A quick Google search found me the phrase "Lemony Snickey Republicans." As far as I can tell, it seems to refer to the fact that the Republican Party, from the ethics scandals to the sex scandals to the Presidential Approval rating, have suffered "A Series Of Unfortunate Events."

Sadly, this is NOT a group like "Log Cabin Republicans" or "Blue Dog Democrats." I would have liked to see their press conferences on CNN.

I had the pleasure of working with Daniel Handler when he directed a music video for a band called Memphis. It was a fairly long day, and it could have been an unpleasant experience but for the fact that everyone on the set, including Mr. Handler, was extremely friendly, open and nice. Witty and a bit ascerbic, yes. A jerk? Definitely not.

There's nothing wrong with writing "whacky" vs. "wacky"; it's just a variant spelling. I happen to like variant spellings.

From www.m-w.com:

Main Entry: wacky

Variant(s): also whacky /'wa-kE/

I liked the interview, but boy, is it full of copyediting errors. (E.g. "whacky," "e-Bay," and a question mark that should be outside the quotation marks.) I noticed a while ago that New York Times articles have a much higher incidence of typos and dumb errors on Sunday, and have always attributed this to the least experienced copyeditors working weekends. Does Salon do that, too?

My 1o-year-old son and I have read the entire series...are currently on "The End." They are slyly funny, less plot-driven, more literate than "Potter." What elevates them for me is that they seem to be a clear World War II allegory...Handler has talked about his Jewish relatives and the Halocaust, and the everyone in The Series is continually fleeing the awful, inescapable fire...

The "villain," Count Olaf, has a hideous mustache and ridiculous symobl...

Well-meaning people who try to "do good" often end up "fighting fire with fire"...or, they are woefully inadequate (like various Allies before the U.S. stepped in...?)

There are shadowy, underground organizations (V.F.D.) that use WWII era tactics like secret codes...

What comes shining through, however, is a celebration of decency, and the true, heartfelt bond that exists between the children (this is why the movie didn't work...it made Olaf the star; producers should have followed Potter's example: the kids are the thing!).

Anyway, believe this series will endure...believe me, if you read the other drek out there, like Spiderwick Chronicles, you would love The Series as much as I do!

But having read the interview, I'll probably pick up one of his earlier books at the library. If I don't have to pry it out of the grubby hands of some tear-stained eight year old. Handler sounds like a reasonable, non-pretentious, geniunely funny guy - someone I'd like to talk to in a bar for a few minutes. That's more appealing to me, as a reason to read anything he's written, than all the promotional campaigns in the world.

Like the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, the best Lemony Snickett books were the first few in the series. By the mid-point they were dull and repetitive. By the end, they were a terrible waste of time. The last book left most of the interesting mysteries raised in the earlier books unanswered. What a dud.

In fact, the Snickett books started to turn bad right about the time Salon first profiled Daniel Handler. More public attention coincided with less quality in the books. In this interview, Handler seems preoccupied with the boring matter of his own fame, and barely mentions the books themselves. Hmm. Once again, fame ruins a good writer as surely as it destroys children TV actors.

"If you're Jewish, you find the pope inherently funny. I often forget that there are a great number of people who take him seriously, rather than just thinking of him as some whacky clown."

I'm a long-since lapsed Catholic, but I still found this very offensive. I'm being a little reactionary here, but it does go to show how Catholics are one of the groups that people feel almost sanctioned to bash. The new pope doesn't do very much for me either as a spiritual leader or an old guy dressed up in medieval garb, but John Paul II was a man whose deeds and words usually transcended doctrine.

and there are plenty of Jewish clerics whose fashion sense one might find "whacky"(sic). I'm all for flouting convention, but have a little respect, Mr. Handler. I know one series I will not be having my (future) children read - however, the late Mr. Gorey will be more than welcome in the household.

Mike Hotter

... I recommend actually reading the books. Ignore the hype, *definitely* ignore the movie, and just read the books: they're smart, enjoyable, interesting, and there are an almost infinite number of worse things could be reading, and even more worse things they could be doing with their time than reading something enjoyable and perhaps a little arch.

Spoken like a true emissary of Count Olaf.

- m

The entire atmosphere of snotty contempt surrounding this book series has kept me at arm's length from reading it. Seeing the trailers and PR for the movie kept me from watching it (let alone the fact that Jim Carrey was in it). I got the distinct impression - not changed from this interview - that this Handler guy is an insufferable jerk.

There are authors who deserve a grisly death. Anne Rice, for instance, for making vampires, the most gory metaphor for rape and sadism, "fun" for an entire generation. She isn't the only reason that Americans have changed into a cruel, torture-loving people, but she sure helped.

"Lemony Snicket" isn't in that weight class of villainy. His works are just annoying, like that worn-out windshield wiper that keeps squeaking. But his books are very much like that wiper; simply the fact that they're stopping feels so good.