''Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography'' is a fictional "autobiography" of ''
A Series of Unfortunate Events'' author and character
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970). Handler has published several children's books under the name, most notably ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 million copies and s ...
. It was published on May 1, 2002.
Synopsis and style
Although it is labeled "Unauthorized" for humor, the book is in fact official. Beginning with a
multi-layered introduction by
Daniel Handler that encompasses twelve of the book's thirteen chapters, the book is largely made up of
facsimile
A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...
documents, such as old newspaper excerpts and letters, as well as excerpts from other books. The book also uses a mixture of
black-and-white photography by Meredith Heuer and Julie Blattberg and 1930s photography gathered from an archive of photographs originally used for other purposes. It has a reversible cover, making it possible to disguise the autobiography as ''The Luckiest Kids in the World: The Pony Party'' by Loney M. Setnick (an anagram for Lemony Snicket). The reversible cover also includes a back cover summary which describes the book as "delightfully appropriate".
The book helps clear up some loose ends from the series, but it also introduces many more mysteries, as well as elucidates details which readers might have missed in previous books. It also answers and raises many questions about the mysterious V.F.D. organization, a key player in ''
A Series of Unfortunate Events''.
Reception
This book sold 139,000 paperback copies in the United States in 2003.
Karen Valby of ''
Entertainment Weekly'' scored the book a B, saying, "...the whole thing is a bit of a vanity project, a bizarre exercise in style and trickery, but it will whet the appetites of fans as they wait for the ninth book. Newcomers, though, should start with ''
The Bad Beginning''".
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References
See also
*Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970). Handler has published several children's books under the name, most notably ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 million copies and s ...
{{Lemony Snicket
2002 American novels
Books in A Series of Unfortunate Events
HarperCollins books
2002 children's books