Liz Jensen writes: In darkly interesting times, authors who can satisfy a previously unidentified hunger have the world at their feet. Writing as Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler gave young readers a drug they didn’t know they craved until they tried it. The wild gothic of the Unfortunate Events series was the literary equivalent of a scorpion lollipop: a macabre treat.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/27/we-are-pirates-review-lemony-snicket-but-for-adults