When I saw this ARC pop up on NetGalley, I scrambled to request it and immediately contacted my fellow reviewers to request it as well. An insight into one of my foundational literary voices? Absolutely! However, it was very disheartening to be left wanting this book to be so much more than what it is.

The first chapter is an intriguing intro — it seems to set up a ride through the process and routine of Handler. That chapter ends, and we plunge directly into history-book-I-didn’t-ask-for territory. The author has some very, very niche interests and references, and I can respect that, but I didn’t know that this book would become primarily an educational essay focusing on those films and poems, with the occasional one- or two-line anecdote about the writing and publication experience of his fiction books.

The title of this supposed memoir is And Then? And Then? What Else? That is a great way to describe how I feel about it — left wondering when the writer inspiration and memoir bits kick in. Maybe I love Lemony Snicket’s work, while Daniel Handler’s isn’t for me.

This was such a letdown, and I don't know how I ended up the only outlier so far in these reviews. I’m a huge fan of Lemony Snicket. But this is Daniel Handler, specifically. Not Lemony Snicket. It’s kind of astounding to me that they are the same person, but the stuff they write is so different. This book in particular reads like you’re sitting across from a guy who just drank a highly caffeinated coffee and he’s telling you everything that’s on his mind without stopping. It says a lot without really saying much at all. Could this really be the same writer that crafted A Series of Unfortunate Events, one of my favorite series of all time? I remembered enjoying what I'd read of the "When Did You See Her Last?" books as well, but when I looked back to check those were indeed also written under the Snicket moniker.

I can’t figure out what this is supposed to be. It’s not really a book about how to write, or a memoir, or something else. But at the same time it tries to be all of these things and doesn’t do a great job at any of them. It all blurs together like a stream of consciousness mess and the topics chosen don’t seem ideal. Many of the personal stories are VERY personal, and I had trouble figuring out why he was including some of them or how they related to any of the other things he was talking about. Most of the book is pop culture analysis and personal anecdotes. If you’re hoping for writing tips, they are well hidden.

This is the second time one of my favorite authors has written that nobody ever wants to hear about or read about dreams. (The other author was Chuck Palahniuk.) Respectfully, I disagree 100%. That device can certainly be overused, but I love reading about dreams and I absolutely love to hear about the messed up things that another person's subconscious subjects them to. The key is not to be BORING. But then again, Handler says this and then in the very next chapter describes a dream that he once had. So it’s very possible that he’s fucking with us.

He also talks a lot about various works of art/pop culture that he loves and goes into analytical detail about why he loves them. (When I got to the section on Nabokov I was like, “Oh no, don’t do this to me.”) It’s like that meme with Drake: talking about Nabokov? No thanks. Singing the praises of Edward Gorey? Yes, absolutely!

The most charming part of the book to me was when he talked about the tour for A Series of Unfortunate Events and all the kids he met that were weird little Baudelaire orphan super fans. Though even this only lasts for a few sentences.

I hate to even go into it, but what really soured the reading experience for me was the following: He brings up times when he has been “misunderstood” or “criticized” in the past by colleagues and then claims that it was simply a matter of his sense of humor being taken the wrong way or other people being too uptight. The first time, he made crass comments to women and was annoyed when they got uncomfortable. The second time, he read an essay that was not age appropriate to a group of school children and then got defensive when a woman told him to “do better.” He followed this up with a section on his thoughts about censorship. Sir, you were not being censored. You were being asked to act appropriately. Already disappointing, but then I was treated to a lengthy and hostile diatribe against the term “problematic.” There’s messaging against book banning, which of course I agree with, but even his reasoning for this seems misguided and self-righteous. Honestly, given how he wrote about past criticisms in this book I was a little bit afraid to be scathingly honest in this review, so I toned it down quite a bit.

I’ll always love the books of Lemony Snicket, but Daniel Handler's, not as much. Luckily Snicket is very much a distinguishable character with his own voice because if ever there were a case to “separate the art from the artist,” it’s this one. The beautiful, funny and inspiring writing from the Snicket books just wasn’t to be found here. Unfortunately, the biggest thing I learned from this book is that Handler is just another guy who can’t handle being told that he did something wrong and, when given a platform, will go on angry diatribes that make him look even worse.

TW: Mention of mental illness/eating disorders/suicide, psychiatric hospitalization, sexual assault of a minor

I still love The series of unfortunate events, and I continue to read books by Lemony Snicket and Daniel Handler. When my daughter was young, we would borrow the audiobooks from the library for road trips so we could hear the brilliant Tim Curry narrating The series of unfortunate events, with his own style and tunes.
So I enjoyed having a chance to read this, a short memoir that still managed to cover many pivotal points in the author's life. There is so much honesty here. It was fantastic how Handler also talked about the different works of art that influenced him, mainly books.
Thanks so much to NetGalley for letting me read this

This memoir is pretty charming. He didn't address one controversy that I hoped he would (about when he hosted the National Book Awards), but he gives lots of interesting background. I can see how A Series of Unfortunate Events came from this brain.

I have to admit that I have not read any of the Lemony Snicket books. They were published at a time when I was in the middle of college, well before I had kids. So, I went into this book without much background information on the author who wrote it. This is a meandering collection of stories from Handler’s life. It is wonderfully written and an homage to the literature and other arts that inspired him. It does make me want to explore his other books, including the Series of Unfortunate Events. I received a digitally copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley

I'm going to start this out by saying that I cannot be unbiased about Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler. I read each book in A Series of Unfortunate Events nine times, I skipped school once to go to one of his signings, I wrote about his books for my college application essay (and got accepted), and I've read most of his other work as well. So I went into this book fully planning on loving it and I did.

But, that being said, I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone who isn't already familiar with his other books. I think having that background knowledge is important to appreciating everything Handler details here. I loved getting a look into his mind, learning about what inspired his writing and the events of his life that led him to becoming an author. After being a fan of his for so long, it felt like a great joy and privilege. And I'll definitely be checking out some of the other works he recommended at the end.

A big, big thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company/Liveright for the ARC!

As a lifelong reader of Snicket's/Handler’s work, I was ecstatic to pick this one up. One of my favorite books is his most recent work, Poison for Breakfast, and I was hoping that this would follow in that tradition of musings on art, life, and philosophy. I was not disappointed and read through the whole thing in an afternoon.

The book is very personal (as memoirs usually are) but not exactly in the ways I expected. He speaks about deeply personal experiences (most of them as a kid or young adult), some of which are going to surprise some people; they certainly surprised me. There were things he shared regarding himself as a public figure that I didn’t expect as well, such as some of the controversies he has faced in the last several years. This is the most sincere and earnest that I have ever seen him. But again, the form allows for this.

One thing that will probably surprise no one is the never-ending reference and allusions to works by other people: novels, poems, and films. There are an abundance of quotes throughout with, of course, lots of commentary from DH. In that way, it is indeed a cousin to Poison for Breakfast, though it won’t be confused for a Snicket work. The voice is distinctly Handler’s.

The first half of the book really delves into his background and childhood, all the while interspersed with tangents about process and collecting information to use. It is not completely chronological. Instead, it weaves in and out of events and topics. The result of this is that he usually doesn’t spend too long talking about any one thing.

I deeply appreciated his thoughts about art, how we approach it, and what we do with it. In the book, he implores his readers to find their own niche in literature and discover what they enjoy. This is empowering and if everybody follows his advice, the world might be just a little bit better.

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company/Liveright for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I grew up reading Lemony Snicket novels. As a kid, I felt as if Lemony Snicket truly understood what my generation was wanting to read and didn't just write books to teach us lessons or to talk down to us... but, instead, to provide us with fun and mysterious ways to think about life and all of its unfairness (particularly to children). So, when I saw Daniel Handler was publishing a memoir focused on writing, I had to read it! I was so excited to hear more about how he wrote and where he took inspiration from. I was both excited and nervous to see how his style would hold up in a nonfiction format. I am thrilled to say that this book exceeded my expectations in so many ways.

One highlight of And Then? And Then? What Else? for me is its authenticity. I went to a Lemony Snicket book signing when I was in middle school. I will never forget asking Daniel Handler what advice he had for aspiring writers; he pulled out a pocket-sized notebook and showed it to me (I remember feeling like I was let in on a secret as he flipped through pages full of writing!). He told me that he always had a notebook with him, and he recommended that aspiring writers do the same, because you never know where you'll find inspiration. The first chapter of this book discusses essentially the same thing, and it made me smile as I read it. The entire book genuinely feels as if the author is opening himself up to readers and explaining what shapes his craft, without sugarcoating any details. I was surprised throughout many chapters about what Daniel Handler was open to discussing about his personal life and found it valuable to read about how events he experienced may have been influential. It made the writing all the more impactful, because I could tell it was coming from a reflective, honest perspective. It was almost like I was back at that book signing and being shown another secret to writing - this works fabulously for a nonfiction book, because it really draws the audience in.

This book is partially a memoir and partially a thoughtful look at art, writing, and how the things we love influence our own art. It's full of references to other art (books, movies, poetry, music, and more) and explanations of how those pieces shaped the author's writing process and, ultimately, his own books. It was absolutely fascinating. Daniel Handler comes off as someone who truly loves literature and art; it's so interesting to see how little pieces of media lived in his mind and found their home in his work. He even includes many quotations from other writers and discusses what he found notable about those quotes. This book serves as a great example of how language shapes us - even small segments of greater works. There are so many other authors and musicians I want to check out after reading this!

I also greatly appreciate how the author emphasizes throughout this book that everyone will have a different, personal literary canon of things they admire, and that it's worth exploring more of what you enjoy to learn why you are drawn to those things. Too often, it seems as if society pushes certain media at us and tells us what to aspire to, when actually, everyone has different preferences, and diving deeper into what you like may ultimately be more insightful to your creativity than the content professors or famous writers tell you to admire. If you can't already tell from this review, while this book is deeply personal to the author, its themes also inspire self-reflection in the reader. It gave me so much to think about. Much as other literature stuck with the author throughout his life, I expect that Daniel Handler's words here will live on in my mind for a long time.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves Lemony Snicket or Daniel Handler books. The author has a fantastic voice in other novels I've read by him. I was happy to see that his voice was still strong here. If you like the almost stream of consciousness style of writing that he uses, you'll adore this book! It's full of little anecdotes and stories - each one offering something different. At times I found myself laughing out loud, only to tear up or feel a gut punch of emotions a few pages later. I'd also recommend this to anyone who enjoys admiring art in general, as well as to aspiring artists. The book is certainly focused on literature and writing, but I imagine anyone who appreciates art itself will find something valuable within its pages. It's been about a decade since I read Stephen King's On Writing, but I think it's a great comparison to this book. If you liked that one, you should definitely give this a try.

I don't really have any critiques. I'm not sure everyone will find this as moving as I did, but I know there is a group of readers who will genuinely love this book. If you don't like books that are filled with references or that meander off into many side stories, you may want to skip this... but if that's your cup of tea, then I highly recommend picking up And Then? And Then? What Else? as soon as it's published!

5 out of 5 stars.

This book is deeply reflective centered on personal stories as they relate to art, primarily literature, but music and movies play a role. I really enjoyed the structure of this. It is a lot of Handler reflecting on where inspiration comes from and how his own works become something. I've never read anything of his outside of his work as Lemony Snicket but I do think I'll go read other stuff. The impassioned way he talks about other authors did have me stopping to research and add things to my own reading list constantly. This is genuinely a great reflection of how we shape what we experience and what we experience shapes us. Well written and with a lot of quotes that are talked about reverently and with personal meaning. I think Daniel Handler has always been a strange person, who enjoys strange things, and writes for strange people. As a strange person I appreciate the work.