First Lines from New Books Out Today: November 7, 2011
“That last summer, the kitchen reeked of pickling spice, anise seed, and juniper berries.”
White Truffles in Winter: A Novel by N. M. Kelby
“On the one hand I love my records so much. On the other hand, I worry endlessly about being so attached to mere material objects. It’s a sickness, really. And let’s be honest, it’s more than just a love of music…it’s a collecting mania…the thrill of possession, the owning of a fetish object, the mysterious attraction of the series syndrome. So what! A guy’s entitled to have a hobby, you might say, but where does ‘hobby’ leave off and anal obsession take over? Sometimes I think the wisest thing would be to just get rid of the whole damn collection, but then if I start thinking about that too much I get very sad. I know if I did get rid of them I’d feel 6000 pounds lighter. Let’s face it, this is neurotic behavior.”
The Complete Record Cover Collection by R. Crumb
“No one likes statistics as much as I do. I mean that literally. I can never find anyone who wants to listen to me recite statistics.”
The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History’s 100 Worst Atrocities by Matthew White
“At the height of the Battle of Alcaniz on May 23, 1809, as he was about to give the order for a desperate charge by French troops into the center of the Spanish line, Col. P.F.M.A. Dejean happened to glance down. The air around him was thick with gunpowder and blood, but on a flower beside a stream, he saw something unusual. A beetle. Species unknown. He immediately dismounted, collected it, and pinned the specimen to the cork he had glued inside his helmet.”
The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth by Richard Conniff
