Horseradish Lemony Snicket

Horseradish: Bitter truths you can’t avoid Lemony Snicket, HarperCollins, 2007, hardback, NZ$22.99
ISBN 978-0-06-124006-5

Nobody ever has enough aphorisms and Lemony Snicket has provided an anthology of wry ones. “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them,” is particularly apt, coming from the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

His book is intended to sustain people unable to locate a wise man at the moment that they need apt (and sometimes bitter-tasting) advice. Lemony Snicket claims to have coined these truths at dinner parties and anarchist riots to remind people of inescapable doom. Although, he adds, “Sometimes words are not enough.” The book is a charming little insight into the author’s mordant wit.

If somebody gives you a copy, remember, “Never look a gift lion in the mouth.”

This review by Trevor Agnew first appeared in The Press, Christchurch on 17th November 2007.