Books: The First Sentence

[Chris L]

Ok you've spoilt my ideas for teasers but well  done.
To be pedantic though it's not J. K Rowling's "Lethal White" it's Robert Galbraith's.

I knew she'd written it under a pseudonym, but I didn't want to bother looking it up.

(I have to wonder why Rowling even bothered using a pseudonym, since she was almost instantly outed by the press when the first book appeared. Clearly it was a very poorly kept secret and I have to assume that her publisher leaked it for sales reasons, but maybe there'll be a few readers who stumble on it without knowing who the actual author is. And immediately pass over it for a book by a better known author.)

[Chris L]

Since I've rolled us over to a new page, I'm reposting Leighton's quote:

"On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide - it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese - the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope."

[Chris L]

Leighton, since you say this should be obvious -- is it The Virgin Suicides?

[Leighton]

Sure is!

[Chris L]

"We slept in what had once been the gymnasium."

[Gordonb]

Ok you've spoilt my ideas for teasers but well  done.
To be pedantic though it's not J. K Rowling's "Lethal White" it's Robert Galbraith's.

I knew she'd written it under a pseudonym, but I didn't want to bother looking it up.

(I have to wonder why Rowling even bothered using a pseudonym, since she was almost instantly outed by the press when the first book appeared. Clearly it was a very poorly kept secret and I have to assume that her publisher leaked it for sales reasons, but maybe there'll be a few readers who stumble on it without knowing who the actual author is. And immediately pass over it for a book by a better known author.)

I think you're being a bit unkind Chris.

As I understand it she initially published as Galbraith to see if it would be well received, without the inevitable publicity that would have ensued had it been known that she had written it. It was reasonably well received and indeed I bought it based on the Amazon blurb and reviews as I often do for first time writers. I enjoyed it immensely and was surprised when all was revealed.

It seems that her lawyers 'leaked' the story when the wife of one of its partners 'innocently' mentioned it to a friend who passed it on to a journalist ... the rest us history. They were fined by some solicitor disciplinary body for their actions and apparently she got them to make a sizeable donation to a charity of her choice. 

[Chris L]

I think you're being a bit unkind Chris.

As I understand it she initially published as Galbraith to see if it would be well received, without the inevitable publicity that would have ensued had it been known that she had written it. It was reasonably well received and indeed I bought it based on the Amazon blurb and reviews as I often do for first time writers. I enjoyed it immensely and was surprised when all was revealed.

It seems that her lawyers 'leaked' the story when the wife of one of its partners 'innocently' mentioned it to a friend who passed it on to a journalist ... the rest us history. They were fined by some solicitor disciplinary body for their actions and apparently she got them to make a sizeable donation to a charity of her choice.

I'll concede your point. I don't follow books as closely as I did when I was younger and the first time I became aware of the first book in the series was in a review that already treated it as a Rowling novel. I really don't know how long that was after publication. Of course, it may have been published in the U.S. later than it was published in the UK.

My current quote, for those who may have missed it:

"We slept in what had once been the gymnasium."

[Chris L]

I'd post the entire first paragraph of the novel, but it's fairly long. Here's part of it:

"We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. The floor was of varnished wood, with stripes and circles painted on it, for the games that were formerly played there; the hoops for the basketball nets were still in place, though the nets were gone. A balcony ran around the room, for the spectators, and I thought I could smell, faintly like an afterimage, the pungent scent of sweat, shot through with the sweet taint of chewing gum and perfume from the watching girls, felt-skirted as I knew from pictures, later in mini-skirts, then pants, then in one earring, spiky green-streaked hair."

[Leighton]

(I know what it is but I didn't want the game to become a version of tennis between us!)

[Chris L]

(I know what it is but I didn't want the game to become a version of tennis between us!)

If we're the only players, it'll have to be. (Anyone else out there? Hello?)

[KathyB]

(I know what it is but I didn't want the game to become a version of tennis between us!)

If we're the only players, it'll have to be. (Anyone else out there? Hello?)

I'm here! I don't know the answer, though.

[MartinG]

Also lurking around but haven't a clue, regrettably 

Go for it, Leighton!

[Leighton]

It's The Handmaids' Tale, isn't it?

[Leighton]

If so: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed"

[Chris L]

The Handmaid's Tale is correct! I know what yours is, but I'll give somebody else a chance to answer so we don't have to play tennis.