The mysterious Mr. Snicket

• Nickelodeon to make books into an unfortunate series of movies

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Best-selling author Daniel Handler writes under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. Kids absolutely love his stuff. "Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized autobiography," by Daniel Handler, HarperCollins, $11.99

The joke, of course, is on the incognoscenti among us who have yet to catch on to the newest — and most subversive — phenomena in adolescent literature.

"The Pony Party" actually is a disguise — in the form of a reversible book jacket — for "Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography," which comes with a warning:

"The book you are holding in your hands is extremely dangerous. If the wrong people see you with this objectionable autobiography, the results could be disastrous. Please make use of this book's reversible jacket immediately. Disguising this book, and yourself if necessary, may be your only hope."

No happy endings

If all this seems a bit shadowy for a kids' book, well, that's sort of the point. Snicket, the mystery-shrouded alter ego of writer Daniel Handler, is the supposed author of "A Series of Unfortunate Events," the series of books that for the past year has battled Harry Potter for position on the children's best-seller lists.

The books also are a hit with older readers, particularly teen Goths with an appreciation for not-so-subtle literary references.

Lemony Snicket books follow the travails of three Baudelaire orphans who are up against an evil Count Olaf.

As Snicket warns, there are no happy endings.

What there is, of course, is a refreshing mix of irony, absurdity and wit.

Five more in the works

The so-called unauthorized autobiography comes at a good point in the series, with eight "Unfortunate Events" books already on the shelves and five more to go to reach the unlucky No. 13.

Next up: a series of unusual films. Last week, Nickolodeon revealed plans to turn "A Series of Unfortunate Events" into a movie.

Launched in 1999, the eight books in the series so far have sold 5 million copies.

True to the series, "The Unauthorized Autobiography" offers tantalizing insights into the Snicket's obsession with the orphans while at the same time further complicating an already murky (though endearingly so) picture.

Several purported photos of Snicket are included. As usual, however, they are either out of focus, shot from behind or otherwise obscured. The text follows suit.

Autobiographical bits

Rather than a typical autobiographical narrative (what, if anything, is ever typical with Snicket?), the book is composed of letters, meeting minutes, annotated songs, newspaper clippings, audio recording transcripts and various encoded items, including movie dialogue, and a menu.

There's even a Lemony Snicket obit. It starts like this:

"Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events, the purportedly true chronicles of the Baudelaire children, was reported dead today by anonymous and possibly unreliable sources. His age was given as 'tall, with brown eyes.' He leaves no known survivors."

Many of the items bear the scribblings of, we are to assume, Snicket himself.

What emerges is an entirely new dimension to the Snicket/Baudelaire relationship, one in which author, characters and reader are bound in a hilarious web of conspiracies and intrigues, secret societies and individuals of mysterious intents. It's sort of like an Addams Family staging of "The Crying of Lot 49."

Of course, it is important to bear in mind items 1 and 2 from Handler's disclaimer in the book's introduction.

"1) This book does not appear to be a forgery, which is not to say that the story is true — only that it is accurate.

"2) That this book comes from Mr. Snicket is unquestionable, which is not to say that some do not question it."

Nickelodeon to make books into an unfortunate series of movies

By Claudia Puig
USA Today

The hugely popular series of books, "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" is hoping to be the next "Harry Potter"-type franchise. Nickelodeon is producing the movie, scheduled for holiday 2003.

"It's very Nick," says Leigh Anne Brodsky, Nickelodeon's vice president of consumer products. "Any time you have fanciful stories and kids in an empowered situation, that's up our alley."

"Snicket" is a costly live-action venture, a departure for Nickelodeon, which usually traffics in animated spinoffs of its TV shows. (Among upcoming movies: "Hey Arnold!," due June 28; "The Wild Thornberrys," out Dec. 20; a third "Rugrats" movie, in 2003.)

"We want to make it on the scale it deserves," says Albie Hecht, president of Nickelodeon Film and TV entertainment. "It seemed like the next place to take Nick."

The books, written under the Snicket pseudonym, are the brainchild of 32-year-old author Daniel Handler, who's also writing the screenplay. Nick executives describe the books, favorites among kids ages 8 to 14, as "pop Gothic" and "gleefully morbid."

The same could be said of Handler, at least regarding his choice for a director. "I keep suggesting F.W. Murnau, who did 'Nosferatu,'" he says. "But he's long dead, which makes him difficult to get."

Handler has even come up with some merchandising brainstorms of his own. "I was talking to people at a game company about trying to design a board game that you can't win," Handler says. "The more people I can make frustrated and depressed, the happier I'll be."

Speaking of frustration, filmmakers will face their own production challenges. "Snicket" traffics in a world in which motorcycles cruise the streets alongside horse-drawn carriages. Hecht says: "It'll feel contemporary but be retro."

And it has the "kind of wickedness" that older audiences can relate to, says "Snicket" producer Scott Rudin ("Changing Lanes", "Shaft"). "That kind of mischievousness and darkness will appeal to older kids."

Nickelodeon hopes "Snicket" will be a solid franchise. "It has the perfect characters who don't have magic powers but can overcome misery and come out on top," Hecht says.

Handler, however, has a hard time envisioning a dozen installments of the movie. "I don't see it being like 'Friday the 13th,'" he says. "But it's exciting that Nickelodeon, which usually doesn't traffic in orphans, wants to do this."