“My name is Herbert Badgery. I am a hundred and thirty-nine years old and something of a celebrity. They come and look at me and wonder how I do it. There are weeks when I wonder the same, whole stretches of terrible time. It is hard to believe you can feel so bad and still not die.”
‘Illywhacker’ by Peter Carey 
Amazon

Try one of these 1st paras & discover a new author:-
‘After You’d Gone’ by Maggie O’Farrell
‘Fortunes of War’ by Olivia Manning
‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
ILLYWHACKER by Peter Carey #books http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1KP via @SandraDanby