Who is Lemony Snicket

If you haven't yet read any of the books in the "Series of Unfortunate Events" you really should. In fact you should before you pick up this book and try to make sense of it. (If any sense can be made of this book.) The Series of Unfortunate Events books cover the adventures of the Baudelaire orphans as they discover that their parents were members of a secret volunteer society known as "V.F.D." This organization was actively helping people in secret. How or what is never revealed. One day a schism occurred.

Well the books are written by the mysterious Lemony Snicket. He's following the Baudelaires adventures and keeping track in the books...But who is Lemony Snicket? To find that answer pick up this book and read it cover to cover. It is a fun read and keeps the same mysterious style and humor found in the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books. No, this book will not answer the question as to who Lemony Snicket is, but it will entertain you to no end.

This book is a great companion to the series and even sheds some light on some of the events that occurred in the books. There's a section on disguises that pretty much describes every character in the series. Most o f the book is written as clandestine communique between Snicket and various agents. One such agent (whether good or bad is never quite clear) disguises himself as a cow and travels around trying to find information on Monty Montgomery's reptiles. This section had a laugh out loud moment that I always loved with this series.

The agent disguised as a cow writes:
"Approached a married couple who apparently own the 'Prospero' to ask if any reptiles had recently boarded the ship. Couple alrarmed by talking cow, refused to participate.

Saw signs indicating there was a dairy nearby. Did not approach due to fear of being milked."

Great Stuff here.

If you are a fan of the series you have to own this book. It also features a reversible dust jacket so no bad guys can tell you are reading. The reverse side of the dust jacket is for a fictitious book called "The Pony Party!" by Loney M. Setnick (an anagram of Lemony Snicket).

Which reminds me, the book is filled with anagrams and references to many famous authors. Figuring some out is even more fun.

"Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid"
by Lemony Snicket
Published 2007 by Harper Collins

For anyone who has ever had the treat of reading the books written by Lemony Snicket, you are already aware of his dark humor/ dry wit and sarcasm. It has been a couple of years since I finished the series "A Series of Unfortuanate Events," by Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Daniel Handler) and I miss following the misfortunes of the Baudelaire orphans.

This book does not add anything to the Unfortunate lives of the three Baudelaire children, rather it is a supplement to the series. This book is a collection of some of the quotes from the books separated into 13 chapters each covering a topic. I think, but without having to go back and refresh myself on the 13 books I'm not positive, they cover the topics approached by the book in each chapter. The quotes are from the books, as well as some new ones thrown in to add some fresh material.

In order to adequately review this book I'll give the topic of each chapter and then add a quote from the same chapter.

Chapter 1: Home

"There are some people who believe that home is where one hangs one's hat, but these people tend to live in closets and on little pegs."

Chapter 2: Family

"Siblings who claim to get along all the time are most definitely hiding something."

Chapter 3: School

"Most Schools have a system of loud bells, which startle the students and teachers at regular intervals and remind them that time is passing even more slowly than it seems."

Chapter 4: Work

"Members of your family might say they are working all day long, while you are off at school or clarinet lessons, but the only way to know this for sure is to follow them at a discreet distance."

Chapter 5: Entertainment

"Wishing, like sipping a glass of punch or pulling aside a bearskin rug in order to access a hidden trapdoor in the floor, is merely a quiet way to spend one's time before the candles are extinguished on one's birthday cake."

Chapter 6: Literature

"If writers wrote as carelesssly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[pasdlgkhasdfasdf."

Chapter 7: Travel

"Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them."

Chapter 8: Emotional Health

"The way sadness works is one of the strangest riddles of the world."

Chapter 9: Affairs of the Heart

"Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby - awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess."

Chapter 10: A Life of Mystery

"Having an aura of menace is like having a pet weasel, because you rarely meet someone who has one, and when you do it makes you want to hide under the coffee table."

Chapter 11: The Mystery of Life

"Sometimes even in the most unfortunate of lives there will occur a moment or two of good fortune."

Chapter 12: An Overall Feeling of Doom that One Cannot Ever Escape No Matter What One Does

"There are some who go through life with a shadow hanging over them, particularly if they live in a building which has long wide awnings."

Chapter 13: Miscellaneous

"Just about everything in this world is easier said than done, with the exception of 'systematically assisting Sysyphus's stealthy, cyst-susceptible sister,' which is easier done than said."

These are just small examples of some of the fun to be found between the covers in this book. You can either read it cover to cover or just randomly open it to find your thought for the day. Either way you will find some fun in this book by Lemony Snicket.