Opening paragraphs.........................

On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother Thomas entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut Public Library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable.  Mrs. Theresa Fenneck, the children's librarian, was officially in charge that day because the head librarian was at an all-day meeting in Hartford.  She approached my brother and told him that he'd have to keep his voice down or else leave the library.  She could hear him all the way up at the front desk.  There were other patrons to consider.  If he wanted to pray, she told him, he should go to a church, not the library.
-Wally Lamb,  I Know This Much Is True