Lemony Snicket
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Template:ASUE character Lemony Snicket is a fictional character, the fictional author and narrator of the A Series of Unfortunate Events books, actually written by Daniel Handler. Handler has also written two other stories under this pen-name, a children's comic and a holiday short story. Twelve of the thirteen anticipated books in the "Unfortunate Events" series have been published; the final book in the series will be released on the next Friday the 13th, which is October 13, 2006.
Snicket often writes comments of his own life in the books, mostly relating the fact he is in peril or on the run. He is in love with a mysterious woman Beatrice, of whom there is very little further evidence. Both Beatrice and Snicket served at one time as members of V.F.D. Since her untimely death in unknown (to the reader) circumstances, he dedicates all the books to her with statements such as "When we were together, I felt breathless. Now you are." This sort of humour is his normal writing style throughout the books. On The Family Tree in pages 196 and 197 of Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, it says his grandfather's name is Chas Snicket. He has two siblings, a brother, Jacques Snicket, who dies in The Vile Village, and a sister, Kit Snicket, who took Violet, Klaus and Sunny away in a black cab at the end of the eleventh book, The Grim Grotto. One page of the Unauthorized Autobiography claims his father's name is Jacob, which directly conflicts with the family tree which claims his name begins with the letter 'E'. He was abducted by V.F.D. at an early age, as recorded in the ballad "The Little Snicket Lad". The song describes, to what may or may not be a well-known hymn of naval disaster, V.F.D.'s activities and methods, claiming that members broke into his house and took him while his parents were out.
He is described, among other things, as having been born beside the sea and now living underneath it, as a distinguished scholar, and as having been stripped of the Honorable Mention and the Grey Ribbon. Photographs of Snicket are shown, but are always taken from behind, except that in The Unauthorized Autobiography there is a photograph of the crew of a ship (whose names all seem to be those of famous authors), with a caption indicating that Snicket is in the photo, but the face of the sailor said to be Snicket has been mysteriously torn from the photograph. He sometimes claims to be writing the book in various perilous situations, such as an Italian restaurant which is slowly filling with water or behind the altar of a packed cathedral.
Additionally, about once per book, Snicket provides the reader with a glimpse of his life. We know that he:
- plays the accordion (probably a concertina)
- plays the Harpsichord
- has been chased by an angry mob for 16 miles
- had an unhappy love affair with a woman called Beatrice, who even wrote a book (200 pages) explaining why it was impossible for her to marry him
- attended a costume ball dressed as a bullfighter, to gain access to his beloved Beatrice, who was dressed as a dragonfly
- once had a sword-fight with a television repairman
- once had a curse put on him by a fortune-teller (possibly Madame Lulu) after he "accidentally" broke her crystal ball after being tripped
- learned how to make a salad from his sister
- wrote the books because of Beatrice's death
- was once a member of the Queequeg
- It is possible, based on the letters to his editor, which can be found at the end of each book, that he was always with the Baudelaires while they were going through what he then wrote about.
- has one or more pet marmosets
- Handler has stated that "Lemony is quite openly Jewish."<ref>"Persnickety views" at Jewish News Weekly of Northern California.</ref>
An article on Lemony Snicket's official site, released on March 16, listed "thirteen shocking secrets" about Lemony Snicket. They were:
- Lemony Snicket is not who you think he is.
- Lemony Snicket is one of three siblings.
- Lemony Snicket's niece is an orphan.
- Lemony Snicket is wanted for arson.
- Lemony Snicket grew up with a terrible villain.
- Lemony Snicket attended boarding school.
- When he was a baby, Lemony Snicket was kidnapped by a secret organization.
- Lemony Snicket was fired from The Daily Punctilio.
- Lemony Snicket helped Beatrice commit a serious crime before her death.
- Lemony Snicket was disguised as a bullfighter when he was captured.
- Lemony Snicket's work is filled with secret messages meant for his associates.
- Lemony Snicket has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle.
- He is finished. (This thirteenth secret is found by completing a puzzle within the file.)
Real
Handler originally came up with "Lemony Snicket" as a pseudonym to use rather than placing his real name on the mailing lists of several right-wing organizations he was researching for one of his novels, The Basic Eight. It became something of an in-joke with his friends, who were known to order pizzas under the name. When he found himself writing a series of children's books, he decided to use the Snicket name to add an air of mystery to proceedings; Lemony Snicket is an elusive figure. Handler has a considerable amount of fun with the Snicket character in the author biography sections of the books, in a page at the end of every book where Snicket makes complicated arrangements for the delivery of the manuscript of the next book to his publisher, on the Lemony Snicket website and in Snicket's Unauthorized Autobiography. To further amuse readers, the U.S. hardcover edition of this book has a reversible dust jacket that can be "disguised" as The Luckiest Kids in the World Book 1: The Pony Party! by "Loney M. Setnick," which is an anagram of "Lemony Snicket".
To fill time at the end of the first audio book, read by Tim Curry, there is an interview which is supposed to be with "Mr. Snicket" but apparently he is not home, and the interview proceeds with "Mr. Handler," who confuses himself with his "employer" throughout the interview. To avoid answering any tough questions, Handler invokes a psychological device by which the response to a query can be so horrible that it seems to the listener as if it was not given at all.
A commentary track entitled "Brad Silberling and the real Lemony Snicket Commentary" was recorded for the DVD released on 26 April 2005. Brad Silberling is the movie's director, and the "real Lemony Snicket" joke is a jibe aimed at Jude Law, considered the "Imposter Lemony Snicket."
Lemony Snicket, as distinct from Handler, has also written three works unrelated to A Series of Unfortunate Events. The first was the opening story of It Was a Dark and Silly Night, a volume of Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly's Little Lit series. The story begins "In this case, SILLY stands for Slightly Intelligent, Largely Laconic Yeti..." The second was a short story published in the USA Weekend magazine (a US newspaper supplement), dated December 10-12, 2004. This was a holiday story entitled "The Lump of Coal," and included two full-color illustrations by Brett Helquist (who has also illustrated all of the books in the Series of Unfortunate Events to date). The third was an introduction and a half of a story for the short story collection Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Other Things. The half of a story is a contest inviting readers to help finish it and win a special prize.
Handler's most recent book is a book of adult fiction entitled "Adverbs" which is 16 witty short stories about love.
References
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