Amos Oz
Beginning to tell a story, says Amos Oz, is like making a pass at a stranger in a restaurant. The author demonstrates how the beginnings of fictional works are contracts that bind together reader and writer. Often the first lines of a story determine whether the deal will be closed: will the reader continue to the end or abandon the book? Amos Oz's essay collection is an insightful study of the significance of opening passages in selected fictional works of literature.
