The Books

A Series of Unfortunate Events begins with a fire.  The three Baudelaire children—Violet, Klaus, and Sunny—are walking on Briny Beach one day when Mr. Poe, the family banker, finds them and tells them their mansion has burned to the ground and their parents are dead. 

As if that’s not enough, the Baudelaires are soon caught up in a harum-scarum web of villainy, intrigue, and bad hygiene that involves a secret organization, a woman named Beatrice, several incompetent guardians, two triplets, a plot to steal the Baudelaire fortune, pinstripe suits, and three mysterious consonants.  Mr. Snicket will recommend screaming and running away.  I recommend reading them as often as you can.  But then, I am an Unfortunate.

This is a spoiler-free page, or at least it tries to be.  The other pages may contain spoilers without warning, so watch out.  Or go read the books first, whichever you prefer.

Quotes
“If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.  In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle... I’m sorry to tell you this, but that is how the story goes.”
- The Bad Beginning

“If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if that thing is cats.”
- The Wide Window

“NOTE: For various reasons, portions of this chapter have been changed or made up entirely, including this sentence.”
- Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography