Daniel Handler: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Daniel Handler singing 2006-10-28.jpg|thumb|Handler sings a sorrowful tune.]] |
[[Image:Daniel Handler singing 2006-10-28.jpg|thumb|Handler sings a sorrowful tune.]] |
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Daniel Handler is an accomplished musician, playing [[accordion]] on several recordings with [[The Magnetic Fields]] singer and songwriter [[Stephin Merritt]]. |
Daniel Handler is an accomplished musician, playing [[accordion]] on several recordings with [[The Magnetic Fields]] singer and songwriter [[Stephin Merritt]]. On [[The 6ths]] album ''[[Hyacinths and Thistles]],'' Handler accompanies [[Odetta]] on the track "Waltzing Me All the Way Home".<ref>[http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/12/08/odetta/ "The voice that gave me goose bumps", Salon, December 8, 2008]</ref> |
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Handler was in two bands following college, [[The Edith Head Trio]] and [[Tzamboni]], but it wasn't until ''69 Love Songs'', the Magnetic Field's three-album set, that his music attracted attention. Handler also contributed accordion to a number of tracks in the Magnetic Fields project ''69 Love Songs''. In the box set of the project, Handler provides a lengthy interview with Merritt about the project, as well as conversations about each song. |
Handler was in two bands following college, [[The Edith Head Trio]] and [[Tzamboni]], but it wasn't until ''69 Love Songs'', the Magnetic Field's three-album set, that his music attracted attention. Handler also contributed accordion to a number of tracks in the Magnetic Fields project ''69 Love Songs''. In the box set of the project, Handler provides a lengthy interview with Merritt about the project, as well as conversations about each song. |
Revision as of 16:11, 8 December 2008
Daniel Handler | |
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Daniel Handler at a party celebrating the publication of The End, the thirteenth and final installment of A Series of Unfortunate Events, on October 12, 2006 in New York City | |
Pen name | Lemony Snicket |
Occupation | Novelist, screenwriter |
Nationality | ![]() |
Period | 1998 onwards |
Genre | Literary fiction, black comedy, children's literature |
Website | |
http://www.lemonysnicket.com |
Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970) is an American author, screenwriter and accordionist. He is best known for his work under the pen name Lemony Snicket.
Personal life
Handler was born in San Francisco, California. He attended Commodore Sloat Elementary, Herbert Hoover Middle School and Lowell High School. Handler graduated from Wesleyan University in 1992. He is an alumnus of the San Francisco Boys Chorus.
Handler is married to Lisa Brown, a graphic artist he met in college. They have a son, Otto, who was born around Halloween 2003. They live in an old Victorian house in San Francisco. Handler's mother is retired City College of San Francisco Daniel, Sandra Handler, and his father, Louis Handler, is an accountant. He also has a younger sister, Rebecca Handler.
Handler is politically active and helped form LitPAC. In the June 10, 2007 edition of The New York Times Magazine, Handler reveals ambivalence toward his wealth, and the expectations it creates. He states he is often asked for money for charitable causes and often gives. In an interview conducted by the 667 Dark Avenue fansite, Daniel Handler gave his personal philosophy as "Never refuse a breath mint". [1]
Handler describes himself as being a secular humanist.[2] In addition, he says "I'm not a believer in predetermined fates, being rewarded for one's efforts. I'm not a believer in karma. The reason why I try to be a good person is because I think it's the right thing to do. If I commit fewer bad acts there will be fewer bad acts, maybe other people will join in committing fewer bad acts, and in time there'll be fewer and fewer of them". [3]
Professional work
Handler has pursued careers in books, music and film.
Books
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/ff/Basiceight.jpg/220px-Basiceight.jpg)
Three of his novels have been published under his name. His first, The Basic Eight, was rejected by many publishers for its subject matter and tone (a dark view of a teenage girl's life). Handler claims that the novel was rejected thirty-seven times before finally being published. The book's tone served as an impetus of sorts for the Lemony Snicket works, A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Watch Your Mouth, his second novel, was actually completed before The Basic Eight was published. It follows a more operatic theme, complete with stage directions and various acts. Described by HarperCollins, the book's reprint publisher, as an "incest opera", it mixed Jewish mythology with modern sexuality. Watch Your Mouth's second half replaces the opera troupe with the form of a 12-step recovery, linguistically undergone by the protagonist.
His most recent effort under his own name is Adverbs, a series of short stories that he says are "about love". It was published in April 2006.
Handler has stated that his next adult novel is about pirates - or, more specifically, a modern-age pirate who "wants to be an old-fashioned kind of pirate". [1]
Lemony Snicket
Handler began writing A Series of Unfortunate Events under the Snicket pseudonym in 1999. The books concern three orphaned children who have progressively more terrible things happen to them, and Snicket acts as the narrator and biographer of the fictional orphans.
Handler has also appeared at author appearances as "Lemony Snicket's handler", as well as appearing as Snicket himself in various other books and media, including the commentary track for the film version of his books, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He also wrote an introduction to Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography under his own name.
The Lemony Snicket books have been international best-sellers, and the 13th and final installment of the series came out Friday, October 13, 2006. On the day the thirteenth book came out, Handler appeared on the Today show as Lemony Snicket's representative.
Handler has also written some short fiction and picture books under the Lemony Snicket pseudonym.
Music
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Daniel_Handler_singing_2006-10-28.jpg/220px-Daniel_Handler_singing_2006-10-28.jpg)
Daniel Handler is an accomplished musician, playing accordion on several recordings with The Magnetic Fields singer and songwriter Stephin Merritt. On The 6ths album Hyacinths and Thistles, Handler accompanies Odetta on the track "Waltzing Me All the Way Home".[4]
Handler was in two bands following college, The Edith Head Trio and Tzamboni, but it wasn't until 69 Love Songs, the Magnetic Field's three-album set, that his music attracted attention. Handler also contributed accordion to a number of tracks in the Magnetic Fields project 69 Love Songs. In the box set of the project, Handler provides a lengthy interview with Merritt about the project, as well as conversations about each song.
He has gone on to play accordion in the Merritt project The Gothic Archies, which provided songs for the audiobooks in the A Series of Unfortunate Events children's book series. On October 10, 2006, an album with all 13 songs from the 13 audiobooks in A Series of Unfortunate Events was released. In the audio commentary on the film version Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Handler plays a song about how depressing it is to have leeches in a film.
Daniel Handler wrote the lyrics to the song "Radio", performed by One Ring Zero, and the lyrics to "The Gibbons Girl" by Chris Ewen's The Hidden Variable.
Film
Handler has also had some success in film work. He produced the screenplay for Rick, which was based on the Verdi opera Rigoletto, as well as Kill the Poor, which was based on the novel by Joel Rose.
Handler was involved in the screenwriting process for the film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, but was ultimately removed from the project. He had completed eight separate drafts of the film before giving up following a change in those who were producing the film. Robert Gordon (screenwriter of Galaxy Quest) was hired to replace Handler and eventually received credit for the film's screenplay, and Handler has noted his pleasure with the film.[citation needed]
Handler did submit a commentary track for the DVD version of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, alongside director Brad Silberling. In character as Lemony Snicket, he derides the Lemony Snicket in the film - played by Jude Law - as an impostor, as well as choosing to play accordion and sing about leeches rather than pay attention to the film. He also made several interesting comments about the film which include the company Nickelodeon, "being on another planet, I see" when he saw the planets in the Nickelodeon Movies at the opening titles, commenting that The Littlest Elf has "well-armed friends" when he notices the rifle in one of the elf's hands, as well as being "frightened by the sudden appearance of an eye" when Aunt Josephine looks through her front door's eye hole. At numerous times during the track he shows great sympathy towards the Baudelaire children, and implies that he is being held captive by the director in order to do the commentary.
List of works
This is a partial list of works Handler has created or been involved with. For more information regarding his works as Lemony Snicket, see Lemony Snicket.
Books
- The Basic Eight St. Martin's Press/HarperCollins (1998)
- Watch Your Mouth St. Martin's Press/HarperCollins (2000)
- How to Dress for Every Occasion, by the Pope (with illustrations by Sarah "Pinkie" Bennett, pseudonym for Lisa Brown) McSweeney's (2005)
- Adverbs HarperCollins (2006)
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (as Lemony Snicket) HarperCollins (13 books from 1999 to 2006)
- Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid (as Lemony Snicket)
- The Beatrice Letters (as Lemony Snicket) (2006)
- Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography (as Lemony Snicket) (2002)
- The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming (McSweeney's) (as Lemony Snicket)
As editor or contributor:
- Nonsense Novels by Stephen Leacock (Introduction) New York Review of Books Classics (2004)
- Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs and Some Other Things That Aren't as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf and One Other Story We Couldn't Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out. by McSweeney's (Introduction and Unfinished story)
Film
- Rick (2003)
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
- Kill the Poor (2006)
Music
- 69 Love Songs - The Magnetic Fields
- The 6ths
- The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Gothic Archies
- The Composer Is Dead - A collaboration with Nathaniel Stookey, premiered in New York at Avery Fisher Hall on January 26, 2008
References
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- The Official Lemony Snicket website
- Daniel Handler at IMDb
- Article in the New York Times Magazine, June 10, 2007
- Fortunate Events: Winds, vertiginous views and snakes converge in Lemony Snicket's neck of the woods San Francisco Chronicle (May 18, 2003)
- Fresh Air interview - Audio interview from Fresh Air broadcast December 10, 2001.
- The Onion AV Club interview with Daniel Handler.
- Daniel Handler on creativity and the creative process, an interview with about-creativity.com June 14, 2007
- Handler Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos
- The Lump of Coal: a short Christmas story written for USA Weekend
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|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}||LIVING=(living people)}} | #default = 1970 births
}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}
|| LIVING = | MISSING = | UNKNOWN = | #default =
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