“I’m not a bad guy.” 

Yunior’s declaration is to explain how he failed with Magda. But as the first sentence of the first story, and thus the book, this sentence effectively works as thesis for the collection. It asks the reader to analyze whether this statement is indeed true.

“And that’s when I know it’s over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it’s the end.” 

Yunior is at a resort, trying to repair his relationship with Magda. He and two men from the resort drive out to the Cave of the Jagua in the dark. The two men lower him headfirst into the cave. Yunior realizes he has lost Magda when he has visions of the beginning of the relationship in the cave.

“Nilda was my brother’s girlfriend. That’s how all these stories begin.”

“Nilda” is the second story in the book, and these are among the very first sentences. It is the first introduction to Rafa, setting the tone for Yunior’s relationship with his older brother. It implies Rafa had many girlfriends for Yunior to crush on. Yunior is 14 in this story, and his still-underdeveloped sexual persona that will become consistently unfaithful is influenced by Rafa, who harbors a multitude of hypermasculine traits.