Adverbs - by Daniel Handler (Paperback)

About the Book

In a series of intersecting narratives that explore variations of that ineffable feeling of love, Handler--who also writes as Lemony Snicket--crafts a moving and shifting story exploring the frustrating glory of this most troublesome of emotions.

From the Back Cover

Can Joe help it if he falls in love with people who don't make him happy? And what about Helena--she's in love, but somehow this isn't enough. Shouldn't it be? And if it isn't enough, does this mean she's not really in love? It certainly seems to be spoiling the love she's in. And let's say there's a volcano underneath the city--doesn't that make things more urgent? Does urgency mean that you should keep the person you're with, or search for the best possible person? And what if the best possible person loves someone else--like the Snow Queen, for instance?

This novel may not answer these questions, but nevertheless the author and publisher hope it will be of interest.

Review Quotes

"Daniel Handler [is] something like an American Nabokov." - Dave Eggers
"The stories are clever, unsettling, confusing, and often brilliantly moving." - Library Journal
"This lovely, lilting book...dramatizes love's cross-purposes with panache." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"What I loved about ADVERBS, as with all of Handler's work, is his incredible way with words, his brilliantly matter-of-fact way of describing feelings or situations that make us wonder how we didn't think of it before, like we've been missing something all along." - The Skinny
"With Adverbs, Daniel Handler, who's always been a great stylist, goes ten steps further, to become something like an American Nabokov. . . . Anyone who lives to read gorgeous writing will want to lick this book and sleep with it. " - Dave Eggers
"A dizzying read, defying categorization. . . . People . . . who can handle the fun house distortions will find wicked humor, odd refractions and, occasionally, brilliance." - People
"[Handler] oozes wit and he's an astute social observer. The book's offbeat sweetness charms." - Charlotte Observer
There are good books and there are great books. And then there are books like Daniel Handler's Adverbs....It's a Bloody Mary for the hung-over heart. I have such a crush on this book....With his third adult book [Handler] proves himself the master of the love story." - BookPage
"[Handler] is very, very clever. And this time around, there is more to Handler's ingenuity than his usual cheeky humor, ...[Adverbs] has a cumulative power that is not fully evident until its final pages." - Los Angeles Times
"Brilliantly kooky and off-kilter." - Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Handler's third work for adults is a dizzying read, defying categorization.... People...who can handle the fun house distortions will find wicked humor, odd refractions and, occasionally, brilliance." - People
"[Adverbs] works brilliantly and poignantly, taking its ruminations on the complexity and fallibility of love to avian heights." - Washington Post Book World
"The most affecting stories are the ones where Handler lets an undertaste of melancholy cut against the effervescence of the writing, softening the snap." - New York Newsday