A great first sentence

"For numberless years a myna had astounded travelers to the caravansary with its ability to spew indecencies in ten languages, and before the fight broke out everyone assumed the old blue-tongued devil on its perch by the fireplace was the one who maligned the African with such foulness and verve."

Great stuff from Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road, which I picked up last Sunday.