The Bad Beginning: Or, Orphans! (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1)
- ISBN13: 9780061146305
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
When natural selection wipes the slate, there are always a few survivors. Unfortunately, nature does not select for beauty or intelligence.
Selection Event follows in the tradition of Earth Abides and The Road. In the aftermath of the catastrophe, this is what happens next. People open zoos, sabotage dams, and in a final nihilistic fling, several countries have a small nuclear exchange of greetings.
It is into ! this that Martin Lake awakens and has to find his way.
103,000 words
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID--
Orson Scott Card, Hugo and Nebula winner: "[Wayne Wightman is] ...one of the names I['ve] learned to look for.... He...is a romantic whose stories confess his belief that individuals can be larger than life, that their decisions can change the world around them."
John Brunner, the legend himself: "Wayne Wightman is agreeable company, both in person and via the printed page. As to the former, I'm afraid you will have to wait the chance to make his acquaintance.... As to the latter, however, now's your chance."
Richard Paul Russo, Philip K. Dick Award winner: "One of Wightman's great strengths is his willingness to go to the edge. He pulls no punches, whether the story is serious or violent or manic. You can count on him to take you places other writers shy away from."In an isolation experiment, Martin ! Lake had been below-ground for fourteen months and two weeks. ! He came up on May 30, Wednesday, 11:35 AM. He discovered that civilization had folded its arms across its breast, closed its eyes, and ceased.
When natural selection wipes the slate, there are always a few survivors. Unfortunately, nature does not select for beauty or intelligence.
Selection Event follows in the tradition of Earth Abides and The Road. In the aftermath of the catastrophe, this is what happens next. People open zoos, sabotage dams, and in a final nihilistic fling, several countries have a small nuclear exchange of greetings.
It is into this that Martin Lake awakens and has to find his way.
103,000 words
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID--
Orson Scott Card, Hugo and Nebula winner: "[Wayne Wightman is] ...one of the names I['ve] learned to look for.... He...is a romantic whose stories confess his belief that individuals can be larger than life, that their decisions can change the world around them."
!
John Brunner, the legend himself: "Wayne Wightman is agreeable company, both in person and via the printed page. As to the former, I'm afraid you will have to wait the chance to make his acquaintance.... As to the latter, however, now's your chance."
Richard Paul Russo, Philip K. Dick Award winner: "One of Wightman's great strengths is his willingness to go to the edge. He pulls no punches, whether the story is serious or violent or manic. You can count on him to take you places other writers shy away from."
- Illustrated with pictures of the Arab Springâs leaders and protesters
- Includes Table of Contents
A barrel of gunpowder is relatively safe until a match is put to it, and then thereâs a big bang and an awful mess. Set the barrel in an arsenal with other explosives and flammable materials, and thereâs no telling how bad that mess will be. In 1914 an Archduke was shot, not a very special murder in and of itself, but! it set off World War I, and that spread across a continent re! ady and waiting for it to be started.
Nearly 200 years later, in 2010, in keeping with the lowered tone of society, it was a barrow boy driven by despair to suicide who triggered the spreading revolution of angry Arabs against their autocratic governments. In a span of a few months, autocratic regimes that had held power for decades fell in countries like Egypt and Libya, while others in Yemen and Syria have been left barely clinging to life. Some have been mostly peaceful; others have been brutally opposed by governments. All face an uncertain future.
Current Events: The Arab Spring canât provide the answers to all of the burning questions, but in a region whose politics and demonstrations have been turbulent and rapid, this quick primer will bring readers up to date on all of the events taking place in countries affected by the Arab Spring. With chapters on each nation in turmoil, this easy to read guide provides answers to some questions while also posing questions ! currently without answers.
- Illustrated with pictures of the Arab Springâs leaders and protesters
- Includes Table of Contents
A barrel of gunpowder is relatively safe until a match is put to it, and then thereâs a big bang and an awful mess. Set the barrel in an arsenal with other explosives and flammable materials, and thereâs no telling how bad that mess will be. In 1914 an Archduke was shot, not a very special murder in and of itself, but it set off World War I, and that spread across a continent ready and waiting for it to be started.
Nearly 200 years later, in 2010, in keeping with the lowered tone of society, it was a barrow boy driven by despair to suicide who triggered the spreading revolution of angry Arabs against their autocratic governments. In a span of a few months, autocratic regimes that had held power for decades fell in countries like Egypt and Libya, while others in Yemen and Syria have been left barely clinging to! life. Some have been mostly peaceful; others have been brutal! ly oppos ed by governments. All face an uncertain future.
Current Events: The Arab Spring canât provide the answers to all of the burning questions, but in a region whose politics and demonstrations have been turbulent and rapid, this quick primer will bring readers up to date on all of the events taking place in countries affected by the Arab Spring. With chapters on each nation in turmoil, this easy to read guide provides answers to some questions while also posing questions currently without answers.
Dear Reader,I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfo! rtune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect,
Lemony SnicketMake no mistake. The Bad Beginning begins badly for the three Baudelaire children, and then gets worse. Their misfortunes begin one gray day on Briny Beach when Mr. Poe tells them that their parents perished in a fire that destroyed their whole house. "It is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed," laments the personable (occasionally pedantic) narrator, who tells the story as if his readers are gathered around an armchair on pillows. But of course what follows is dreadf! ul. The children thought it was bad when the well-meaning Poe! s bought them grotesque-colored clothing that itched. But when they are ushered to the dilapidated doorstep of the miserable, thin, unshaven, shiny-eyed, money-grubbing Count Olaf, they know that they--and their family fortune--are in real trouble. Still, they could never have anticipated how much trouble. While it's true that the events that unfold in Lemony Snicket's novels are bleak, and things never turn out as you'd hope, these delightful, funny, linguistically playful books are reminiscent of Roald Dahl (remember James and the Giant Peach and his horrid spinster aunts), Charles Dickens (the orphaned Pip in Great Expectations without the mysterious benefactor), and Edward Gorey (The Gashlycrumb Tinies). There is no question that young readers will want to read the continuing unlucky adventures of the Baudelaire children in The Reptile Room and The Wide Window. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson