Curiosities

Best Last Lines

By Lydia Kiesling posted at 8:20 pm on December 8, 2009 1

The American Book Review has a list (pdf) of the 100 best last lines from novels.  I can’t think of mine; I keep getting “last line” confused with “end.”  Thoughts?  (Thanks Shakesville).



  


Share this article

More from the Millions

One Response to “Best Last Lines”

  1. Celeste
    at 1:44 pm on December 9, 2009

    I love this list; I give it to my students when we talk about revision. We spend a lot of time agonizing over the first line, and with reason–but that last line also needs to pack a punch. I don’t know how many of these I’d have been able to generate off the top of my head, but when I read them, I definitely recognize them–and get that little chill down my spine.

Post a Response

Comments with unrelated links will be deleted. If you'd like to reach our readers, consider buying an advertisement instead.

Anonymous and pseudonymous comments that do not add to the conversation will be deleted at our discretion.