We're sorry to say that the learning guide you're about to read is extremely unpleasant.

Hey, we had to give you fair warning—after all, there's one scrawled on the back of the freaking book. It just wouldn't be right to let you keep going without offering some sort of heads-up, right?

With that out of the way, since you've stuck around instead of running for the hills, we'd like to officially welcome you to The Bad Beginning, the story of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire and the seemingly endless series of unfortunate events they encounter after their parents perish tragically in a fire one day. See? We told you we're in unpleasant territory.

Written way back in 1999, this is the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). And despite brimming with terribleness—we're talking evil-villains-turned-father-figures, babies dangling in bird cages from the tops of towers, and even a run-in with a child bride—these books have sold over sixty million copies. So while they're filled with people and things that are no good, the books themselves are very good indeed. That, or there are millions of idiots with terrible taste in literature in the world. Lemony Snicket would certainly find that possible.

So if you have the stomach for a book filled with sorrowful orphans, terrible villains, and unreasonable demands for roast beef, then you've come to the right place. And if not? Well, you can't say we didn't warn you.

Say what you want about The Bad Beginning (and the rest of A Series of Unfortunate Events), but one thing is absolutely certain: It's intensely creative. Seriously—here's a sampling of Handler's (we mean Snicket's) imagination in action:

• Instead of setting this story in a specific place and time, it's set in a hodgepodge of lots of places and times. Characters' names come from different regions of the world, technology simultaneously appears from different eras—this setting is a hot mess.
• Not only are the three Baudelaire orphans incredibly clever and resourceful, one of them happens to have very sharp teeth, an attribute usually reserved for describing lions or vampires instead of sweet little babies.
• Instead of encouraging readers to pick up this book and keep reading it, readers are constantly discouraged and assured they would have a better time reading a different tale.

These are just a few of our favorite things, and basically the tip of The Bad Beginning's creative iceberg. There's something to delight (or epically dismay) everyone in this read, so grab a copy and get ready to find your own stand-out creative moments.