Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ Boy's Life

A friend turned me onto Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon, and I'm so glad she did. Part coming-of-age, part mystery, part nostalgia (set in 1964), part magical realism, I don't know any book to compare it to. There are so many oddities in Cory's hometown--the rich man's son who walks naked around town; the giant crocodile that lives in the river; Cory's bike, Rocket, that seems to have a golden eye in its headlight and a mind of its own; the ghost that drives a stretch of highway in his black hot rod with flames painted on the side named Midnight Mona--but McCammon makes them seem almost normal. Hardly worth mentioning.

The Blurb:

In Zephyr, Alabama, a bizarre murder is only the beginning.

Small town boys see weird sights, and Zephyr has provided Cory Jay Mackenson with his fair share of oddities. He knows the bootleggers who lurk in the dark places outside of town. On moonless nights, he’s heard spirits congregate in the churchyard to reminisce about the good old days. He’s seen rain that flooded Main Street and left it crawling with snakes. Cory knows magic, and relishes it as only a young boy can.

One frosty winter morning, he and his father watch a car jump the curb and sail into the fathomless town lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a naked corpse handcuffed to the wheel. This chilling sight is only the start of the strangest period of Cory’s life, when the magic of his town will transform him into a man.
 

The first paragraph (chapter 1):
   "Cory? Wake up, son. It's time."
   I let him pull me up from the dark cavern of sleep, and I opened my eyes and looked up at him. He was already dressed, in his dark brown uniform with his name--Tom--written in white letters across his breast pocket. I smelled bacon and eggs, and the radio was playing softly in the kitchen. A pan rattled and glasses clinked; Mom was at work in her element as surely as a trout rides a current. "It's time," my father said, and he switched on the lamp beside my bed and left me squinting with the last images of a dream fading in my brain.

The Teaser: 
He twisted the wheel back and forth because he could see the passing apparition even if Lainie was blind to it. Then Midnight Mona had gone through the front fender, it taillights the shape of red diamonds and its exhaust pipes spouting in Donny's face, and the Chevy started spinning around and around like a Tiltawhirl, the brakes and tires shrieking like drunken banshees at an all-night haunt.

Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/ 

Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea