Daniel Handler

I'm reading Adverbs by Daniel Handler right now.

I'm a total nerd because I have this tendency to latch on to bands or authors and I'm a loyal fan for life. An excellent example of this is Weezer. I have loved Weezer since they stumbled into the land of the "known." I have since rarely missed a concert near my town and am always in line the Tuesday morning that their new music comes out. This is ridiculous because I'm 30 years old, I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm supposed to be past all that. I am past all that, with a few exceptions: Weezer, Buffalo Tom, Harry Potter, and Daniel Handler (as well as his children's books, but I can use my daughter as an excuse for that).

I don't want to get off track because I want to talk about Daniel Handler. Like pretty much everyone else who has read one of his books (and for some reason I feel guilty about this, don't ask me to explain), I discovered him as Lemony Snicket. When I first came accross A Series of Unfortunate Events when looking at books for my daughter, I had to buy the first book. I really treasure wit, and when reading the back of The Bad Beginning, I said, "Holy Cow! Quality wit for children." By the way, I didn't really say "Holy Cow!" Anyway, I devoured Lemony Snicket, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

So, I became a loyal Snicket fan, and of course had to learn everything about him. Then I stumbled upon his true identity and I said, "Holy Cow! Quality wit for adults, a modern day Wilde." Once again, I didn't really say "Holy Cow!"

Anyway, I love Handler's books, all 2 of them, and was at the bookstore early last Tuesday morning to get my hands on the 3rd, Adverbs. Normally in my B.C. period (Before Children), I would have finished it by now. But, as it is A.C., I am only allowed to read in the bathtub.

So, now I officially recommend Daniel Handler to the one person who will sadly stumble accross this blog and would like some solid, witty contemporary literature to read. I am not in a position to rate Adverbs yet, but of his other 2 books, The Basic 8 and Watch Your Mouth, the former is my favorite. It most likely can only be found in a library as it is out of print and therefore hideously expensive on Amazon.

Edited to add:
The Basic 8 has been released on paperback as of today! Now the poor soul who happens to read this has no excuse not to buy it!!!