Fortunately, Daniel Handler’s children’s books — collectively known as "A Series of Unfortunate Events," written under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket — have brought, well, good fortune.

People worldwide have purchased more than 60 million copies of the Snicket books, and Hollywood turned out a feature film.

Unfortunately, Snicket stole Handler’s ideas, blocked his spotlight, seduced his wife and ruined forever his scruffy, anonymous, bohemian life as the author of such literary novels as The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth and, most recently, Adverbs.

On Wednesday, Jan. 26, Handler is scheduled to visit UC Davis to answer the question: “Why does Lemony Snicket keep following me?” That is the title of his talk in the Distinguished Speakers series at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

The talk, set for 8 p.m. in Jackson Hall, will feature “unreliable anecdotes, baseless accusations, curious digressions, impractical jokes, and a growing suspicion that he is in the wrong room,” according to the Mondavi Center.

He is due to take part in a question-and-answer session after his talk.

The rest of the 2010-11 Distinguished Speakers series:

• Monday, March 7 — Henry Louis Gates Jr.: "African American Lives — Genealogy, Genetics and Black History." Gates, head of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Studies at Harvard University, addressing research and DNA analysis and poignant family stories in a lively discussion on individual lineage and African American history. Beyond his academic work, Gates, you may recall, made the news in connection with a July 2009 confrontation with a Cambridge, Mass., police officer.

• Thursday, April 28 — David Sedaris, humor writer and satirist who deftly slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness. His newest book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, came out in late September. His previous books include When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked.

Tickets are available online, or by visiting or calling the Mondavi Center box office, (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787.