Official Poison For Breakfast Pre-Release Discussion Thread

[carmelita0cheryl]

May 13, 2021 11:18:41 GMT -5 eescorpius said:

Honestly it's been a while since I've read a book, let alone buy one. Gotta figure out how to buy a physical copy in Korea...the last time I bought a book was for ATWQ when I was still in Vancouver...

www.bookdepository.com/

here is where I pre-ordered it. They ship to many countries including South Korea

[mizbizsav]

NetGalley has advanced digital copies of Poison For Breakfast for reviewers!

www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/222334

[J. S.]

It looks like they are starting to send out physical review copies as well. A few reviews for the novel have already appeared on the NetGalley page.

[gothicarchiesfan]

Here are the two reviews of this book that have been uploaded thus far. It does seem to confirm that rumour that this was a not particularly typical into the Snicket cannon that the publisher likely wanted him to either tone down, or beef up into a full-length novel.

"While I believe readers of any age will enjoy this book, I feel adults will find the most pleasure in this quick, fun diversion. The educational tidbits blended perfectly with the overall intelligence and humor. This was the most literary fun I’ve had in ages."

"Loved it! Part memoir, part whimsy, part philosophy. The message might be - live each day like it's your last? This book made me happy. It was a quick satisfying read which I devoured in one sitting. There is a story but there are more side bars than original plot and that worked for me. I smiled as I read the rationale for not purchasing bread from the bakery and related to not wanting to be friends with a supermarket. The page long definition of the word “literature” was a joy to read for this book nerd. This is definitely a book that takes you deeper into the author’s mind but also into the author as a reader’s head. He tells stories as he tells his own story that starts with his breakfast. I didn’t see the chapter notes until the end but would have enjoyed referring to them during the reading as they answered many questions I had during the reading of this book. Set in one day with minimal plot and lots of meandering, Snicket hits on big and small questions in a gentle, humorous way. He doesn’t take himself at all too seriously nor does he expect his reader to. I loved the illustrations and the depth of imagination shown here. Ultimately, I believe the author is saying imagination is our secret superpower! We can’t afford to lose it and must do all we can to use and develop it. The true audience for this book includes those who grew up reading Lemony Snicket. I read all his books to my kids over ten years ago and there was such a wonderful feeling of returning home as I read this book. Familiar tone, familiar voice. “a phrase which here means” was fun for about the first 60 pages but then annoyed this old lady. The repetition of the breakfast made me glad I was reading text and not listening to this book on audio. I plan to gift this to my kids for Christmas in the hopes that we can have a discussion about it and reminisce on their memories of Lemony Snicket. I fondly remember awaiting the release of the next book in The Series of Unfortunate Events. If you’ve not read any of those you might want to. Those books have survived many purges of our bookshelves and I'm saving for my grandkids. Thanks Lemony Snicket and keep writing please."

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

So Mr. Snicket is not going to die after all.

[B.]

I'm going to go pick it up in person, and hope that tesco leaks it early like they did back with WCTBATH

[J. S.]

Who/What is tesco?

[the panopticountolaf]

Jun 3, 2021 11:37:22 GMT -5 J. S. said:

Who/What is tesco?

It's a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer according to Wikipedia.

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

I've been reading the reviews and deduced a few things:

PFB is a confusing book. The main target audience is people who read asoue when they were children (although Daniel Handler did not write with these people in mind). There will indeed be philosophical questions, but don't try to take it all seriously.

R., teens and young adults will like the book more than normal kids.

There will be notes in the book, in the style of TBBRE.

There will be a virtually repeated excerpt, which will portray Lemony having breakfast again.

There will be a page dedicated to defining "Literature".

[mizbizsav]

http://instagram.com/p/CPlemoJrQlP

[gothicarchiesfan]

Jun 8, 2021 15:23:57 GMT -5 mizbizsav said:

http://instagr.am/p/CPlemoJrQlP

Great find. Nice to see a homage to the original ASOUE covers.

[R.]

Well, I guess it’s goodbye forever now, Mr Snicket...

[gothicarchiesfan]

After doing a little bit of digging, I was able to find out a few new bits of information about the book.

The full cover art for the British edition. (Another listing for the British version also mentions that it will include 18 black and white illustrations.)

A new synopsis for the book from the Australian edition.

"This morning you had poison for breakfast."

One day, Lemony Snicket finds a puzzling note pushed under his door and is forced to follow a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his imminent death.

But this is so much more than just a mystery. Along the way, he tackles some of the key questions about life. Who was Korla Pandit - what did he do and what was his real name? What are the three absolute rules for writing a book? Why should you never judge a goat by the way it looks? And why does being clumsy have its benefits?

For over twenty years, Lemony Snicket has led millions of young readers through a world of bewildering questions and strange, unfortunate events. In this, his latest book, a love letter to the young and the young at heart, he takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his own predilections.

Long-time fans and new readers (Who are you? Where have you been?) will fall in love with this "true" story, told in a way that only Lemony could tell it. You might even learn some important life-lessons - like how DO you cook the perfect egg?

And finally a listing for the audiobook version, which will apparently be about four hours long and read by Patrick Warburton. 

[bear]

Hm, I like that cover so much better that I might have to order the British edition instead....

[the panopticountolaf]

Jun 10, 2021 10:22:58 GMT -5 bear said:

Hm, I like that cover so much better that I might have to order the British edition instead....

It's miles better than the US edition... perhaps one of the few times I actually prefer the UK editions of Snicket's work.