Introduction: But What Actually Existed Here Before the Big Bang?

The Imperceptible Progress of Shade: On the Beginning of Effi Briest

Theodore Fontane

Who Has Come?: On the Beginning of "In the Prime of Her Life"

S. Y. Agnon

With an Expression of Very Respectable Importance: On the Beginning of Gogol's "The Nose"

A Log in a Freshet: On the Beginning of Kafka's "A Country Doctor"

Huge Losses: On the Beginning of Chekhov's "Rothschild's Fiddle"

The Heat and the Day and the Wind: On the Beginning of S. Yizhar's Novel Mikdamot

Into Mother's Bosom: On Several Beginnings in Elsa Morante's History: A Novel

How Was It Possible for a Cow to Get onto the Balcony: On the Beginning of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The Autumn of the Patriarch

Take It Outside Before I Throw Up: On the Beginning of Raymond Carver's Story "Nobody Said Anything"

From Tnuva to Monaco: On the Beginning of Yaakov Shabtai's Story "A Private and Very Awesome Leopard"

Conclusion: Leisurely Pleasure