New Snicket book: "29 Myths on the Swinster Pharmacy"

[Dante]

www.amazon.com/dp/1938073789

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We are very curious about the Swinster Pharmacy. We stay up late every night wondering what sort of eerie secrets it contains. Why are there three Styrofoam heads in the windows? Who is the owner? Is it really closed on weekends? Renowned investigator Lemony Snicket has compiled 29 myths about this bewildering establishment, in the vain hope that he could help us shine some light on this enduring mystery.
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Lemony Snicket frequently stays up late, worrying about some of his books, including When Did You See Her Last? and The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming, which was also illustrated by Lisa Brown.
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Lisa Brown has been known to stay up even later than Lemony Snicket, which is why she is associated with such books as Vampire Boy’s Good Night, Picture The Dead, and other books that leave dark circles around her eyes.
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32 pages; McSweeney's McMullens; February 11, 2014.

Could this be the Snicket ghost story I've been waiting for? It's a while until we'll find out. Discuss.

[penne]

Wow, Daniel is really keeping himself busy.

[Hermes]

Wow. Can we be sure this is real? Haven't unreal books by LS been adversed on Amazon before?

But assuming it is, this seems to be a short book, quite independent of ASOUE or ATWQ (though there is a pharmacist in ATWQ) - should we take it it's in the same tradition as the Christmas books?

[bandit]

Yes, given that his wife is doing illustrations again, and he's writing under his LS name, it can be assumed that it's a picture book. If it exists, that is-- if it doesn't exist it still sounds like a very interesting story.

[Hermes]

But not, I take it, a picture book in the style of 13 Words. (There seems to be some doubt about whether The Latke is a picture book within the meaning of the act. I think picture books in the stricter sense are meant to be read aloud to very small children, while The Latke is aimed at children who can read - and this would seem to be too.)

[Christmas Chief]

The age range is given as 7 and up - the same as Latke's - so we might expect more text than found in The Dark (3-6 years, for comparison). Also, the book appears to be real enough, as it's listed on a few other bookselling websites including Barnes & Noble.

[Skelly Craig]

Wow, that's some cool news. "Swinster Pharmacy," eh? Interesting how the centerpiece of the book is something fictional and unprecedented we don't know anything about, except that it's a pharmacy. Kinda makes it hard to guess what to expect from the book. I like it.

[bandit]

The Swinster Pharmacy's description reminds of a place in my town that supposedly was a picture-framing shop, and it always said it was open at certain times but there was never a single person in there. Somehow it stayed open for years until eventually it was shut down because it turned out to be a front for some cocaine dealer.

[Skelly Craig]

That'd make a great Breaking-Bad-for-kids type of picture book, Bandit.

[Dante]

Given that it has a synopsis, which I don't recall any other fake books possessing - and a plausible publisher, at that - then I am quite sure that it is real. Looking at the page count - 32 - then I imagine it is a picture book of sorts, with one myth per page.

[MisterM]

well, with 29 myths, that could work well. This looks most interesting!

[Dante]

One interesting and somewhat taunting fact: Of the two upcoming non-ATWQ releases that we know of from Snicket/Handler - this and We Are Pirates - both are scheduled for publication in mid-February 2014. Half a year's wait from now, and then two books at once. Then again, it would probably help ease the period of waiting between ?2 and ?3.

[Hermes]

Aug 5, 2013 17:37:50 GMT -5 Christmas Chief said:

The age range is given as 7 and up - the same as Latke's - so we might expect more text than found in The Dark (3-6 years, for comparison).

That's interesting. I've always been a bit unclear what age range they were meant for. So it does indeed seem, as I suggested in the Rowling thread, that DH has written for every possible age-range:

Adult (The Basic 8, Watch Your Mouth, Adverbs)
Young Adult (Why We Broke Up)
Older children (ASOUE, ATWQ)
Younger children (The Latke, The Lump of Coal)
Picture Books (13 Words, The Dark).

[bandit]

With the amount of swearing and sexual content in both Why We Broke Up and The Basic Eight, I could see one arguing that TB8 would also fit into young adult (the same way that The Catcher in the Rye might, even though it's not supposed to be).

[Hermes]

I believe TB8 is being reissued as YA. But it was certainly originally published as adult. (And there are no rape scenes in WWBU. Or murder, indeed.)