波特萊爾大遇險12─混亂的旅館
　　親愛的讀者，如果你想找一本書來讀，而《混亂的旅館》是你找到的第一本書，那麼你應該知道的第一件事就是，你應該先把這本倒數第二集放下。說來傷心，這本書記錄了波特萊爾家的孤兒一連串的遭遇，是一系列書籍當中的倒數第二本，裡面充滿了倒數第二多的悲慘、絕望和不愉快。
　　你可能會在這本倒數第二集當中看到一隻魚叉槍、一間屋頂日光浴沙龍、兩個神祕的字母縮寫、三個身分不明的三胞胎、一個惡名昭彰的壞蛋，和一頓難吃的咖哩。
　　而你第一個應該避開的，就是這些出現在倒數第二集當中的種種事物。所以您就聽聽我的勸，千萬別碰這本倒數第二集，你應該改找其他的東西來看，像是另一系列故事當中的倒數第二本，或是一本含有一堆倒數第二個事物的書，這樣這本倒數第二集才不會成為你看過的最後一本書。　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
雷蒙尼．史尼奇 敬上
　　在脫離陰森的洞穴之後，波特萊爾三姊弟這次被帶往一間詭異的旅館，並且以門房的身分，變裝潛行在這個神密的空間。某項令人驚駭的陰謀正在暗地裡進行著，四處充斥著好人與壞人的行跡。在這樣一個混亂的旅館裡，三個孤兒要如何運用機智、判斷是非，度過生命中倒數第二個危機？
作者簡介
雷蒙尼．史尼奇  Lemony Snicket
　　在某個小鎮出生，鎮上的居民生性多疑，動不動就鬧事。如今他住在都市裡，空閒時喜歡蒐集證據，被權威人士認為是這方面的專家。這是他的第十二本書。
★《波特萊爾大遇險》系列中譯本由小天下出版。
Dear Reader,
　　If this is the first book you found while searching for a book to read next, then the first thing you should know is that this next-to-last book is what you should put down first. Sadly, this book presents the penultimate chronicle of the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, and the first thing you should know about this next-to-last book is that it is next-to-first in its supply of misery, despair, and unpleasantness.
　　Probably the next-to-last things you would like to read about are the first things you would encounter in this next-to-last book, including a harpoon gun, a rooftop sunbathing salon, two mysterious initials, three unidentified triplets, a notorious villain, an unsavory curry, and several people you might find distressingly familiar and familiarly distressing.
　　Next-to-last things are the first thing to be avoided, and so allow me to recommend that you put this next-to-last book down first, and find something else to read next at last, such as the next-to-last book in another chronicle, or a chronicle containing other next-to-last things, so that this next-to-last book does not become the next-to-last book you will read.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket