The Basic Eight

Definitely a weird book (which I'd expect nothing less from Daniel Handler) but so charming in uniquely nostalgic way. This book takes you back to the test and trials of surviving high school and makes you adore the main character, Flannery. As someone who has always loved writing, this book had many funny moments and passages that I felt were written for those with an affinity for writing. This book was somehow funny, witty, interesting, sad, happy, and more at the same time. Absolutely worth the read!

I have never truthfully said this about any book that I have ever read, but honestly, I could not put Handler's "The Basic Eight" down. The whole book is written with such an unexplainable beauty and sadness that you cannot resist falling in love with Flannery, the main character, and the people she cares about. We are made aware of the story's inevitable tragedy in the very beginning, though Flan's narration becomes increasingly dubious as the story evolves. However, this adds perfectly to the darkness and foreboding of the book's climax. Handler captures the essence of high school friendship and heartbreak with great sympathy and I found that even the mundane events of the story touched my heart. "The Basic Eight" is the most tragic and beautiful book I have ever read. It will stay with you for a very long time.

Having read the first eight Lemony Snicket books to my daughter, it occurred to me that the literary output of the author's legal, literary, and social representative, Daniel Handler, might be equally delightful. I was not disappointed. *The Basic Eight* is a gem of a book. It grows on you as you read, building eventually into a book that cannot be put down--particularly toward the end of October in the narrative--and it leaves you thinking about it long after you've read the last page. Mr. Handler, moreover, is a wonderful writer. The plotting of the book is masterful, and the pages are littered with beautiful, apt phrases/sentences--pearls, one might say--which one wants to linger over--over which one wants to linger. (For example, on p. 280: "I craned my neck to see who this person was, raised by wolves in some San Francisco wilderness and finally escaping by public transportation.") Some reviewers have complained of inconsistencies in the narrative over the figure of Natasha--I'll not be more specific, as this isn't a spoiler. But, while I haven't reread the book to verify that everything is thus explicable, I think the point is that the whole story is being told through Flan's rather unreliable perspective. Surely that is explanation enough? Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

Easily one of the best books I have read in the past 12 months. Cleverly constructed so that are surprised by the ending--I had to read the sentance twice to make sure I got it right--the book is flawless in its portrait of the upper middle class teen in San Francisco who hold formal dinner parties. The story of Flannery Culp is not an easy read, it takes time and intelligence--but you are rewarded. I laughed out loud at the sections that skewer the US media and our penchant for the easy answer. Handler gets the girlish lingo with which our heroine recounts the saga of her unrequited love. And let's face it, we've all been there, we've all met an Adam State and we've all wanted to bash his brains out--but somehow we didn't. You will have to read this book twice, so that you can enjoy its superb construction. The language is lush, the story compelling and the ending--well, my dear, read it and find out for yourself. Buy this book. You won't be sorry.

This is a brilliant lampoon the whole "pretty teen drama" genre. Daniel Handler hits all his cliché targets right on the bullseye: ridiculously sophisticated teen dialogue, adults who aren't there or who "just don't understand," the token gay guy, the outrage of being called a "fat bitch," and shopping for shoes (a lot). He also manages to rip up National Organizations, Oprah Winfrey, self-appointed experts, the coffee culture, "alternative/rock" music (Rattle and Hum quite rightly becomes Gurgle and Buzz), and sensational journalism. In fact, this book makes it clear that the news media is incapable of reporting accurately, or even truthfully. (Whoever unfavorably compared this to a John Grisham novel was the type of reader who is aware only of an author's description of EVENTS. The murder, my friend, was not the point.) All in all, this is hilarious parody and convincing drama. Rumor has it that it has been opted for a movie, so I hope they make it before Christina Ricci becomes too old to play Flannery Culp.

Daniel Handler's novel The Basic Eight reads as though it were his tenth work, rather than a freshman effort, as I was pleasantly surprised to discover. In narrator Flannery Culp, Handler succeeds in portraying a multi-faceted view of adolescence. As Flan chronicles the weeks preceding Halloween of her senior year & subsequent murder of her classmate & love interest, she emotes the confusion of sexuality, paranoia of friendship, stress of academic pressure, & the unfairness of rejection inherent in any high school existence - especially one marred by murder. Throughout her journal entries she excites the reader with her erratic insecurities & fantasies, all the while begging the question -is everyone crazy...or is she? Each member of the circle of friends which comprises the "Basic Eight" possesses a mature eccentricity which serves to add a plausibility to . Whether it be V__'s pearls, Douglas's linen suits, Lily's musical genius, or anti-heroine Natasha's ever-present flask, or the group's experimentation with absinthe, the clique is a truly unique one. By unveiling the novel's tragedy early in the narrative, Handler teases the reader, bringing to life the cliche "page turner", as the reader waits for the murder to happen. Despite this early revelation, however, Handler still manages to include a twist which left even this suspense pro reeling. With a circle full of drinking, drugs, sex, betrayel, and murder, The Basic Eight is a truly commendable first novel, and this reader assuredly awaits the Handler's upcoming second novel with baited breath.