A Box of Unfortunate Events Movie Tie-in Edition: The Trouble Begins (The Bad Beginning, the Reptile Room, the Wide Window) [Hardcover]

Fans of Lemony Snicket and newcomers to his gleefully ghastly Series of Unfortunate Events will be elated to discover this boxed gift set of the first three books in hardcover: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window. While it's true that the events that unfold in Snicket's novels are bleak, and things never turn out as you'd hope, these delightful, funny, linguistically playful books are reminiscent of Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens, and Edward Gorey. After they get their paws on this boxed set, there is no question that young readers will want to read the continuing unlucky adventures of the three Baudelaire orphans. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Dear Fan of Count Olaf,

If you are looking for a good time, I'm sorry to tell you that you are holding a box of books, a term which here means “three books too many." As you may know, reading is pretty much the boringest thing in the world. You would have a better time watching a motion picture starring a handsome count.

My major motion picture, for example, starring me, features a mansion burnt to a crisp, a peg leg made of real wood, and leeches that eat people. True, this “box of books" has all these details, too, but there are so many words in it, and so few pictures of me.

It is my solemn duty to command you to put this thing down at once and rush to your local movie theater to marvel at my groundbreaking performance in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Books are for ugly people.

Of course you may have my autograph:

Count Olaf

Lemony Snicket was born before you were, and is likely to die before you as well. His family has roots in a part of the country which is now underwater, and his childhood was spent in the relative splendor of the Snicket Villa which has since become a factory, a fortress and a pharmacy and is now, alas, someone else's villa.

To the untrained eye, Mr. Snicket's hometown would not appear to be filled with secrets. Untrained eyes have been wrong before. The aftermath of the scandal was swift, brutal and inaccurately reported in the periodicals of the day. It is true, however, that Mr. Snicket was stripped of several awards by the reigning authorities, including Honorable Mention, the Grey Ribbon and First Runner Up. The High Council reached a convenient if questionable verdict and Mr. Snicket found himself in exile.

Though his formal training was chiefly in rhetorical analysis, he has spent the last several eras researching the travails of the Baudelaire orphans. This project, being published serially by HarperCollins, takes him to the scenes of numerous crimes, often during the off-season. Eternally pursued and insatiably inquisitive, a hermit and a nomad, Mr. Snicket wishes you nothing but the best.