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The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1)
 
 
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The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1) (Hardcover)

by Lemony Snicket (Author), Brett Helquist (Illustrator) "If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book..." (more)
Key Phrases: nuptial law, puttanesca sauce, unfortunate events, Count Olaf, The Marvelous Marriage, Briny Beach (more...)
4.1 out of 5 stars  (1,092 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Make no mistake. The Bad Beginning begins badly for the three Baudelaire children, and then gets worse. Their misfortunes begin one gray day on Briny Beach when Mr. Poe tells them that their parents perished in a fire that destroyed their whole house. "It is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed," laments the personable (occasionally pedantic) narrator, who tells the story as if his readers are gathered around an armchair on pillows. But of course what follows is dreadful. The children thought it was bad when the well-meaning Poes bought them grotesque-colored clothing that itched. But when they are ushe