Agent Palmer

Chuck Klosterman is a master of the absurd in the simplest way. He’s truly outdone himself in “Raised in Captivity,” a book full of short stories that read like longer versions of his HYPERtheticals, which are questions intended to start insane conversations.

The front cover boasts this book as “Fictional Nonfiction,” but you could easily argue about what order that should be in or even about what each of these short stories are about. That’s what this book does. And it will get you thinking.

In The Nineties, Chuck Klosterman looks back at the last decade that actually felt like a decade. It’s hard to view this book as anything other than a transformation, but it’s also hard to ignore that reading this book puts you back there.

This book is a time capsule with the perverse insights that make you wonder about your own memory, the collective memory, and all with a sincerity, exuberance, and authenticity that feels proper.

Believe it or not, the opening line of a book can truly shape the entire experience of reading it. Much like the opening scene to a movie, an author can choose to bring us straight into the action or build a slowly burning sense of purpose through their words.

With that in mind, I wanted to discuss the 12 best opening lines from books I’ve recently read, but I had a decision to make before I got started. I wasn’t sure what the criteria should be. Should it be the prologue, for those that have a prologue, or should it be the first line from chapter one because all of them had a chapter one?