Within the pages of this novel, readers will discover one of the books upon which the movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is based: The Bad Beginning. Like the movie, this book tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children, who despite being clever and charming lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very beginning of this volume, when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing onto the last page of this distressing story, disaster lurks at their heels. Unlike the movie, however, this book is printed on paper.