Every Tuesday Diane at
Bibliophile by the sea posts the opening paragraph (maybe two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s). This is the First Chapter First Paragraph meme.
My entry this week comes from Alice McDermott's
Charming Billy: A Novel
Somewhere in the Bronx, only twenty minutes or so from the cemetery, Maeve found a small bar-and-grill in a wooded alcove set well off the street that was willing to serve the funeral party of forty-seven medium-rare roast beef and boiled potatoes and green beans amandine, with fruit salad to begin and vanilla ice cream to go with the coffee. Pitchers of beer and of iced tea would be placed along the table at intervals and the bar left open--it being a regular business day--for anyone who wanted a drink.
The inclusion of the number of servings of food would be available is what pulled me in. Who were the 47 members of the funeral party? Why were they attending "Charming Billy's" funeral? A quiet yet emotionally evocative read.
No comments:
Post a Comment