Tuesday, September 16, 2014

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Removers; Andrew Meredith


Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where I share the first paragraph or (a few) of a book I am reading or thinking about reading soon.  I couldn't resist this one when I saw the cover at the library. (This memoir is just 177 pages)

The Removers (a memoir)
Andrew Meredith
Scribner - 2014

"Dad parks the hearse at the curb under a pink-petaled dogwood, in the glory of the first balmy April Saturday afternoon.  We're on Cantor Avenue in front of a tan brick apartment building, treeless courtyard, three stories high, a block long but invisible, a place that marks the edge of our Philadelphia neighborhood and the next, a structure populated by pensioner bachelor mailmen and mothers and toddlers learning English together.  At the rec center baseball diamond across the street, screams of 'GO!" followed an aluminum plink.  At the corner, tulips in yellow, red, violet, planted to partition the sidewalk from a tiny row house lawn, salute a crew-cut man in a tank top, gold crucifix swinging as he soapy sponges his four-wheeled stereo.  The fried onions from the grill at the steak shop a block away whisper that the cold and dark have passed and we've been delivered somewhere better, and yet inside our little brick houses these last six months a secret part of us wondered: is this the year winter doesn't end? A girthy old woman in her sleeveless summer house dress, sunlight warming her arms for the first time this year, hoses the dirt under the rosebush.  She looks like a Helen.  She might be a Carol.  An ambulance lines up at the red light like all the other cars, in repose, maybe coming back from an oil change."
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What do you think?
Feel free to join in and post the Intro from one of your reads by linking below.

33 comments:

  1. Yes, I want to know more! Thanks for sharing....

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    1. I hope it's a good one. Thanks for joining us again this week.

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  2. Mmm - beautifully written using all the senses. I can see and smell, etc. that neighborhood. I'd keep reading.

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  3. Humm. For some reason this is not grabbing me. I'd have to read a bit more before I decided.

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  5. This intro does not grab me. I think it is too vague.

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  6. That really sets the scene there. I can hear the "plink" from the aluminum bat.

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    1. I was a tad disappointed in the intro - doesn't seem to fit, but we shall see.

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  7. I'm interested in the scene, but not sure where it's heading... would read a little more to find out.

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  8. Is this a mortician's memoir?! I feel like there's another one coming out soon that's gotten a lot of press. Who knew mortician's memoirs could be so popular?! I'll be interested to hear what you think about this one.

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    1. Haven't started it yet, but yes it's about a son and his father who remove bodies of the dead.

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  9. Wow, that paints a pretty vivid picture. I wonder where it is going from here. I would read on, it's only a short book. I 'll be interested to hear your thoughts.

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  10. The description is beautiful, but there's a little bit too much of it in one lump for me. I'd prefer that the description be mixed in with a little action. But I'd keep reading because the author paints shows such a realistic scene.

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    1. I know what you mean Sandra. I was expecting something different.

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  11. Ooh, I love descriptive passages such as that. I am adding this to my wishlist, since I like to read memoirs about ordinary folk. Thanks!

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    1. I hope to start it this week, but happy you like the sound of it.

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  12. Hmm, the opening, while interesting (I love details) doesn't seem to match the cover or title. That's not bad, but I'm not sure what to think.

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  13. Love the descriptive writing! I could almost smell the fried onions!

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  14. I had a hard time with this one and likely would not read on.

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  15. I like the Philly setting and all the description in the intro. I'd read more.

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  16. I liked the beginning, it was very descriptive. I could imagine myself right in the setting. Thanks for stopping by today. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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