Q: It’s difficult to talk much about the plot of Poison for Breakfast because it is a short book with fun surprises, and I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I’d love to know what you hope readers take away from this quirky and bewildering tale of death — and breakfast? Members of the Fire-Fighting Side are known as Volunteers. This faction of the organization prizes virtues like being well-read, arriving early, and drinking bitter tea. The majority of adult members of this side have been murdered by the time of Beatrice Baudelaire II's birth, typically by the fire-starting side. (see: The Fire-Starting Side) Because of his constant presence in the royal court, whispers grew that Rasputin was acting as a puppet master over the royal couple. Alexandra’s growing dependence on Rasputin and his apparent healing abilities with her hemophilic son only exacerbated these rumors. Occasionally, the monk did offer military advice as well as medical help, but his ideas never proved beneficial for the Russian army or Tsar Nicholas personally. In fact, after Tsar Nicholas took personal control over his armies on Aug. 23, 1915, under the advice of Rasputin and the Tsarina Alexandra, the Tsar became the target of blame for Russia’s battlefield defeats. Meanwhile, with the Tsar away fighting, a vacuum of leadership was filled by the Tsarina.

I went into this (recommendation from my sister) thinking it’s going to be a little mystery, just like his A Series of Unfortunate Events, but boy was I wrong…. This book is written by a bibliophile that's for sure. The references are so nerdy and reader-world-like. In any event, I did enjoy the book, even if it’s a novel about nothing and everything. No matter what age you are, and depending on your disposition to slightly challenging works of philosophy, add Poison for Breakfast to your menu of things to read. It’s a doozy of a book and will certainly make you think, and laugh, and sigh, and all of the things a good work of art will make you do. I can’t believe that I hadn’t encountered the work of this fabulous fictitious author before, but, one thing’s for sure, I sure hope he writes more books like this because while Poison for Breakfast may be an, ahem!, acquired taste, it’ll leave you hungry for sloppy seconds. Burp! Second, the writing is fun to read. It's a remix of murder mystery, philosophy and almost a memoir about death. Here, where the world is quiet; Here, where all trouble seems Dead winds' and spent waves' riot In doubtful dreams of dreams; I watch the green field growing For reaping folk and sowing, For harvest-time and mowing, A sleepy world of streams.

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The V.F.D. Insignia (seen above) is an eye made from the letters 'V,' 'F,' and 'D.' Any member of V.F.D. who joined before the schism has a tattoo of the eye on their left ankle. After the schism, the practice of tattooing members desisted. Here, the myth does approach the truth. Though the Tsarina was in charge, Rasputin did wield great power as her adviser. The mystic healer wasted no time in appointing his own church ministers and other public officials. Thank you so much, NetGalley, W. W. Norton & Company and Liveright, for the chance to read and review this book!

Translating every instance of V.F.D. into different languages is one of the difficulties the translators go through, as terms such as "Volunteer Fire Department", "Very Fancy Doilies", etc, don't have the same initials in every language. Wading at Wellfleet" - a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, cited in Chapter One in reference to the sea being like "a case of knives." Before the schism, Volunteers were required to get a tattoo of the V.F.D. insignia on their left ankles, but afterward, they found it hard to know who was who while in disguises, because if they had a tattoo, they could be on either side, and because the insignia was only shown off by the fire-starters after the schism, the tattoo was associated with that side of V.F.D., causing problems.The group finally emerged into a courtyard, where four more shots were fired into Rasputin’s body before he slumped to the ground. To make sure they wouldn’t be troubled again, the assassins wrapped and tied the body with a piece of heavy linen, bundled it into a car and drove to Petrovski Island, where it was dropped from a bridge into the frozen river below. Poison for Breakfast is a classic-in-the-making that--in the great tradition of modern fables like The Little Prince and The Phantom Tollbooth--will delight readers of all ages. [1] Plot [ ] The third theory is that Rasputin had alcoholic gastritis, which can lead to having less stomach acid. Without acid in the stomach, the potassium cyanide can’t be converted into hydrogen cyanide, and is therefore considerably less toxic. It’s another plausible explanation, but no one really knows if Rasputin suffered from this complaint or not.