The Ersatz Elevator
by Lemony Snicket
★ Top 25 book of 2001 · #20 on Best Books of 2001
The Baudelaire orphans face a dark staircase, a scheming liar, a secret passageway, and mysterious initials in this gloomy installment. Lemony Snicket cheerfully warns readers that only misery awaits, though that makes it hard to resist.
Best for: Readers who enjoy darkly humorous, mystery-filled stories with a mischievous narrator
The Ersatz Elevator is #20 on BookWard's Best Books of 2001, out of 35 2001 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Ersatz Elevator is about
The Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, are handed to their next guardians, the wealthy Esmé and Jerome Squalor, who live in a penthouse at 667 Dark Avenue. The building has an odd rule: elevators are "out", so the children climb the stairs. Esmé is a financial adviser who cares only about what is fashionable. She takes in the orphans because orphans happen to be "in". Jerome was a good friend of the children's mother and does care about them, but he will do almost anything to avoid an argument with his wife.
Soon the children spot a familiar villain in a new disguise, only to find that the one adult who might listen waves their worries away. Klaus notices something strange about the top floor and its pair of elevator doors. Sixth in A Series of Unfortunate Events, the story is darkly comic and wry, with a gothic edge. It pokes fun at trend-chasing and shows how hard it is to be a child whom no one will believe.
The Ersatz Elevator on the Best Books of 2001
The Ersatz Elevator came out in 2001. Of the 35 books first published in 2001 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #20 on our Best Books of 2001 list.
Why it made the list: 183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (33 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2001 list
- Tell No One Harlan Coben, #18
- Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) Charlaine Harris, #19
- Name Jar Yangsook Choi, #21
- Quidditch Through the Ages J. K. Rowling, #22
See all Best Books of 2001 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2000 Best Books of 2002.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 106 want to read it, 4 are reading it now and 73 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.1 out of 5 from 33 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 34 | 55% |
| Reader love | 77 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 23 | 20% |
Questions about The Ersatz Elevator
When was The Ersatz Elevator published?
The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket was first published in 2001.
Was The Ersatz Elevator one of the best books of 2001?
The Ersatz Elevator is #20 on BookWard's Best Books of 2001, out of 35 2001 books that cleared our data bar. 183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (33 ratings).
Why is The Ersatz Elevator on the Best Books of 2001 list?
183 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.1 out of 5 (33 ratings).
More of the best books of 2001
- American Gods Neil Gaiman, #1
- Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time Brian Tracy, #2
- Crucial Conversations Kerry Patterson, #3
- Point Blanc Anthony Horowitz, #4
- Getting Things Done David Allen, #5
- Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand, #6
See the full Best Books of 2001, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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