He's talking about the opening of Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/12/the-opening-sentences-of-paul

He's talking about the opening of Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/12/the-opening-sentences-of-paul-clifford.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/12/th... The opening line and following run-on sentence has acquired a bit of a cult following and inspired a contest for best worst fictional opening: https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ It's possible the author you linked was inspired by this as well.