Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography  

First edition cover
Author(s) Lemony Snicket
Illustrator Brett Helquist
Country United States
Language English
Series A Series of Unfortunate Events
Publisher HarperCollins, Egmont Publishing (U.K.
Publication date May 2002 (U.S.); August 2002, 3 September 2007 (U.K.)
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 218 pp
ISBN ISBN 978-0060007195 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC Number 48435430
Dewey Decimal [Fic] 21
LC Classification PZ7.S6795 Un 2002

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography is a fictional "autobiography" of A Series of Unfortunate Events author and character Lemony Snicket. It was published on May 1, 2002.[1][2]

Contents

Synopsis and Style

Although it is labeled "Unauthorized" for humor, the book is in fact official and considered a 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 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.

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. As it may, it even brings some sense of Mr. Snicket's history.

Reception

Karen Vilby 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".[1]

References

See also