American Book Review 100 Greatest First Lines Pt. 1
Explore the greatest first lines in American literature with American Book Review's top picks. Discover iconic openings that hook readers and set the tone for unforgettable stories.
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Moby-Dick, Or, The Whale
by Herman Melville
A classic of the sea, telling of the pursuit of Moby Dick, the white whale who defied capture.
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Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Austen's most popular novel, the unforgettable story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy Few have failed to be charmed by the witty and independent spirit …
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Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon
In the mid-1960s, the publication of Pynchon's V and The Crying of Lot 49 introduced a brilliant new voice to American literature. Gravity's Rainbow, his …
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history …
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Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov
The most famous and controversial novel from one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century tells the story of Humbert Humbert’s obsessive, devouring, and …
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Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
Considered by some to be the greatest novel ever written, Anna Karenina is Tolstoy's classic tale of love and adultery set against the backdrop of …
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Nineteen Eighty-four
by George Orwell
Eternal warfare is the price of bleak prosperity in this satire of totalitarian barbarism.
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ID: 0743487605
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Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this deeply compelling novel and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator tells his story …
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Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West
Two classic short stories, one about a male reporter who writes an advice column, and the other, about people who have migrated to California in …
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ID: 0375757376
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The Trial
by Franz Kafka
A brilliant translation of one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, revealing a tale that is as full of energy and power …
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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
by Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino's classic, multifaceted novel about writing and readers.
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The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
The "brilliant, funny, meaningful novel" (The New Yorker) that established J. D. Salinger as a leading voice in American literature--and that has instilled in millions …
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ID: 1420922459
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ID: 1420925601
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The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
by Laurence Sterne
A novel about writing a novel is the subject of this complex classic which has been described as the greatest shaggy dog story in the …
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David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens
'The most perfect of all the Dickens novels' Virginia Woolf David Copperfield is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an …
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ID: 0394700139
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ID: 0766108007
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The Crying of Lot 49
by Thomas Pynchon
Oedipa Maas finds herself enmeshed in a worldwide conspiracy.
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ID: 0140097317
(Type: book)
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The Sound and the Fury
by William Faulkner
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century is the story of a family of Southern aristocrats on the brink …