TwitrLit
About the Site
Between April 29, 2007, and July 31, 2016, I ran a site called TwitrLit (originally TwitterLit), where I served up literary teasers on Twitter and my associated blog. Twice a day (later just once a day) I posted the first line of a book, without the author's name or book title, but with a link to Amazon so readers could see what book the line was from.
It was fun to find first lines that were intriguing or surprising and that fit within Twitter's 140 character limit. And honestly, I think it was a very cool idea for the time—remember that Twitter had only been launched in July 2006. TwitrLit even garnered some press, including being dubbed a "Time-Waster of the Day" by New York Magazine site Vulture in May 2007. (Later, I created the associated sites KidderLit—for the first lines of kids' books—and ScatterLit—for, well, I don't know what I was thinking.)
First Lines
Explore random first lines from the archive. Click below for another set. (Links to Amazon are affiliate links.)
Press
Vulture
Time-Waster of the Day: TwitterLit
May 31, 2007
Alan Alda writes a surprisingly good first sentence.
Which one of these is the first sentence of Alan Alda’s autobiography?
“Going to Ford’s Theatre to watch the play is like going to Hooters for the food.”
“When I was about eleven or twelve I set up a lab in my house.”
“My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that.”
“Here is how my father describes our socioeconomic level: Working Stiffs.”
You might be surprised to learn it’s the third one. That’s the fun of TwitterLit, an extremely simple and extremely addictive site we’ve been goofing off with for the past half-hour. Twice a day creator Debra Hamel posts the first line of a book with no title or author information. Mull it over, try and guess the line’s provenance, and then — once you’ve figured it out or, more likely, once you give up in frustration — click on the accompanying link and get taken to the book’s Amazon page. Hamel mixes well-known books (“A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head,” from A Confederacy of Dunces) with less popular gems (“The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken,” from Mary Roach’s nonfiction book Stiff), but all the first lines are eye-catching and can be delivered to your cell phone, via RSS feed, on a desktop widget, or any other of the myriad of ways Twitter dispenses information.
Yahoo! Picks:
"For either logophiles or aspiring writers, Twitterlit's twice daily delivery of first sentences may be the most condensed form of education and enlightenment you can get."
Guardian Unlimited: Arts Blog:
"It's an intriguingly random way to discover new reads - Alan Alda's biography suddenly becomes a much more appealing prospect when you know it starts with, 'My mother didn't try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that.'"
The 3Rs--Reading, Ranting & Recipes:
"MOOCHING ABOUT IN THE BLOGOSPHERE EARLY THIS MORNING I stumbled across this wonderful newish website called TwitterLit. It is just what every voracious reader will enjoy, and a terrible time waster, but on the other hand, as a result of reading the first lines I have added six books to my 'Must Read' list. Try it out, you'll love it too...."
Scott Pack, Me and My Big Mouth:
"I have found a good half a dozen books to add to my wish list, it could almost be the perfect way to select what to read next."
Michael Allen, Grumpy Old Bookman:
"Twitterlit is gonna be a big smash hit, in my opinion. I've mentioned it before, I know, but it continues to fascinate. ...Anyway, I have a feeling that the lovely Debra has a winner here."
Shawn Collins, Affiliate Tip Blog:
"It’s an interesting and innovative combination of Web 2.0 and affiliate marketing...."
Alex Watson, The Wired Jester:
"Lovely idea, since first lines are such a compelling topic to think about."
Books Worth Reading:
"I’ve also been enjoying this: Twitterlit. ...It is like a game, to see how far off your guess is from the actual book. Which is how I felt when I clicked on Alan Alda’s memoir the other day."
Balaji Sowmyanarayanan, Joy of Innovation:
"I was simply amazed by the ingenuity and the simplicity of the service and the underlying sustainability of the effort."
"But a more intriguing friend is TwitterLit, with roughly twice/day posts of first sentences of books. I love this idea. Would that we were all this clever..."
EverythingTwitter:
"This site is actually well baked, meaning they know what they wanted to do and attacked it from all possible angles. Archives are sortable, you can search and even suggest books. A winner."