Reviews
" We Are Pirates will dazzle, disturb, and delight you. It might even do things to you that don't start with the letter D, like remind you what it's like to be young, or convince you that Daniel Handler can do anything." -Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins "Honest and funny, dark and painful, We Are Pirates reads like the result of a nightmarish mating experiment between Joseph Heller and Captain Jack Sparrow. It's the strangest, most brilliant offering yet from the mind behind Lemony Snicket." -Neil Gaiman "There is no writer quite like Daniel Handler. Somehow he manages to work at the intersection of irony and wonderment, whimsy and menace-a space I'm not sure I knew existed until I read his work." -Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad "Daniel Handler turns whimsy into wisdom and the fantastic into the great. He is, of course, a genius." -Lorrie Moore, author of A Gate at the Stairs and Bark "Can a couple of teenagers, a befuddled old man, and a nursing home orderly really steal a boat and wreak havoc in San Francisco harbor? Sure, says Handler, crossing and mixing genres-dark and light, YA yarn and midlife doldrum-while making readers root for his 20th-century privateers . . . A jaunty and occasionally jolting, and honest take on the discomforts of youth, midlife, and old age, and how ineffective we are at dealing with them." - Publishers Weekly "Daniel Handler [is] something like an American Nabokov." -Dave Eggers "If it's possible to be criminally underrated yet also be a millions-selling author, then Handler is it." - The Huffington Post "One of our most dazzling literary conjurers shuffles the deck of contemporary consciousness and desire. A thrilling feat of tragic magic." -Michael Chabon on Adverbs " Adverbs works brilliantly and poignantly, taking its ruminations on the complexity and fallibility of love to avian heights." - Washington Post Book World on Adverbs "Gymnastic prose . . . brilliantly turned reminders that there are a million ways to describe love and none of them will be the last word." - The New York Times Book Review on Adverbs "Witty and achingly true-to-life." - Vanity Fair on Why We Broke Up "It's . . . difficult to take such an everyday tragedy with a predictable ending and elevate it to an end point of enduring, emotionally effective art." - Los Angeles Times on Why We Broke Up "A monsterpiece of creativity, but underneath its roar and bluster beats a surprisingly gentle heart . . . . Genuinely clever [Handler is] a virtuosic and original writer." - San Francisco Chronicle on Watch Your Mouth, " We Are Pirates will dazzle, disturb, and delight you. It might even do things to you that don''t start with the letter D, like remind you what it''s like to be young, or convince you that Daniel Handler can do anything." -Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins "Honest and funny, dark and painful, We Are Pirates reads like the result of a nightmarish mating experiment between Joseph Heller and Captain Jack Sparrow. It''s the strangest, most brilliant offering yet from the mind behind Lemony Snicket." -Neil Gaiman "I loved it! We Are Pirates is extraordinary! It takes brand new shapes. And that prose is ruthless. Merciless. And then, the next second, it made me laugh out loud. Remarkable story, remarkable characters, remarkable prose. I''ll carry that in my head forever." -Russell T. Davies "There is no writer quite like Daniel Handler. Somehow he manages to work at the intersection of irony and wonderment, whimsy and menace-a space I''m not sure I knew existed until I read his work." -Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad "Daniel Handler turns whimsy into wisdom and the fantastic into the great. He is, of course, a genius." -Lorrie Moore, author of A Gate at the Stairs and Bark "Handler (aka children's author Lemony Snicket) has never been known for writing precisely happy novels, and his latest certainly doesn't deviate. What could easily have been a slightly silly, fantastical romp becomes, instead, in Handler's capable hands, a macabre, darkly human portrayal of family dynamics and growing up in a world running low on adventure . . . peppered with black humor." - Booklist , starred review "Can a couple of teenagers, a befuddled old man, and a nursing home orderly really steal a boat and wreak havoc in San Francisco harbor? Sure, says Handler, crossing and mixing genres-dark and light, YA yarn and midlife doldrum-while making readers root for his 20th-century privateers . . . A jaunty and occasionally jolting, and honest take on the discomforts of youth, midlife, and old age, and how ineffective we are at dealing with them." - Publishers Weekly "Daniel Handler [is] something like an American Nabokov." -Dave Eggers "If it''s possible to be criminally underrated yet also be a millions-selling author, then Handler is it." - The Huffington Post "One of our most dazzling literary conjurers shuffles the deck of contemporary consciousness and desire. A thrilling feat of tragic magic." -Michael Chabon on Adverbs "Gymnastic prose . . . brilliantly turned reminders that there are a million ways to describe love and none of them will be the last word." - The New York Times Book Review on Adverbs " Adverbs works brilliantly and poignantly, taking its ruminations on the complexity and fallibility of love to avian heights." - Washington Post Book World on Adverbs "Witty and achingly true-to-life." - Vanity Fair on Why We Broke Up "It''s . . . difficult to take such an everyday tragedy with a predictable ending and elevate it to an end point of enduring, emotionally effective art." - Los Angeles Times on Why We Broke Up "A monsterpiece of creativity, but underneath its roar and bluster beats a surprisingly gentle heart . . . . Genuinely clever [Handler is] a virtuosic and original writer." - San Francisco Chronicle on Watch Your Mouth, We Are Pirates will dazzle, disturb, and delight you. It might even do things to you that don't start with the letter D, like remind you what it's like to be young, or convince you that Daniel Handler can do anything., Handler is a master at depicting the existential chaos all his major characters are living through, and with warmth, sympathy and considerable humor at that. The reader will delight in Gwen and old Errol's escapades . . . Affecting, lively and expertly told. Just the sort of thing to make grown-ups and teenagers alike want to unfurl the black flag., "Honest and funny, dark and painful, We Are Pirates reads like the result of a nightmarish mating experiment between Joseph Heller and Captain Jack Sparrow. It's the strangest, most brilliant offering yet from the mind behind Lemony Snicket." -Neil Gaiman "Daniel Handler [is] something like an American Nabokov." -Dave Eggers "If it's possible to be criminally underrated yet also be a millions-selling author, then Handler is it." - The Huffington Post "One of our most dazzling literary conjurers shuffles the deck of contemporary consciousness and desire. A thrilling feat of tragic magic." -Michael Chabon on Adverbs " Adverbs works brilliantly and poignantly, taking its ruminations on the complexity and fallibility of love to avian heights." - Washington Post Book World on Adverbs "Gymnastic prose . . . brilliantly turned reminders that there are a million ways to describe love and none of them will be the last word." - The New York Times Book Review on Adverbs "Witty and achingly true-to-life." - Vanity Fair on Why We Broke Up "It's . . . difficult to take such an everyday tragedy with a predictable ending and elevate it to an end point of enduring, emotionally effective art." - Los Angeles Times on Why We Broke Up "A monsterpiece of creativity, but underneath its roar and bluster beats a surprisingly gentle heart . . . . Genuinely clever [Handler is] a virtuosic and original writer." - San Francisco Chronicle on Watch Your Mouth, A monsterpiece of creativity, but underneath its roar and bluster beats a surprisingly gentle heart . . . . Genuinely clever [Handler is] a virtuosic and original writer., There is no writer quite like Daniel Handler. Somehow he manages to work at the intersection of irony and wonderment, whimsy and menace--a space I'm not sure I knew existed until I read his work., This, his fifth novel for adults, retains the whimsy, intrigue and high camp of his children's fiction . . . Silly but poignant. ****, Gymnastic prose . . . brilliantly turned reminders that there are a million ways to describe love and none of them will be the last word., Can a couple of teenagers, a befuddled old man, and a nursing home orderly really steal a boat and wreak havoc in San Francisco harbor? Sure, says Handler, crossing and mixing genres--dark and light, YA yarn and midlife doldrum--while making readers root for his 20th-century privateers . . . A jaunty and occasionally jolting, and honest take on the discomforts of youth, midlife, and old age, and how ineffective we are at dealing with them., Displaying typically impudent imagination, Handler choreographs this quixotic whimsy with a dexterous touch and flashes of wit., Handler (aka children's author Lemony Snicket) has never been known for writing precisely happy novels, and his latest certainly doesn't deviate. What could easily have been a slightly silly, fantastical romp becomes, instead, in Handler's capable hands, a macabre, darkly human portrayal of family dynamics and growing up in a world running low on adventure . . . peppered with black humor., A tale that hovers somewhere between realism and fantasy. Full of sharp (and angry) observations about modern life, We Are Pirates is strange, dark and subversive., It's . . . difficult to take such an everyday tragedy with a predictable ending and elevate it to an end point of enduring, emotionally effective art., Daniel Handler--aka Lemony Snicket--is one of the funniest people on the planet and his new novel is further evidence of his gift for offbeat, razor-sharp wit . . . We Are Pirates is high-flying fun and Gwen may be one of Handler's most endearing protagonists., Handler's wry prose keeps even the darkest passages from tipping off balance. The author treats language the way some treat fashion, tooling intentionally jarring or ugly phrases to striking effect., A witty adult novel by Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler . . . . Lemony Snicket's gothic humor lingers over this tale of upper-middle-class despair . . . [A] dark and whimsical novel . . . Yes, we are pirates, but we're chained on barren land. Has that theme ever been explored in such a weird mixture of impish wit and tender sympathy?, If it's possible to be criminally underrated yet also be a millions-selling author, then Handler is it., Sails against readerly expectation to brilliant effect. Gloriously cut loose from much in the current book market, We Are Pirates is a pirate adventure for grown-ups set in modern-day San Francisco . . . It is a swashbuckling, wonderfully eccentric message in a bottle for those seeking a social order beyond the realm of traditional authority . . . Handler's yarn, replete with as many twists and turns as the classic pirate stories, captivates from start to finish, but it is his stylistic exploration of the piratical yen for elsewhere which most cleverly shanghais the imagination., " We Are Pirates will dazzle, disturb, and delight you. It might even do things to you that don't start with the letter D, like remind you what it's like to be young, or convince you that Daniel Handler can do anything." -Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins "Honest and funny, dark and painful, We Are Pirates reads like the result of a nightmarish mating experiment between Joseph Heller and Captain Jack Sparrow. It's the strangest, most brilliant offering yet from the mind behind Lemony Snicket." -Neil Gaiman "I loved it! We Are Pirates is extraordinary! It takes brand new shapes. And that prose is ruthless. Merciless. And then, the next second, it made me laugh out loud. Remarkable story, remarkable characters, remarkable prose. I'll carry that in my head forever." -Russell T. Davies "There is no writer quite like Daniel Handler. Somehow he manages to work at the intersection of irony and wonderment, whimsy and menace-a space I'm not sure I knew existed until I read his work." -Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad "Daniel Handler turns whimsy into wisdom and the fantastic into the great. He is, of course, a genius." -Lorrie Moore, author of A Gate at the Stairs and Bark "Can a couple of teenagers, a befuddled old man, and a nursing home orderly really steal a boat and wreak havoc in San Francisco harbor? Sure, says Handler, crossing and mixing genres-dark and light, YA yarn and midlife doldrum-while making readers root for his 20th-century privateers . . . A jaunty and occasionally jolting, and honest take on the discomforts of youth, midlife, and old age, and how ineffective we are at dealing with them." - Publishers Weekly "Daniel Handler [is] something like an American Nabokov." -Dave Eggers "If it's possible to be criminally underrated yet also be a millions-selling author, then Handler is it." - The Huffington Post "One of our most dazzling literary conjurers shuffles the deck of contemporary consciousness and desire. A thrilling feat of tragic magic." -Michael Chabon on Adverbs "Gymnastic prose . . . brilliantly turned reminders that there are a million ways to describe love and none of them will be the last word." - The New York Times Book Review on Adverbs " Adverbs works brilliantly and poignantly, taking its ruminations on the complexity and fallibility of love to avian heights." - Washington Post Book World on Adverbs "Witty and achingly true-to-life." - Vanity Fair on Why We Broke Up "It's . . . difficult to take such an everyday tragedy with a predictable ending and elevate it to an end point of enduring, emotionally effective art." - Los Angeles Times on Why We Broke Up "A monsterpiece of creativity, but underneath its roar and bluster beats a surprisingly gentle heart . . . . Genuinely clever [Handler is] a virtuosic and original writer." - San Francisco Chronicle on Watch Your Mouth , I loved it! We Are Pirates is extraordinary! It takes brand new shapes. And that prose is ruthless. Merciless. And then, the next second, it made me laugh out loud. Remarkable story, remarkable characters, remarkable prose. I'll carry that in my head forever., Adverbs works brilliantly and poignantly, taking its ruminations on the complexity and fallibility of love to avian heights., Daniel Handler turns whimsy into wisdom and the fantastic into the great. He is, of course, a genius., Dark and hilarious . . . arresting. Daniel Handler . . . is a master of quiet suspense. What drives We Are Pirates is a current of love and Handler's strangely beautiful ability to show how even in a chaotic world, our lives have a way of converging if only we stop to notice., " We Are Pirates will dazzle, disturb, and delight you. It might even do things to you that don''t start with the letter D, like remind you what it''s like to be young, or convince you that Daniel Handler can do anything." -Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins "Honest and funny, dark and painful, We Are Pirates reads like the result of a nightmarish mating experiment between Joseph Heller and Captain Jack Sparrow. It''s the strangest, most brilliant offering yet from the mind behind Lemony Snicket." -Neil Gaiman "I loved it! We Are Pirates is extraordinary! It takes brand new shapes. And that prose is ruthless. Merciless. And then, the next second, it made me laugh out loud. Remarkable story, remarkable characters, remarkable prose. I''ll carry that in my head forever." -Russell T. Davies "There is no writer quite like Daniel Handler. Somehow he manages to work at the intersection of irony and wonderment, whimsy and menace-a space I''m not sure I knew existed until I read his work." -Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad "Daniel Handler turns whimsy into wisdom and the fantastic into the great. He is, of course, a genius." -Lorrie Moore, author of A Gate at the Stairs and Bark "Handler (aka children's author Lemony Snicket) has never been known for writing precisely happy novels, and his latest certainly doesn't deviate. What could easily have been a slightly silly, fantastical romp becomes, instead, in Handler's capable hands, a macabre, darkly human portrayal of family dynamics and growing up in a world running low on adventure . . . peppered with black humor." - Booklist , starred review "Handler is a master at depicting the existential chaos all his major characters are living through, and with warmth, sympathy and considerable humor at that. The reader will delight in Gwen and old Errol''s escapades . . . Affecting, lively and expertly told. Just the sort of thing to make grown-ups and teenagers alike want to unfurl the black flag." - Kirkus Reviews "Can a couple of teenagers, a befuddled old man, and a nursing home orderly really steal a boat and wreak havoc in San Francisco harbor? Sure, says Handler, crossing and mixing genres-dark and light, YA yarn and midlife doldrum-while making readers root for his 20th-century privateers . . . A jaunty and occasionally jolting, and honest take on the discomforts of youth, midlife, and old age, and how ineffective we are at dealing with them." - Publishers Weekly "Daniel Handler [is] something like an American Nabokov." -Dave Eggers "If it''s possible to be criminally underrated yet also be a millions-selling author, then Handler is it." - The Huffington Post "One of our most dazzling literary conjurers shuffles the deck of contemporary consciousness and desire. A thrilling feat of tragic magic." -Michael Chabon on Adverbs "Gymnastic prose . . . brilliantly turned reminders that there are a million ways to describe love and none of them will be the last word." - The New York Times Book Review on Adverbs " Adverbs works brilliantly and poignantly, taking its ruminations on the complexity and fallibility of love to avian heights." - Washington Post Book World on Adverbs "Witty and achingly true-to-life." - Vanity Fair on Why We Broke Up "It''s . . . difficult to take such an everyday tragedy with a predictable ending and elevate it to an end point of enduring, emotionally effective art." - Los Angeles Times on Why We Broke Up "A monsterpiece of creativity, but underneath its roar and bluster beats a surprisingly gentle heart . . . . Genuinely clever [Handler is] a virtuosic and original writer." - San Francisco Chronicle on Watch Your Mouth, Honest and funny, dark and painful, We Are Pirates reads like the result of a nightmarish mating experiment between Joseph Heller and Captain Jack Sparrow. It's the strangest, most brilliant offering yet from the mind behind Lemony Snicket., Exuberant . . . Handler's a master with language, crafting showstopping sentences that are fresh and funny . . . [He gives] everything the feel of legend, a story burnished with each retelling, and gleaming with rich moral lessons . . . Although the novel is a raucously funny adventure, it's also a tragic exploration of the restlessness in all of us, of the ways we want to claim our happiness like buried treasure that might change everything. We Are Pirates is about how we try to forge our own destinies, and if we're lucky, become heroes of our own stories., One of our most dazzling literary conjurers shuffles the deck of contemporary consciousness and desire. A thrilling feat of tragic magic., Full of whimsy, adventure and intrigue. There are dastardly grown-ups and children in peril, moments of high camp and utter despair . . . Beneath all the trappings of make-believe and fancy dress, there is a poignant, serious story about a girl's need to find her true self, shackled to her desire to escape from the world--and the irreconcilable, sometimes bloody conflict between those two yearnings . . . The exhilarating sections dealing with this caper are the book's highlights, the prose full of high-blown pirate speak that does little to hide the sincerity of all those on deck.
