Author: Daniel Handler
Title: We Are Pirates
Publication Info: New York : Bloomsbury, 2015.
Summary/Review:
This is an “adult” novel written under Handler’s real name instead of his more famous pseudonym, Lemony Snicket. Set in contemporary San Francisco, the story details the lives of a dysfunctional family living beyond their means in an Embarcadero condo. The storylines alternate between Phil Needle, a radio producer looking to exploit the legacy of an African American blues musician, and his 14 y.o. daughter Gwen, who has grown disaffected by the upper middle class life and eventually puts together a crew to steal a boat and run amok on the San Francisco Bay (the “pirates” of the title). Snicket-like touches are there such as the unreliable and mysterious narrator who begins as a guest at the Needles’ party but then locks themselves in the bathroom to begin telling the story of their hosts. And the story of Gwen and her youthful companions (plus her grandfather with Alzheimer’s) is far more engaging that Phil’s story. Ultimately, this novel felt a bit drab and I ended up finishing reading it more out of courtesy than interest.
Favorite Passages:
Phil Needle wasn’t a good person, in a what-a-good-person-you-are sort of way, but he was good, somehow, surely. He was merciful. He stepped on wounded bees. He did good, and when he did bad it wasn’t his fault. It was a mistake. He was so sorry, behind the bumper sticker, for whatever and everything it was he had done.
Rating: **
Panorama of the Mountains 