Thank you! In a weird way, that lead did draw me in, because it clashes so strongly with what you're told to do in both journalism and creative writing classes that it made me wonder:

How does he get away with this? And I'm interested in what enables people to get away with breaking long-accepted writing rules. Some writers with major reputations get away with it because, by then, people will read anything they write. Others are doing something more subtle and interesting. It's fun to try to figure out what's going on.