

Second, you read the book’s title and it intrigued you.

Third, you checked out the blurbs. Are there any authors or reviewers you respect recommending this book?

Fourth, the last thing you did before putting it in the book bag, you read the first dozen or so words on the first page to see if it hooked you. At its best, the hook reels you into another world, an interesting world. Ray Rhamey, on his Flogging the Quill blog, does yeoman’s work critiquing the first 16 lines of people’s work in progress to see if there’s enough there to compel a reader to turn the page. But, I think, we tend to read what’s on the first page for maybe two seconds. The author (unless he or she is someone you’re comfortable with and you’re buying regardless) better have his game on.

I’d like to know what first lines pulled you in. Here are some of the hooks I like:

“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” – Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

“He was tall, about fifty, with darkly handsome, almost sinister features: a neatly trimmed mustache, hair turning silver at the temples, and eyes so black they were like the tinted windows of a sleek limousine—he could see out, but you couldn’t see in.” – John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

“The small boys came early to the hanging.” Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth

“Everybody lies. Cops lies. Lawyers Lie. The victims lie. A trial is a contest of lies. And everyone in the courtroom knows this.” Michael Connelly, The Brass Verdict

“Amoeba leave no fossils.” Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

“You think you know how this story is going to end but you don’t. Trust me, I was there. I know.” Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal

“It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.” Joseph Heller, Catch-22.

“One day it occurred to me that it had been many years since the world had been afforded the spectacle of a man adventurous enough to undertake a journey through Europe on foot.” Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad.

“Okay, so here’s the thing. My mother’s worst fear has come true. I’m a nymphomaniac. I lust after a lot of men. Of course, maybe that’s because I don’t actually have sex with any.” Janet Evanovich, Hot Six.

“As dead people went, Bess Leander smelled pretty good: lavender, sage, and a hint of clove.” Christopher Moore, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

“The first thing to understand about caddying is that it’s not brain surgery. It is more complicated than that.” Lawrence Donegan, Maybe It Should Have Been a Three Iron: My Year as Caddie for the World’s 438th Best Golfer

“Luther Little drove dead bodies around Seattle the way some people drove pizzas, his primary mission, at least in his own mind, to make delivery before the goods got cold.” Earl Emerson, Catfish Café

“There are two things you can’t escape out here in the west: dust and death.” Steven Hockensmith, Holmes on the Range

“This book is predominantly concerned with making money, and from its pages a reader may learn much about the character and the literary integrity of the authors. Of boggies, however, he will discover next to nothing, since anyone in the possession of a mere moiety of his marbles will readily concede that such creatures could exist only in the minds of children of the sort whose childhoods are spent in wicker baskets, and who grow up to be muggers, dog thieves, and insurance salesmen.” The Harvard Lampoon, Bored of the Rings

Think about how you are drawn into a book and then the story—especially by an author you’re not familiar with. Perhaps you saw a book review, perhaps you heard how good it was from a friend, or perhaps when you walked into the bookstore (or Costco) you saw the book on a table.

First, you saw the cover’s color and design.

Second, you read the book’s title and it intrigued you.

Third, you checked out the blurbs. Are there any authors or reviewers you respect recommending this book?

Fourth, the last thing you did before putting it in the book bag, you read the first dozen or so words on the first page to see if it hooked you. At its best, the hook reels you into another world, an interesting world. Ray Rhamey, on his Flogging the Quill blog, does yeoman’s work critiquing the first 16 lines of people’s work in progress to see if there’s enough there to compel a reader to turn the page. But, I think, we tend to read what’s on the first page for maybe two seconds. The author (unless he or she is someone you’re comfortable with and you’re buying regardless) better have his game on.

I’d like to know what first lines pulled you in. Here are some of the hooks I like:

“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” – Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

“He was tall, about fifty, with darkly handsome, almost sinister features: a neatly trimmed mustache, hair turning silver at the temples, and eyes so black they were like the tinted windows of a sleek limousine—he could see out, but you couldn’t see in.” – John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

“The small boys came early to the hanging.” Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth

“Everybody lies. Cops lies. Lawyers Lie. The victims lie. A trial is a contest of lies. And everyone in the courtroom knows this.” Michael Connelly, The Brass Verdict

“Amoeba leave no fossils.” Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

“You think you know how this story is going to end but you don’t. Trust me, I was there. I know.” Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal

“It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.” Joseph Heller, Catch-22.

“One day it occurred to me that it had been many years since the world had been afforded the spectacle of a man adventurous enough to undertake a journey through Europe on foot.” Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad.

“Okay, so here’s the thing. My mother’s worst fear has come true. I’m a nymphomaniac. I lust after a lot of men. Of course, maybe that’s because I don’t actually have sex with any.” Janet Evanovich, Hot Six.

“As dead people went, Bess Leander smelled pretty good: lavender, sage, and a hint of clove.” Christopher Moore, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

“The first thing to understand about caddying is that it’s not brain surgery. It is more complicated than that.” Lawrence Donegan, Maybe It Should Have Been a Three Iron: My Year as Caddie for the World’s 438th Best Golfer

“Luther Little drove dead bodies around Seattle the way some people drove pizzas, his primary mission, at least in his own mind, to make delivery before the goods got cold.” Earl Emerson, Catfish Café

“There are two things you can’t escape out here in the west: dust and death.” Steven Hockensmith, Holmes on the Range

“This book is predominantly concerned with making money, and from its pages a reader may learn much about the character and the literary integrity of the authors. Of boggies, however, he will discover next to nothing, since anyone in the possession of a mere moiety of his marbles will readily concede that such creatures could exist only in the minds of children of the sort whose childhoods are spent in wicker baskets, and who grow up to be muggers, dog thieves, and insurance salesmen.” The Harvard Lampoon, Bored of the Rings