Where does PFB fit into the ASOUE chronology?
That's a really tough question with a really easy answer.
PFB is outside the fictional universe of ASOUE. PFB finds itself after the publication of all ASOUE books, simply because in the Poison For Breakfast universe Lemony Snicket created the fictional story that is in the ASOUE fiction books.
Let me be clearer. Daniel Handler (the writer in our universe) created a fictional character called Lemony Snicket. This fictional Lemony Snicket created a fictional universe in which there is Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and even a Lemony Snciket. In ASOUE, LSTUA, TBL and ATWQ we find the life story (even if fragmented) of a fictional Lemony Snicket that was created by another fictional Lemony Snicket whose life story is narrated (even if partially and in a fragmented way ) in PFB.
In other words, the PFB narrator was never part of a secret organization that fights fires. This narrator invented this organization, as well as the entire ASOUE story.
I don't think it would be right to cite excerpts from the book directly here, as the book has just been published and I don't want to harm Daniel Handler. But if you've read PFB, (and if you haven't, I recommend you do) you'll easily see evidence from the first chapter that what I'm claiming here is true.
Lemony Snicket has a very different childhood story than what we see on LSTUA. VFD is not directly quoted even once. There are no tattoos, and there aren't even references to Lemony Snicket's brother and sister when he talks about his childhood. Apparently Kit and Jaques Snicket are just fictional characters, without an equivalent in the PFB universe. Lemony from PFB seems to have lived in a wealthy family, even having people who called him "Master Snicket", suggesting that he had servants at his disposal.
At no time does Lemony appear to have been persecuted for his involvement with a secret organization. On the other hand, Lemony claims that in PFB he will talk about how he creates his books. So we have records on how he goes to libraries and sits in the philosophy section. And then we have a description of how he lost himself in imaginative thoughts during his childhood. Clearly this Lemony Snicket is a fiction writer and not a researcher overly concerned with recording truthful details for the general public about the history of the Baudelaires, (which are not mentioned at any time).
I want to be clear: I'm not complaining about the book. I liked the book. That's a way of understanding how Daniel Handler's mind works, although drawing on his interviews is more effective, I think.
Finally, in chapter 12 we have the solution to the mystery of the book. I won't write here, as it's a really big spoiler. But I can say that you will easily notice that there is a description of the creative process of a fiction book being one of the ATWQ books cited by name as an example of one of the books that came from the ideas of this Lemony Snicket, and not from his life experience.
I can also cite the non-existence of absurdisms found in ASOUE and ATWQ's books. PFB could happen in our universe perfectly, without any kind of weirdness. There are no babies with exceptional abilities, no animals trained for feats that would be impossible in our universe.
Is it then possible that this Lemony Snicket was actually Daniel Handler himself just using a different name? This is possible, but I still think it's important to point out that PFB is a fictional story, and contains a fictional protagonist. This protagonist reflects Daniel Handler's way of thinking and worldview. However, this fictional character has a life story of his own and a way of expressing himself. One of the most notorious members of the Dark Avenue 667: Answering Questions Wrong forum asked me something important about this point:
"I would like to know what specifically you find to be the difference between DH's "real" personality and the one in this book. I don't see a difference beyond some very superficial snickety stylings like "a word which here means..."
I think my answer was appropriate: "I think the biggest difference between Lemony and Daniel Handler is not what can be found in PFB, but what is not in PFB. If Daniel Handler hadn't put on his Lemony hat, it wouldn't be nearly suitable for children to read. Lemony is more sensitive to certain factors and to people. And if Daniel Handler had written it (having himself as the protagonist), I'm sure there wouldn't be several descriptions of how to prepare eggs but rather how to prepare alcoholic cocktails."
I would really like to read more about this Lemony Snicket and the series of unfortunate events an author can experience. As I've said before, I think Daniel Handler wants to leave the ASOUE universe intact, protected against himself. I think he found a way to do that by creating this universe in which Lemony is just an author of fiction books, and so Daniel Handler has the freedom to write whatever he wants without hurting ASOUE's canon or giving us room to discover some of the secrets of ASOUE that make it so special.
I think with PFB we can officially welcome Snicketmultiverse.