Horseradish

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid by Lemony Snicket

I like Lemony Snicket and his dark sense of humor (even though I will freely admit that I've only read the Series of Unfortunate Events through book four). I have to admit, however, that I was disappointed with Horseradish.

Some of the aphorisms are dead on

"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like." (137)

and perfect articulations of things we tend not to give much thought to

"One of the world's tiresome questions is what object one would bring to a desert island, because people always answer 'a deck of cards' or 'Anna Karenina' when the obvious answer is 'a well-equipped boat and a crew to sail me off the island and back home where I can play all the card games and read all the Russian novels I want.'" (67)

Others are just kind of strange

"Having an aura of menace is like having a pet weasel, because you rarely meet someone who has one, and when you do it makes you want to hide under the coffee table." (123)

but that's to be expected of Snicket. Most, though, are forgettable, easy to just flip past, making Horseradish a very quick read.