The First Sentence Reader

Cather, Willa . O Pioneers . New York : Everyman's Library. 1913. Print. First Sentences: One January day, thirty years ago, the little...

Homer, (trans. by Emily Wilson).   The Odyssey . New York : W.W. Norton 2018. Print. First Sentences: Tell me of a complicated man, Muse, te...

Stevenson, Robert Louis .  Treasure Island . New York : Oxford Press. 1883. Print. First Sentences: Squire Trelawney, Dr Livesey, and the re...

  Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet . New York : Simon & Schuster 1987. Print.   First Sentences: Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small ...

  Mankell, Henning. After the Fire . New York : Vintage 2017. Print. First Sentences: My house burned down on an autumn night almost a year ...

Taylor, Elizabeth. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont . New York : New York Review Books 2021. Print. First Sentences:   Mrs Palfrey first came to...

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick: or The Whale . Oak Park, IL : Top Five Books 2026. (originally published 1851). Print. First Sentences: Call m...

  Sullivan, Tim. The Dentist . New York : Atlantic Crime 2020. Print. First Sentences: The young woman standing in front of him was smiling....

  Welsh-Huggins, Andrew. The Mailman . New York : Mysterious Press, 2025. Print.   First Sentences: Rachel Stanfield paused, not sure she he...