Adverbs
Adverbs is my all-time favorite novel, and my review of it is featured in Off the Shelf.
“Daniel Handler, the man behind the popular Lemony Snicket books, is best known for this beloved, delightfully melancholy children’s series, but nowhere does he showcase his artful prose and knack for capturing the essence of human relationships better than in his underappreciated fragmentary novel for adults, Adverbs.
...
Because in prioritizing the adverbs and pushing the characters into the background, Handler does something incredibly special: he makes the feelings and experiences universal to his readership, even if you’ve never personally had a fling while videotaping a volcano, felt stirrings for the Snow Queen, or had a rebound relationship with a ghost. If you’ve ever felt you’ve been in love naturally, truly, often, or even collectively, then ADVERBS knows what you’ve been through and shares with you in experiencing—in Handler’s words—the beauty of ‘the way things are done.’”