Review of Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket
Format:  Hardcover 
Publisher:  Liveright
Number of Pages:  168
Publishing:  August 31st, 2021
Source:  Review copy provided by Megan Beatie Communications

Opening Lines "This morning I had poison for breakfast."

From Goodreads:  This true story—as true as Lemony Snicket himself—begins with a puzzling note under his door: You had poison for breakfast. Following a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own demise, Snicket takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his predilections: the proper way to prepare an egg, a perplexing idea called “tzimtzum,” the sublime pleasure of swimming in open water, and much else.

I was really excited to receive a review copy of Poison for Breakfast, it'd been a really long time since I've read a book by Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning is the last one that comes to mind.   For some reason I didn't continue on with the series, or maybe it was that my kiddo and I moved on to something else.  But I did end up watching the 2004 movie A Series of Unfortunate Events with Jim Carrey and the Netflix series with Neil Patrick Harris, which I quite enjoyed.

Poison for Breakfast is a truly different kind of book.  I'd say it's either geared toward YA or adults.  In some ways it is similar to Lemony Snicket's other books in writing style and humor.  Yet, also very different, more philosophical with a murder mystery to solve.  Namely, to solve the case of his own poisoning.    As Snicket describes it himself, "this book is about bewilderment, a word which here means not having the faintest idea what is going on at any given time."   It's a book about thinking about things and trying to figure them out.  At times it was difficult to follow the flow, Snicket meanders from idea to idea, but I think this was more of a factor of me than the book.  It's the kind of book that you can't rush through, and requires focus, a book I know I want to read again.  Especially to appreciate Snicket's rules of writing again and defiantly to read it much slower.  I found it very helpful that his notes referencing the poets, authors, songs and movies mentioned in the story were broken down by chapter at the back of the book, and overall reading Poison for Breakfast was truly a treat.   I can see this appealing to adult fans of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events series.  **Thank you to Megan Beatie Communications for my review copy.**