Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) on reading the authors you want to write like

It took nearly six years for bestselling author Daniel Handler to sell his first book, a satirical novel called The Basic Eight. When his agent sold it in 1998, it was “for the least amount she had ever negotiated for,” laughed Handler, who spoke at a UC Berkeley event earlier this month.   

More than two decades later, Handler has published seven novels. Under his pen name Lemony Snicket, he has written dozens of books for children, including the 13-volume series A Series of Unfortunate Events. His most recent book, And Then? And Then? What else?, is part memoir, part inspiration for aspiring writers. 

Handler was the keynote speaker at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life’s inaugural Jewish Arts and Bookfest, a day of events held on May 4 in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. Throughout the day, artists and authors came together for panel discussions, workshops and other programming that showcased the Jewish experience through art, culture and storytelling. 

In episode 226 of Berkeley Talks, Handler, joined in conversation by J. The Jewish News of Northern California’s editor-in-chief Chanan Tigay, discusses how his Jewish identity shapes his worldview and storytelling, where the name “Lemony Snicket” came from and how a great mentor taught him to read work by authors he admired in order to hone his craft.

“When you suggest that we create our own canon, you don't necessarily mean a list of books that are the most significant to us,” Tigay said to Handler at the event, “but actually, the moments in books, turns of phrase and plot twists that are, in some ways, significant. 

“And I'm wondering if you could take us through a bit of your own canon, in that regard, the moments and turns of phrase and plot twists in books, specific books that have been most impactful to you as a writer?”

“For writers, I try to encourage them to seek out what they're enthused by,” Handler replied. “ … So instead of saying, ‘Gosh darn it, Toni Morrison is sure a great writer,’ that you think, ‘What is it about Beloved that I return to, that I think about all the time?’ … Then, you can go back and find that scene, and look at it, and study it for what it is that you’re trying to do, what you’re trying to take from it."

Handler went on to describe how a scene from the 1958 film Vertigo, when an important character named Midge leaves halfway through the story, inspired the structure of his second novel.

"My second novel Watch Your Mouth has two parts," he said. "I remember thinking, 'I want ... to have that feeling of like, OK, some things are gone. What in the world can happen in the second half of this story?' That was exciting to me, and I lifted that from that scene in Vertigo. No one in a million years would think that, there's nothing in the novel that reflects that plot or anything like that, but that was what it did for me." 

This conversation was recorded by Aaron Levy-Wolins / J. The Jewish News of Northern California.

Read more about the speakers on the Magnes' website.

Listen to the episode and read the transcript on UC Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu/podcasts).

Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small for UC Berkeley.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

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