Poison for Breakfast

For more than twenty years, Lemony Snicket has led millions of young readers through a mysterious world of bewildering questions and unfortunate events. With this latest book—a love letter to readers young and old about the vagaries of real life—longtime fans and new readers alike will experience Snicket’s distinctive voice in a new way.


This true story—as true as Lemony Snicket himself—begins with a puzzling note under his door: You had poison for breakfast. Following a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own demise, Snicket takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his predilections: the proper way to prepare an egg, a perplexing idea called “tzimtzum,” the sublime pleasure of swimming in open water, and much else.

"Reading this little book feels like opening a window to let in air and light. It's filled with curious information and powerful feelings, and is humorous, sad, meditative and rapturous by turns." Guardian

"A strange, beguiling, beautiful book. No one else could have written it, or anything even a little like it. If Lemony Snicket didn't exist, we'd have to invent him." Anthony McGowan, author of Lark