Lemony Snicket Popular Books

Lemony Snicket Biography & Facts

Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970). Handler has published various children's books under the name, including A Series of Unfortunate Events, which has sold over 60 million copies and spawned a 2004 film and Netflix TV series from 2017 to 2019 of the same name. Lemony Snicket also serves as the in-universe author who investigates and re-tells the story of the Baudelaire orphans in A Series of Unfortunate Events.Snicket is also the subject of a fictional autobiography titled Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography. Further telling of Snicket's adventures can be found in the four-part children's series All the Wrong Questions, as well as a pamphlet titled 13 Shocking Secrets You'll Wish You Never Knew About Lemony Snicket (released in promotion of The End). Other works by Snicket include The Baby in the Manger, The Composer Is Dead, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming, The Lump of Coal, and 13 Words. In the 2004 film, Lemony Snicket is voiced by Jude Law while James Henderson plays him physically, who documents the events of the film on a typewriter from inside a clock tower. In the video game based on the film, his voice is provided by Tim Curry. In the Netflix series, Snicket is interpreted as a mysterious and omniscient narrator chronicling the events of the Baudelaire children, and is portrayed by Patrick Warburton. Characterization Within A Series of Unfortunate Events, the narrator Lemony Snicket is given his own backstory. He is said to have come from a family of three children. His brother Jacques (who was murdered in The Vile Village) and sister Kit were V.F.D. members and friends of the Baudelaire parents. Both Jacques and Kit appear as supporting characters in the books. He also knew Count Olaf in his early life, as the two attended school together. As a child, he was kidnapped and inducted as a "neophyte" into V.F.D., where he was trained in rhetoric and sent on seemingly pointless missions, while all connections were severed from his former life, apart from his siblings Jacques and Kit (who were also kidnapped and inducted). Consequently, Snicket attended a V.F.D.-run boarding school in his youth with several other characters from the series. He received later tuition at a V.F.D. headquarters in the Mortmain Mountains and was employed by a newspaper called The Daily Punctilio after graduation as an obituary spell-checker and theater critic. As a character, Snicket is a harried, troubled writer and photographer who is falsely accused of various felonies and continuously hunted by the police and his enemies, the fire-starting side of the secret organization V.F.D. (Volunteer Fire Department). In the organization, he met and fell in love with an associate named Beatrice, to whom he got engaged. He was falsely accused of murder and arson. Eventually, the fallacies grew so much that The Daily Punctilio reported his death. Beatrice later moved on and married Bertrand Baudelaire, becoming the mother of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, the protagonists of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Fourteen years thereafter, Beatrice and Bertrand were supposedly murdered in a house fire, leaving the Baudelaire children orphaned and then pursued by Snicket's former associate, Count Olaf. Snicket feels indebted to his former fiancée and embarks on a quest to chronicle the lives of the Baudelaire children until they become old enough to face the troubles of the world on their own. Lemony Snicket has charged himself with the task of researching and documenting the story of the Baudelaire orphans for "many personal and legal reasons". He traces their movements and collects evidence relating to their adventures. Though he is never specified to have met the children in the book series, in the Netflix adaptation of The Penultimate Peril he is confirmed as the taxi driver trying to take the children away from the hotel. As the series progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Snicket had known the Baudelaire orphans' parents well through their connections to V.F.D. However, as mentioned in The Hostile Hospital and The End, despite all of Lemony's research and hard work, he still does not know the current location, position or status of the Baudelaire children. Additionally, it is unclear if he ever met them in the books. Snicket is frequently disparaging of himself; he has described himself as a coward, and at various points in his novels comments that he would not have been as brave as the Baudelaire children had he been in their situation. He also confesses that he has done things that were not noble, such as the original theft of the sugar bowl from Esmé Squalor. He implied he had a part in the murder of Count Olaf's parents, and that Beatrice was involved as well. In the narration of the books, Snicket describes doing many unusual things in his free time, including hiding all traces of his actions, locating new hiding places, considering suspicious dishes, and researching the perilous lives of the Baudelaire children. He claims to often write himself citations for bravery in an attempt to cheer himself up, but these attempts are always in vain. As pen name The name Lemony Snicket originally came from research from Handler's first book The Basic Eight. Handler wanted to receive material from organizations that he found "offensive or funny" but did not want to use his real name, so he invented "Lemony Snicket" as a pseudonym. The name's similarity to Jiminy Cricket was "likely a Freudian slip". Handler told NPR in an interview that "the character of Lemony Snicket, this man who speaks directly to the reader and also who is tangentially involved in the stories that he's telling is really more of a character. We just thought it would be fun to publish the books under the name of this character." Handler has also written or contributed to other works under the Lemony Snicket persona that are not related to A Series of Unfortunate Events. He has stated "there's a chance some other matters may take up Mr. Snicket's attention, that he may research and publish, but I'm always wary of making such promises".Handler publishes most of his children's novels under the pen name, including the thirteen-book A Series of Unfortunate Events series, the four-book All the Wrong Questions series, The Baby in the Manger, The Composer Is Dead, Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming, The Lump of Coal, and 13 Words.As Snicket, Handler wrote an introduction and endnotes for The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily by Dino Buzzati, his favorite children's book, that referenced A Series of Unfortunate Events. Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things That Aren't as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf, and One Other Story We .... Discover the Lemony Snicket popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lemony Snicket books.

Best Seller Lemony Snicket Books of 2024

  • Under the Greenwood Tree synopsis, comments

    Under the Greenwood Tree

    Thomas Hardy & Tim Dolin

    The arrival of two newcomers in the quiet village of Mellstock arouses a bitter feud and leaves a convoluted love affair in its wake. While the Reverend Maybold creates a furore am...

  • The Carnivorous Carnival synopsis, comments

    The Carnivorous Carnival

    Lemony Snicket

    Everybody loves a carnival! Who can fail to delight in the colourful people, the unworldly spectacle, the fabulous freaks? A carnival is a place for good family fun as long as one...

  • Beegu synopsis, comments

    Beegu

    Alexis Deacon

    Beegu is not supposed to be on Earth. She is lost. She is a friendly little creature, but the Earth People don't seem very welcoming at all. However, so far she has only met the BI...

  • The Jungle Books synopsis, comments

    The Jungle Books

    Rudyard Kipling

    The story of the mancub Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, guided by his mentors Baloo the bear, Bagheera the black panther and the ancient python Kaa, and who co...

  • Murder Your Employer synopsis, comments

    Murder Your Employer

    Rupert Holmes

    A New York Times bestseller! From Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and storysongwriter Rupert Holmes comes a diabolical thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conse...

  • Withering-by-Sea synopsis, comments

    Withering-by-Sea

    Judith Rossell

    A stalwart orphan sets out on a spinetingling adventure in this wildly imaginative and darkly funny Victorian middle grade novel.High on a cliff above the gloomy Victorian town of ...

  • Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure synopsis, comments

    Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure

    John Cleland & Peter Wagner

    Forced by the death of her parents to seek her fortune in London, Fanny Hill is duped into prostitution by an old procuress. In Mrs Brown's bawdyhouse the naïve young woman begins ...

  • Lord Jim synopsis, comments

    Lord Jim

    Joseph Conrad

    This compact novel, completed in 1900, as with so many of the great novels of the time, is at its baseline a book of the sea. An English boy in a simple town has dreams bigger than...

  • The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey synopsis, comments

    The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

    Trenton Lee Stewart & Diana Sudyka

    The fearsome foursome is back in the second installment of the New York Times bestselling series praised by Rick Riordan! The Mysterious Benedict Society is up against a new missi...

  • Rare Beasts synopsis, comments

    Rare Beasts

    Charles Ogden & Rick Carton

    Fire ants. Fraud. Footie pajamas. Twins Edgar and Ellen live alone their parents disappeared years ago, and who can blame them? in the quaint, little town of Nod's Limbs, in a g...

  • Wormwood Mire synopsis, comments

    Wormwood Mire

    Judith Rossell

    This spinetingling sequel to WitheringbySea sees Stella sent away to the moldering old family estate, where she discovers two odd cousinsand a mystery.Elevenyearold Stella Montgome...

  • The Composer Is Dead synopsis, comments

    The Composer Is Dead

    Lemony Snicket

    There's dreadful news from the symphony hallthe composer is dead!In this perplexing murder mystery from New York Times bestselling author Lemony Snicket, everyone seems to have a m...

  • Roxana synopsis, comments

    Roxana

    Daniel Defoe & David Blewett

    Beautiful, proud Roxana is terrified of being poor. When her foolish husband leaves her penniless with five children, she must choose between being a virtuous beggar or a rich whor...

  • The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop synopsis, comments

    The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop

    Karen L. Maness & Richard M. Isackes

    The definitive behindthescenes history of one of Hollywood’s most closely guarded cinematic secrets finally revealedpainted backdrops and the scenic artists who brought them to the...

  • The Woodlanders synopsis, comments

    The Woodlanders

    Thomas Hardy & Patricia Ingham

    When countrygirl Grace Melbury returns home from her middleclass school she feels she has risen above her suitor, the simple woodsman Giles Winterborne. Though marriage had been di...

  • The Fable of the Bees synopsis, comments

    The Fable of the Bees

    Bernard Mandeville & Phillip Harth

    A physician with a particular interest in psychological disorders and satirist, Mandeville published versions of his notorious Fable of the Bees from 1714 to 1732. Each was a defen...

  • The Prince and the Pauper synopsis, comments

    The Prince and the Pauper

    Mark Twain

    Tom Canty and Edward Tudor could have been identical twins. Their birthdays and their faces match, but there the likeness stops. For Edward is prince, heir to King Henry VIII of En...

  • 13 Words synopsis, comments

    13 Words

    Lemony Snicket

    From bestselling author Lemony Snicket and celebrated illustrator Maira Kalman comes an uproarious, whimsical word book like no other.Together, Snicket and Kalman present a strikin...

  • The Hostile Hospital synopsis, comments

    The Hostile Hospital

    Lemony Snicket

    The Baudelaires need a safe place to stay somewhere far away from terrible villains and local police. A quiet refuge where misfortune never visits. Might Heimlich Hospital be just...

  • The Complete Poems synopsis, comments

    The Complete Poems

    John Milton & John Leonard

    John Milton was a master of almost every type of verse, from the classical to the religious and from the lyrical to the epic. His early poems include the devotional 'On the Mornin...

  • The Wide Window synopsis, comments

    The Wide Window

    Lemony Snicket

    Dear Reader, If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted...

  • The Three Musketeers synopsis, comments

    The Three Musketeers

    Alexandre Dumas

    One of the bestloved adventures of all time.When young D'Artagnan comes to Paris to seek his fortune, he is challenged to a duel with not one, but three of the king's Musketeers. B...

  • The Reptile Room synopsis, comments

    The Reptile Room

    Lemony Snicket

    Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent children. They are charming, and resourceful, and have pleasant facial features. Unfortunately, they are exceptionally unlucky. ...

  • The Vile Village synopsis, comments

    The Vile Village

    Lemony Snicket

    Dear Reader,You have undoubtedly picked up this book by mistake, so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would read this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus,...

  • The Austere Academy synopsis, comments

    The Austere Academy

    Lemony Snicket

    As the three Baudelaire orphans warily approach their new home Prufrock Preparatory School : they can′t help but notice the enormous stone arch bearing the school′s motto Memento M...

  • Poison for Breakfast synopsis, comments

    Poison for Breakfast

    Lemony Snicket

    Washington Post BestsellerA new standalone adventureappropriate for all agesby Lemony Snicket, one of the twentyfirst century’s most beloved authors.In the years since this publish...

  • Adverbs synopsis, comments

    Adverbs

    Daniel Handler

    Hello.I am Daniel Handler, the author of this book. Did you know that authors often write the summaries that appear on their book's dust jacket? You might want to think about that ...

  • The Slippery Slope synopsis, comments

    The Slippery Slope

    Lemony Snicket

    Like bad smells, uninvited weekend guests or very old eggs, there are some things that ought to be avoided. Snicket's saga about the charming, intelligent, and grossly unlucky Baud...

  • The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner synopsis, comments

    The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    James Hogg & Karl Miller

    Brought up by a strict Calvinist pastor, Robert Wringham believes he is one of the elect, predestined for salvation while all others including his real father and brother are cur...

  • The Ersatz Elevator synopsis, comments

    The Ersatz Elevator

    Lemony Snicket

    In their most daring misadventure, the Baudelaire orphans are adopted by very, very rich people, whose penthouse apartment is located mysteriously close to the place where all thei...

  • Revenge of the Beast synopsis, comments

    Revenge of the Beast

    Jack Meggitt-Phillips

    Lemony Snicket meets Roald Dahl in this “wickedly funny” (Kirkus Reviews), deliciously macabre, and highly illustrated sequel to The Beast and the Bethany in which Bethany and Eben...

  • The Penultimate Peril synopsis, comments

    The Penultimate Peril

    Lemony Snicket

    Lemony Snicket returns with the last book before the last book of his bestselling Series of Unfortunate Events. Scream and run away before the secrets of the series are revealed! V...

  • The Miserable Mill synopsis, comments

    The Miserable Mill

    Lemony Snicket

    I hope, for your sake, that you have not chosen to read this book because you are in the mood for a pleasant experience. If this is the case, I advise you to put this book down ins...

  • The End synopsis, comments

    The End

    Lemony Snicket

    Like an offkey violin concert, the Roman Empire, or food poisoning, all things must come to an end. Thankfully, this includes A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. The ...

  • Oroonoko, the Rover and Other Works synopsis, comments

    Oroonoko, the Rover and Other Works

    Aphra Behn

    When Prince Oroonoko’s passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surin...

  • The Grim Grotto synopsis, comments

    The Grim Grotto

    Lemony Snicket

    Warning: Your day will become very dark and possibly damp if you read this book. Plan to spend this spring in hiding. Lemony Snicket is back with the eleventh book in his New Yor...

  • The Truth Behind a Series of Unfortunate Events synopsis, comments

    The Truth Behind a Series of Unfortunate Events

    Lois H. Gresh

    The ultimate companion guide to A Series of Unfortunate Eventsa must for fans of Lemony Snicket.A Series of Unfortunate Events is one of the most popular children's series in the w...

  • The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus synopsis, comments

    The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus & J. Cohen

    No gamble in history has been more momentous than the landfall of Columbus's ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 an event that paved the way for the conquest of a 'New Wo...