{"article":{"__typename":"BlogArticle","id":"BlogArticle:343960","isTnfCompatible":true,"datePublished":"2010-10-02T12:00:00Z","title":"Quote of the Day: A Good First Line","slug":"quote-of-the-day-a-good-first-line","wordCount":56,"layout":"standard","isFreelance":false,"isPython3":true,"preview":null,"watsonInfo":{"topCategory":{"full":"/law, govt and politics/government/embassies and consulates","one":"law, govt and politics","two":"government","three":"embassies and consulates","four":null,"__typename":"WatsonTopCategory"},"categories":["/law, govt and politics/government/embassies and consulates","/art and entertainment/books and literature","/art and entertainment/shows and events/festival"],"__typename":"WatsonInfo","keywords":["American Book Review","L.P. Hartley","greatest first lines","foreign country","partner","sentence","article","archive"]},"grapeshot":{"segments":["gs_entertain_books","gs_entertain","pos_alcohol","pos_chasemarriott","pos_citibank","pos_creditcard","pos_disasters","pos_diseases","pos_disney_fxfargo","pos_ey","pos_facebook_safety","pos_hermes","pos_ibm","pos_mobkoi","pos_septembereleven","an_bankofamerica_negative","an_facebook_safe","an_fidelity_safe","an_jpmc_safe","an_ms_safe","an_volvo_safe","ap_alfaromeo_safe","ap_bankofamerica_safe","ap_citi_banking_safe","ap_citi_hurricanes","ap_citi_injury","ap_citi_naacp_safe","ap_citi_sex_safe","ap_citi_transportation_safe","ap_facebook_infeed_safe","ap_facebook_safe","ap_fidelity_safe","ap_gwp","ap_jpmc_safe","ap_ms_safe","ap_netflix_israeli_safe","ap_texas_shooting_safe","ap_volvo_safe","general_safe_gv","neg_fx","neg_mastercard_keyword-exclusion","ap_penguin_books","neg_hbo"],"__typename":"Grapeshot"},"editorialProject":null,"seoTitle":"Quote of the Day: A Good First Line","shareTitle":"Quote of the Day: A Good First Line","dek":"How to start a novel, if you must","shareDek":"How to start a novel, if you must","url":"https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/10/quote-of-the-day-a-good-first-line/343960/","fbiaUrl":"https://www.theatlantic.com/facebook-instant/article/343960/","canonicalUrl":"https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/10/quote-of-the-day-a-good-first-line/343960/","hasMeter":true,"dateModified":"2013-10-26T19:22:10Z","shareImage2x1":null,"shareImageSmall":null,"primaryChannel":{"displayName":"Culture","__typename":"Channel","slug":"culture"},"authors":[{"displayName":"Ray Gustini","socialMedia":[],"__typename":"Author","id":"Author:2128","url":"https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ray-gustini/","biography":{"default":"Ray Gustini is the author of Lucky Town, a forthcoming book about sports in Washington, D.C. He is a former staff writer for The Atlantic Wire.","__typename":"Biography"}}],"channels":[],"primaryCategory":{"__typename":"Channel","displayName":"Culture","url":"https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/","slug":"culture"},"reviews":[],"secondaryByline":"","shareImage1x1":null,"shareImage16x9":null,"shareImage4x3":null,"shareImageDefault":null,"shareImageSquareDefault":null,"shareImageLeadArt":null,"shareText":null,"content":[{"__typename":"ArticleLegacyHtml","tagName":"P","idAttr":"","className":"","style":"color: #999; font-style: italic;","innerHtml":"This article is from the archive of our partner $\"\"$ ."},{"__typename":"ArticleParagraphContent","idAttr":"","subtype":null,"innerHtml":"\"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.\""},{"__typename":"ArticleParagraphContent","idAttr":"","subtype":null,"innerHtml":"- Opening sentence of L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between, no. 78 on American Book Review's list of the 100 greatest first lines in literature."},{"__typename":"ArticleLegacyHtml","tagName":"P","idAttr":"","className":"","style":"color: #999; font-style: italic;","innerHtml":"This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire."}],"categories":[{"slug":"wire","__typename":"Category"}],"advertisingInfo":{"disableHouseAd":false,"__typename":"AdvertisingInfo"},"leadArt":null,"embeds":[],"editorsNote":null}}

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