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Kiss, Kiss ; Over to You ; Switch Bitch ; Someone Like You ; Four Tales of the Unexpected ; My Uncle Oswald book cover
Kiss, Kiss ; Over to You ; Switch Bitch ; Someone Like You ; Four Tales of the Unexpected ; My Uncle Oswald
1985
First Published
4.49
Average Rating
816
Number of Pages

Five of Roald Dahl's most famous collections of short stories - many of which were used in the pop- ular television series Tales of the Unexpected, are collected here in one tantalizing volume. Also included is his highly acclaimed novel about the notorious rogue, My Uncle Oswald. Demonstrating Dahl's own special brand of black humour, these stories deal with the strange and often bizarre fantasies of ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

Avg Rating
4.49
Number of Ratings
209
5 STARS
61%
4 STARS
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3 STARS
7%
2 STARS
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1 STARS
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Author

Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Author · 185 books

Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter of Norwegian descent, who rose to prominence in the 1940's with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors. Dahl's first published work, inspired by a meeting with C. S. Forester, was Shot Down Over Libya. Today the story is published as A Piece of Cake. The story, about his wartime adventures, was bought by the Saturday Evening Post for $900, and propelled him into a career as a writer. Its title was inspired by a highly inaccurate and sensationalized article about the crash that blinded him, which claimed he had been shot down instead of simply having to land because of low fuel. His first children's book was The Gremlins, about mischievous little creatures that were part of RAF folklore. The book was commissioned by Walt Disney for a film that was never made, and published in 1943. Dahl went on to create some of the best-loved children's stories of the 20th century, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. He also had a successful parallel career as the writer of macabre adult short stories, usually with a dark sense of humour and a surprise ending. Many were originally written for American magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Harper's, Playboy and The New Yorker, then subsequently collected by Dahl into anthologies, gaining world-wide acclaim. Dahl wrote more than 60 short stories and they have appeared in numerous collections, some only being published in book form after his death. His stories also brought him three Edgar Awards: in 1954, for the collection Someone Like You; in 1959, for the story "The Landlady"; and in 1980, for the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin".

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