Robert Boswell, "Almost Not Beautiful"

Two sisters reunite and visit their mutual ex.

(from The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards)

Opening sentences get a lot of attention, rightfully, but the power of an effective next line should not be overlooked. Here’s the first line:

After lunch that day, Lisa’s sister drank too much.

That’s cool. Not particularly aggressive, but intriguing enough to keep reading. Which brings us to line two (and line three):

“Saying I drink like a fish doesn’t make sense,” she argued. “It’s like saying I read like a word.”

Ha. Good story, too. More on Robert Boswell here.

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