THE AUSTERE ACADEMY

Author Lemony Snicket takes great delight in the audio production of his work. The woes of the Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. A strong sense of family despite adversity. Delight in vocabulary. All these are touchstones of Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events titles. In this fifth installment, the three Baudelaires attend Prufrock Preparatory School, where they need their collective wits to survive the forces of evil. It's a pleasure to hear an author read his own creation. One gets to hear the story just as the creator would like it heard. Each inflection, babble of baby Sunny, elongated word, or character introduction is Snicket's own, with all the import he would like it to have. This is a listening delight. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]