Watch Your Mouth and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
X
More Buying Choices
79 used & new from $0.01
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Watch Your Mouth: A Novel
 
 
See all product images
See 1 customer image
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading Watch Your Mouth on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Watch Your Mouth: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "THERE'S NEVER BEEN an opera about me, never in my entire life..." (more)
Key Phrases: metallic bed, intergenerational sex, bing bing bing, Bad Cop, Good Cop, Camp Shalom (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
List Price: $12.95
Price: $11.65 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $1.30 (10%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Tuesday, November 10? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
29 new from $1.55 50 used from $0.01

Also Available in:

 List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Kindle Edition (Kindle Book)   $7.96  
Paperback (Bargain Price)     Order it used!
Hardcover (1st)     38 used & new from $0.01
Paperback (Import)     18 used & new from $0.69

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Adverbs: A Novel (P.S.) by Daniel Handler

Watch Your Mouth: A Novel + Adverbs: A Novel (P.S.)
Price For Both: $17.23

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Watch Your Mouth: A Novel by Daniel Handler

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Adverbs: A Novel (P.S.) by Daniel Handler

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Basic Eight: A Novel

The Basic Eight: A Novel

by Daniel Handler
4.2 out of 5 stars (101) 
How to Dress for Every Occasion by the Pope (Mcsweeneys)

How to Dress for Every Occasion by the Pope (Mcsweeneys)

by Daniel Handler
4.8 out of 5 stars (4)  $9.60
Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid

by Lemony Snicket
3.6 out of 5 stars (16)  $4.71
The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story

The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story

by Lemony Snicket
4.5 out of 5 stars (31)  $7.92
The Composer Is Dead (Book & CD)

The Composer Is Dead (Book & CD)

by Lemony Snicket
4.5 out of 5 stars (28)  $12.23
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

So twisted that even its protagonist can't keep up with the perverse turns of plot, this melodramatic satire of family life trembles between virtuosity and utter collapse. Handler (The Basic Eight) sets up the first half of his comically warped novel as a mock opera, complete with stage and orchestra directions. Joseph, self-cast as the young hero, is a college student just finishing his junior year. Urged by his insatiable girlfriend, Cynthia Glass, to spend the summer sleeping by her side, Joseph moves in with her family in Pittsburgh, where the two plan to work as counselors at a Jewish day camp. Dinner at the Glass house the first night clues Joseph in to the family's bizarre fascinationsAincest, science, KabbalahAbut he still has no idea what he's getting into. After closer acquaintance with the creepily rational Dr. Glass (baritone), his high-strung, opera-loving wife, Mimi (soprano) and their precocious young son Stephen (tenor), he continues to be bemused, though unspeakable acts are clearly taking place offstage. Handler's baroque prose curls in elegant arabesques, but his elaborate plotting too often overwhelms his characters. Weakest of all is his portrait of the doomed Cynthia (with the obvious pun of her diminutive "Cyn"), who never quite emerges from Joseph's horny descriptions of their romance. After the opera-melodrama's weird but tantalizing climax, involving death and the golem myth, the novel actually recovers its narrative balance as the psychologically scarred Joseph turns to New Age recovery paperbacks, which replace opera as Handler's satiric model. Layered with coincidences and surprises, Joseph's on-the-lam nine-step self-help program achieves some of the novel's potential as a "Turn of the Screwball" black comedy. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From Library Journal

Billed rather tastelessly by the publisher as an "incest comedy," Handler's second novel (following The Basic Eight) is ambitious but flawed. Joseph tells the story of a lust-filled college summer he spent with his Jewish girlfriend, Cyn ("Sin") Glass (think J.D. Salinger), and her "close-knit" family in Pittsburgh. The events in Part 1 of this Bildungsroman are treated as a four-act opera, complete with set and musical directions. The aftermath, Part 2, is packaged as a parody of the AA 12-step program. Sex between Joseph and his lovers (Cyn and those who follow) and Handler's clever writing provide entertainment, but the novel, like the golem in it (Joseph is convinced that Cyn's mother has made one), lacks the requisite soul for longevity. Purchase for comprehensive fiction collections or where there's demand for quirky, offbeat work like this.DRebecca Sturm Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Ecco (February 19, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 006093817X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060938178
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #670,152 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Daniel Handler
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Daniel Handler Page
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
"THERE'S NEVER BEEN an opera about me, never in my entire life." Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
metallic bed, intergenerational sex, bing bing bing, spidery hand, dirty mind
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Bad Cop, Good Cop, Camp Shalom, Byron Circle, Mather College, Rabbi Tsouris, Props Studio, Morrison Lab, Ben Glass, Cynthia Glass, Ohio River, The Unknown Dread, Crafts Shack, Hire Power, Pittsburgh Opera, Die Juden, God's Eyes, Sarah Hackett, Word of God, Emerald City, Entertainment Coordinator, Frank Zhivago, New Age, Old Jewish Cemetery
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 1 book:
 
6 books cite this book:
See all 6 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Watch Your Mouth: A Novel
48% buy the item featured on this page:
Watch Your Mouth: A Novel 4.2 out of 5 stars (21)
$11.65
Adverbs: A Novel (P.S.)
19% buy
Adverbs: A Novel (P.S.) 3.6 out of 5 stars (27)
$5.58
The Basic Eight: A Novel
17% buy
The Basic Eight: A Novel 4.2 out of 5 stars (101)
The Composer Is Dead (Book & CD)
9% buy
The Composer Is Dead (Book & CD) 4.5 out of 5 stars (28)
$12.23
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
(1)
See all 3 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars You've never read a novel quite like this, September 11, 2002
In case you haven't heard, Daniel Handler is the mastermind behind Lemony Snicket, author of the unlucky adventures of the three Baudelaire orphans. His success as Snicket seemed to have happened overnight, but he's been writing for a while it seems, with two adult novels (this one and The Basic Eight to his credit, both written before the Snicket books, I believe). In combination, it is quite clear that Handler is well on his way to becoming the 21st century Roald Dahl, who also wrote books for both adults and children that combined both whimsy and perversion.

And if you want perversion, you can't do much better than a comic novel about incest, which is what this book is. The structure of the book begins as an opera (it ties in to some community opera done by one of the characters), then mutates in Act III to be based on a 12-step program. Like Dahl in My Uncle Oswald, Handler isn't afraid of writing about sex, either. I was reading this on the airplane and I kept holding the book open at 90 degrees rather than the normal 180 just in case the fellow sitting next to me travelling with his young child might glance over and then alert the attendent to the pervert on the plane.

I'm not sure I liked this book, but I have to admit it was audacious, quite funny, and always unusual. The ending was disappointing as Handler went in for the more serious ending rather than really ending off as absurd as he began. All in all, this is an adult series of unfortunate events that is recommended for mature minds only.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A tasty read, but unsettling., August 30, 2000
This review is from: Watch Your Mouth (Hardcover)
There is a genre of novel defined by the trustworthiness of its narrator. Either the storyteller has done something so criminal (Lolita) or so crazy (Myra Breckenridge) or just seems crazy (Turn of the Screw) that you're not quite sure if they are relating events as they actually happen, or as their warped minds perceive them happening. With such books it is important that the reader "read between the lines" to discern the real events of the story, usually but not always disclosed at the end. Watch Your Mouth goes one further in that. Even after finishing the book, the reader probably won't even know if its protagonist is telling the truth -- or even what has really happened.

Handler's writing in this book is cinematically clear: his descriptions are so vivid and alive I was captivated and mesmerized by the scenes of his "opera" (The entire first half of the book is set as an opera, complete with music cues and "intermissions", although it's not evident to me why he uses this device). An intensely masculine poet, he is able to conjure the most dazzling visions and troubling emotions with few words. It's this quality, and the hope I would eventually find out what was actually going on, that kept me enthralled.

I never got the feeling that I actually did find out. The plot is so fantastical, many details are difficult to accept as reality (the golem, all that incest). Even Mimi's reappearance and subsequent "revelations" near the end defy credibility. So you are left with the question: is Joseph completely sane and telling the truth?

This book has some striking similarities with the movie Barton Fink. Is Barton/Joseph the real killer?, strong anti-semetic and jewish themes, John Goodman/Golem arising to avenge everything. And both end with a box on the beach, whose contents we are deprived of ever knowing. What does it all mean?

In spite of all these loose associations and untidy ends, I found Watch Your Mouth enjoyable to read. These very qualities made it less satisfying than The Basic Eight, Handler's first novel, which was quite tightly concluded. I am reminded of movie called Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel, which is a confusing and seemingly impossible series of events -- until a few minutes before it ends. Sherilyn Fenn snaps her fingers, and with a few quick flashbacks and a short word of explanation, the entire quagmire makes total sense. I wanted this to happen in Watch Your Mouth, but I just couldn't buy the golem or Mimi. All works of art are open to interpretation, and I'm sure this book will find its audience. It's just not for everyone.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than THE BASIC EIGHT!, July 17, 2000
By Rtheatley (Boston MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Watch Your Mouth (Hardcover)
The Basic Eight was a fun first novel, but Handler outdoes himself with this one. Strange, sexy, scary and incredibly smart, this is an unearthly take on desire and family issues. I predict his cult following will only grow with this very weird but absolutely hypnotizing novel.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hah.
Handler is so good at mastering voice. In this book, it's Joseph's. (In The Basic Eight, it was Flan's. Read more
Published on February 23, 2007 by Voracious Reader; Self-Proclai...

3.0 out of 5 stars Watch Your Mouth - Daniel Handler
"Watch Your Mouth" is an operatic comedy about incest! So if you like weird books, this is right up your alley. I almost found it too weird, too strange, too absurd though. Read more
Published on November 2, 2006 by T. Snyder

4.0 out of 5 stars far surpassed my expectations
Since reading The Basic Eight almost five years ago, I have been in awe of Daniel Handler's wit, way with words, and knack at making me laugh even when his characters are in the... Read more
Published on October 23, 2006 by Kelly Sessions

5.0 out of 5 stars at the turn of every page, the daniel handler grin smirks across my face
if you've read any of handler's other books, you know what i mean when i say that at the turn of every page, the daniel handler grin smirks across my face. Read more
Published on August 6, 2006 by m-dash

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling Novel
Daniel Handler is a talented writer. How else could he come up with a novel, which is written both in the form of an opera and then written like a self-help book? Read more
Published on May 6, 2006 by BookFinds

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Read
I had no idea what to expect. As a fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events(which you should know by now is Daniel Handler's series under the pseudonym of Lemony Snicket), I was... Read more
Published on April 2, 2006 by Melinda Burnett

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't soon forget this one.
While it's understandable that its graphic sex, innumerable insane plot twists, and opera throwbacks may seem gimmicky, this book has enough heart to back it all up. Read more
Published on September 20, 2005 by Anna Belew

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun but/and dirty
(Joseph Heller + Vonnegut + Tom Robbins) - Profundity - Perversion = this book. I love the opera setting of the book. It is humorous and not overdone. Read more
Published on February 26, 2005 by redmarina

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
This was a very good book; I had already read all of the Lemony Snicket books and The Basic Eight prior to reading this, and I was not let down with Handler's amazing view on the... Read more
Published on July 16, 2003 by S. Chatham

5.0 out of 5 stars It's very sick, but I loved it for its bravery to be sick
When I discovered that Lemony Snicket was Daniel Handler I found this
book here. I saw the first few reviews and hoped this book was as unusual as it truly was. Read more
Published on March 13, 2003 by Audrey L. Orenstein

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:










i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.