Teaser Tuesday, 1/11/11

Two books for the Teaser today, one kind of depressing and one remarkably funny.

Let's start with the melancholy, shall we? Which is the mood I get from Fannie Flagg's new book, I Still Dream About You. I tend to think of her as a humor writer, but reading this, I am reminded that her characters often have very painful lives. I am assured, however, that it ends well.

Here's the teaser:

When Hazel was alive, they usually went. Hazel loved any excuse to dress up in a costume, but now Maggie hardly went anywhere anymore.

It's amazing how much depression Flagg can pack into a couple of simple sentences.

In contrast, the very funny book is, strangely enough, a book I'm reading for a work project that I'll tell you about later. The book is called Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture, written by Daniel Sack, "the associate director of the Material History of American Religion Project." And I'm loving it.

Here's the opening paragraph:

It was a dark and holy night. The small group gathered in Jerusalem, prepared for the sacred Passover meal. Before this dinner, the central celebration of their faith, their charismatic young leader foretold a stunning series of events. He told them that he was about to be arrested; after they betrayed and denied him, he would die. His revelations complete, he passed them the holy meal--small cubes of white bread and little cups of grape juice.

I'm sure that's exactly what it was like.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading where you can find all the details, plus links to lots of other blogs recommending too many great books.