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Brother Buzz

(40,061 posts)

38. I'd gladly wear that badge with honor

Wed Nov 25, 2015, 06:42 PM

Nov 2015

The best opening paragraph in all literature, bar none:

Opening paragraph in Chandler's short story, Red Wind

"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Ana's that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."

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Check which famous writer you write like with this statistical analysis tool [View all] FLPanhandle Nov 2015 OP

link didn't work for me yuiyoshida Nov 2015 #1

Ian Flemming for me. :D roguevalley Nov 2015 #92

H. P. Lovecraft, too Brother Buzz Nov 2015 #2

Whoa, me, too - but looks like lots of us!1 UTUSN Nov 2015 #83

Now I put in one of my "poems" and got: Stephen KING!1 UTUSN Nov 2015 #87

Tried two different posts and got Vladimir Nabokov and Margaret Mitchell. hobbit709 Nov 2015 #3

Apparently I am a Lovecraftian, too (though I am not convinced). nt tblue37 Nov 2015 #4

Uh-oh, looks like we're in trouble!1 UTUSN Nov 2015 #85

Tool may need some tweaking: I got Chuck Palahniuk. struggle4progress Nov 2015 #5

Tool is brilliant: I got William Shakespeare magical thyme Nov 2015 #63

:) struggle4progress Nov 2015 #66

I pasted four different excerpts... meaculpa2011 Nov 2015 #6

I expected that to happen to me but it didn't. Jim Lane Nov 2015 #98

Mario Puzo, whom I have never read muriel_volestrangler Nov 2015 #7

I can't even imagine... TipTok Nov 2015 #8

David Foster Wallace. hifiguy Nov 2015 #9

I'm perpetually stuck about halfway through infinite jest Warren DeMontague Nov 2015 #31

I often found myself Alittleliberal Nov 2015 #68

Dan Brown JustAnotherGen Nov 2015 #10

I got Bart Simpson. Hoppy Nov 2015 #11

Gertrude Stein TuxedoKat Nov 2015 #12

Do you repeat yourself repeatedly? merrily Nov 2015 #78

Margaret Atwood, for one. Hemingway, for another. Solly Mack Nov 2015 #13

I also got Lovecraft, which I reject TlalocW Nov 2015 #14

Kurt Vonnegut sakabatou Nov 2015 #15

You win. Vonnegut was as good as writing can be. hifiguy Nov 2015 #19

I got Vonnegut too LiberalEsto Nov 2015 #22

He was the master. So it goes. Ed Suspicious Nov 2015 #37

Me too. nt Zorra Nov 2015 #74

Last time I did that, I got Tolstoy KamaAina Nov 2015 #16

J.D. Salinger. Ron Obvious Nov 2015 #17

I write like Robert Louis Stevenson csziggy Nov 2015 #18

I got David Foster Wallace and later Oscar Wilde... CTyankee Nov 2015 #20

Hope you don't end up edhopper Nov 2015 #30

oh great...now, please god... CTyankee Nov 2015 #56

Stephen King frogmarch Nov 2015 #21

I got him, too. Plus Cory Doctorow for a different sample. pnwmom Nov 2015 #24

Raymond Chandler edhopper Nov 2015 #23

i think that is cool... CTyankee Nov 2015 #25

Yeah edhopper Nov 2015 #28

I'd gladly wear that badge with honor Brother Buzz Nov 2015 #38

I only wish edhopper Nov 2015 #39

HP Lovecraft here as well tularetom Nov 2015 #26

I write like Kurt Vonnegut notadmblnd Nov 2015 #27

David Foster Wallace. Warren DeMontague Nov 2015 #29

Dan Brown. Not bad I guess though I was sort of hoping for Steinbeck. bklyncowgirl Nov 2015 #32

Me, too. :) Blue_In_AK Nov 2015 #34

As an aspiring writer a best-selling author ain't bad though. bklyncowgirl Nov 2015 #69

Dan Brown? Blue_In_AK Nov 2015 #33

H G Wells demwing Nov 2015 #35

David Foster Wallace from my longer writing. Stephen King from tweet-length stuff. H.P. Lovecraft Ed Suspicious Nov 2015 #36

Dan Quayle MannyGoldstein Nov 2015 #40

LOL FLPanhandle Nov 2015 #50

Arthur Conan Doyle SadWingsOfDestiny Nov 2015 #41

Love the JP handle vt_native Nov 2015 #93

I'm not saying... panader0 Nov 2015 #42

Aw, come on. I copped to Puzo. merrily Nov 2015 #79

David Foster Wallace (while inebriated) etherealtruth Nov 2015 #43

Vladimir Nabokov... ? Why him? closeupready Nov 2015 #44

I write like Chuck Palahniuk Heddi Nov 2015 #45

I used the "New Age Bullshit Generator" edhopper Nov 2015 #46

Jack London. W_HAMILTON Nov 2015 #47

David Foster Wallace PufPuf23 Nov 2015 #48

I plugged in a poem............. CaliforniaPeggy Nov 2015 #49

J. D. Salinger BlueJazz Nov 2015 #51

I plugged in an Oscar Wilde quote edhopper Nov 2015 #52

Well, I thought we might have a game here muriel_volestrangler Nov 2015 #53

try another quote edhopper Nov 2015 #55

I tried another bit of Wells, and it got it right again muriel_volestrangler Nov 2015 #64

I think word choice edhopper Nov 2015 #75

Another Steven King.... catnhatnh Nov 2015 #54

Since I do not know how to post a sample of my writing I jwirr Nov 2015 #57

George Orwell magical thyme Nov 2015 #58

omg...William Shakespeare!!!!!!! magical thyme Nov 2015 #59

Not gonna bother. OilemFirchen Nov 2015 #60

i got dan brown. drray23 Nov 2015 #61

I got H P Lovecraft, too Punkingal Nov 2015 #62

David Foster Wallace LiberalElite Nov 2015 #65

I also got DFW Alittleliberal Nov 2015 #67

As usual, w0nderer Nov 2015 #70

James Joyce iwillalwayswonderwhy Nov 2015 #71

Me too! Sheldon Cooper Nov 2015 #94

Vladimir Nabokov's Books. hunter Nov 2015 #72

Gertrude Stein treestar Nov 2015 #73

LOLOL! Mario Puzo. I'm going to take that as meaning my writing is gangsta. merrily Nov 2015 #76

I think it's just sifting vocabulary rather than sentence structure or anything really Marr Nov 2015 #77

Cory Doctorow pugetres Nov 2015 #80

Same here, including the Google. hay rick Nov 2015 #88

I put in some of my mathy stuff. rogerashton Nov 2015 #81

Wow! James Fenimore Cooper? Who Knew? tech3149 Nov 2015 #82

I pasted in a DU post from the other day and got King. Codeine Nov 2015 #84

Try putting in a sample of a major author's work and see if it matches to them. Orrex Nov 2015 #86

I just entered the opening paragraph of Gone With the Wind magical thyme Nov 2015 #91

William Gibson. Manifestor_of_Light Nov 2015 #89

Kurt Vonnegut eom mrmpa Nov 2015 #90

Interesting, but odd. StrayKat Nov 2015 #95

Jack Torrance. Scurrilous Nov 2015 #96

e e cummings, but then I don't capitalize on myour phone Scuba Nov 2015 #97