Democracy

So here's what I've been reading, in the doldrums surrounding our next official pick: Blake Emerson's tremendous (and recommended) Radical Negative blog, ESPN.com. Madame Bovary, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007. The things most germane to our nominal concerns are the two latter, and the most strongly recommended are the two former (especially Blake's). But for the second two, which I've been studiously devoting myself to on breaks in my strenuous sched at Borders: what's going on with Mme B.? Why do so many novel-historians think it's so important? And what's going on with the BANRR2007? What are the new and hip reading these days?
The first thing I'd like to recommend about one of these is the BANRR's newly acquired habit of pointing out the Best American First Sentences of Novels. This practice is absolutely irreplaceable. And the best part is, you can do it yourself. Go to Borders or wherever, and just write down like ten or twenty first sentences of novels, picked at random. Throw in a short story or a biography if you want, just make sure that it's the first thing the author wanted you to see. And look at them. This is a specially privileged piece of text that you'll be privileging yourself to, right up there with writing down instances of a book's title in its text (which is harder to find and, frankly, as a generic exercise, less rewarding). Think about it -- this is the equivalent of inviting yourself to the ESPYs, or some other party for the privileged. Look at the text that is most special! This is almost as good as inviting yourself to a party for the OTHER most privileged text, the text that gets the honorable job of closing out a novel or story, but minus all the resonant jobs given to them. I seriously recommend this activity, especially if you are put in a bookstore and tasked with the job of "making the place look good" in the final three hours of the night that the store is open.
Anyway, that is enough fun to have for one day. I have Thursday off, so e-mail me your favorite first sentences discovered this way and I will do likewise. Or else, I will post my favorites in the absence of e-mails, or else I will just blog about Madame Bovary. Up to you guys. Democracy in blogs?
YES WE CAN!