Reviews
"Take one sex-crazed teenage boy and take him seriously. Don't make him the butt of an easy joke. Don't make him the star of a humiliation comedy. Let him be an idiot, a jerk, a cad, a hero. Make his desire into a rocket shooting him out of this too small life. Show his loneliness crash-landing him into pieces. It's almost impossible to write tenderly and truthfully about such things. Somehow Handler has done it." - Jenny Offill, author of DEPT. OF SPECULATION "Sex, desire, love, consent, coercion, sexual identity, porn--Daniel Handler takes it all on in ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Teenage Cole is simultaneously lovable and troubling, but mostly he is real, and his story not only compelling but a fantastic jumping off point for discussing ethical sexual behavior." - Peggy Orenstein, author of GIRLS & SEX "Quirky and sad in his signature way, Daniel Handler writes sex that bristles off the page, the kind of sex that reminds you of the raw-edges of adolescence, when everything was sharper, brighter, tender and urgent. All the Dirty Parts is a gorgeous and dangerous book, with dizzying amounts of lust and heart. (Did I mention there's a lot of sex? Like, a lot.)" - Amy Stephenson, The Booksmith, San Francisco, CA "A witty adult novel . . . 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?" - Washington Post on WE ARE PIRATES "Exuberant . . . Handler's a master with language, crafting showstopping sentences that are fresh and funny." - Caroline Leavitt, San Francisco Chronicle on WE ARE PIRATES "Superb, written with an unflinching eye for comedy and horror." - New York Times Book Review on WE ARE PIRATES "Witty and achingly true-to-life." - VanityFair.com on WHY WE BROKE UP "Poignant, bittersweet." - Entertainment Weekly on WHY WE BROKE UP, "This interesting experiment by Handler may be the most clear-eyed and honest portrayal of the sexuality of adolescent boys in recent memory--it's raw, authentic, fitfully funny, and tragic all at the same time . . . A disarming cautionary tale that's just naughty enough to be kept from Handler's Lemony Snicket fans but real enough to spark genuine conversations about sex and its consequences." - starred review, Kirkus Reviews "Handler continues his recent endeavor to boldly straddle the divide between teen and adult books . . . Cole sounds like Holden Caulfield writing a sex blog. Amusing yet genuine, lustful yet sensitive, [ All the Dirty Parts ] approaches teenage horniness seriously and, in the process, touches on important subjects such as sexism, consent, and sexual identity." - Booklist "Take one sex-crazed teenage boy and take him seriously. Don't make him the butt of an easy joke. Don't make him the star of a humiliation comedy. Let him be an idiot, a jerk, a cad, a hero. Make his desire into a rocket shooting him out of this too small life. Show his loneliness crash-landing him into pieces. It's almost impossible to write tenderly and truthfully about such things. Somehow Handler has done it." - Jenny Offill, author of DEPT. OF SPECULATION "Sex, desire, love, consent, coercion, sexual identity, porn--Daniel Handler takes it all on in ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Teenage Cole is simultaneously lovable and troubling, but mostly he is real, and his story not only compelling but a fantastic jumping off point for discussing ethical sexual behavior." - Peggy Orenstein, author of GIRLS & SEX "A spectacular portrait of teenage male desire. This beautifully concise novel, literally composed of only the dirty parts, had me blushing and laughing and squirming, sometimes all at once. ALL THE DIRTY PARTS is so honest and eloquent about youthful yearning--the pent-up aggression, the confusion, the pure wonder--that it will surely be passed quietly around middle school locker rooms and back-alley libraries everywhere. A joyously lewd yet tender masterpiece." - Isaac Fitzgerald, Buzzfeed Books Editor "I loved ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Super dirty! And great for arguing about. True and complicated, funny and voicey." - E. Lockhart, author of WE WERE LIARS "Quirky and sad in his signature way, Daniel Handler writes sex that bristles off the page, the kind of sex that reminds you of the raw-edges of adolescence, when everything was sharper, brighter, tender and urgent. All the Dirty Parts is a gorgeous and dangerous book, with dizzying amounts of lust and heart. (Did I mention there's a lot of sex? Like, a lot.)" - Amy Stephenson, The Booksmith, San Francisco, CA, "Take one sex-crazed teenage boy and take him seriously. Don't make him the butt of an easy joke. Don't make him the star of a humiliation comedy. Let him be an idiot, a jerk, a cad, a hero. Make his desire into a rocket shooting him out of this too small life. Show his loneliness crash-landing him into pieces. It's almost impossible to write tenderly and truthfully about such things. Somehow Handler has done it." - Jenny Offill, author of DEPT. OF SPECULATION "Sex, desire, love, consent, coercion, sexual identity, porn--Daniel Handler takes it all on in ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Teenage Cole is simultaneously lovable and troubling, but mostly he is real, and his story not only compelling but a fantastic jumping off point for discussing ethical sexual behavior." - Peggy Orenstein, author of GIRLS & SEX "A spectacular portrait of teenage male desire. This beautifully concise novel, literally composed of only the dirty parts, had me blushing and laughing and squirming, sometimes all at once. ALL THE DIRTY PARTS is so honest and eloquent about youthful yearning--the pent-up aggression, the confusion, the pure wonder--that it will surely be passed quietly around middle school locker rooms and back-alley libraries everywhere. A joyously lewd yet tender masterpiece." - Isaac Fitzgerald, Buzzfeed Books Editor "I loved ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Super dirty! And great for arguing about. True and complicated, funny and voicey." - E. Lockhart, author of WE WERE LIARS "Quirky and sad in his signature way, Daniel Handler writes sex that bristles off the page, the kind of sex that reminds you of the raw-edges of adolescence, when everything was sharper, brighter, tender and urgent. All the Dirty Parts is a gorgeous and dangerous book, with dizzying amounts of lust and heart. (Did I mention there's a lot of sex? Like, a lot.)" - Amy Stephenson, The Booksmith, San Francisco, CA, [Handler's] latest endeavor truly leaves in all the dirty parts and the result is an engrossing, thought-provoking novel., "This interesting experiment by Handler may be the most clear-eyed and honest portrayal of the sexuality of adolescent boys in recent memory--it's raw, authentic, fitfully funny, and tragic all at the same time . . . A disarming cautionary tale." - starred review, Kirkus Reviews "Handler continues his recent endeavor to boldly straddle the divide between teen and adult books . . . Cole sounds like Holden Caulfield writing a sex blog. Amusing yet genuine, lustful yet sensitive, [ All the Dirty Parts ] approaches teenage horniness seriously and, in the process, touches on important subjects such as sexism, consent, and sexual identity." - Booklist "[Handler] has created characters that he and his readers can respect, struggling between pursuit of pleasure and the other parts of their lives . . . Handler has smuggled questions of identity, duty and faithfulness into this novel, amid all the heavy breathing and awkward tangling of limbs." - Buffalo News "Take one sex-crazed teenage boy and take him seriously. Don't make him the butt of an easy joke. Don't make him the star of a humiliation comedy. Let him be an idiot, a jerk, a cad, a hero. Make his desire into a rocket shooting him out of this too small life. Show his loneliness crash-landing him into pieces. It's almost impossible to write tenderly and truthfully about such things. Somehow Handler has done it." - Jenny Offill, author of DEPT. OF SPECULATION "Sex, desire, love, consent, coercion, sexual identity, porn--Daniel Handler takes it all on in ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Teenage Cole is simultaneously lovable and troubling, but mostly he is real, and his story not only compelling but a fantastic jumping off point for discussing ethical sexual behavior." - Peggy Orenstein, author of GIRLS & SEX "A spectacular portrait of teenage male desire. This beautifully concise novel, literally composed of only the dirty parts, had me blushing and laughing and squirming, sometimes all at once. ALL THE DIRTY PARTS is so honest and eloquent about youthful yearning--the pent-up aggression, the confusion, the pure wonder--that it will surely be passed quietly around middle school locker rooms and back-alley libraries everywhere. A joyously lewd yet tender masterpiece." - Isaac Fitzgerald, Buzzfeed Books Editor "I loved ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Super dirty! And great for arguing about. True and complicated, funny and voicey." - E. Lockhart, author of WE WERE LIARS "Quirky and sad in his signature way, Daniel Handler writes sex that bristles off the page, the kind of sex that reminds you of the raw-edges of adolescence, when everything was sharper, brighter, tender and urgent. All the Dirty Parts is a gorgeous and dangerous book, with dizzying amounts of lust and heart. (Did I mention there's a lot of sex? Like, a lot.)" - Amy Stephenson, The Booksmith, San Francisco, CA, "Take one sex-crazed teenage boy and take him seriously. Don't make him the butt of an easy joke. Don't make him the star of a humiliation comedy. Let him be an idiot, a jerk, a cad, a hero. Make his desire into a rocket shooting him out of this too small life. Show his loneliness crash-landing him into pieces. It's almost impossible to write tenderly and truthfully about such things. Somehow Handler has done it." - Jenny Offill, author of DEPT. OF SPECULATION "Sex, desire, love, consent, coercion, sexual identity, porn--Daniel Handler takes it all on in ALL THE DIRTY PARTS. Teenage Cole is simultaneously lovable and troubling, but mostly he is real, and his story not only compelling but a fantastic jumping off point for discussing ethical sexual behavior." - Peggy Orenstein, author of GIRLS & SEX "Quirky and sad in his signature way, Daniel Handler writes sex that bristles off the page, the kind of sex that reminds you of the raw-edges of adolescence, when everything was sharper, brighter, tender and urgent. All the Dirty Parts is a gorgeous and dangerous book, with dizzying amounts of lust and heart. (Did I mention there's a lot of sex? Like, a lot.)" - Amy Stephenson, The Booksmith, San Francisco, CA
