Part of Series
The Complete Short Stories of Roald Dahl in the second of two unsettling and sinister volumes. 'Dahl finds the child in the adult and the adult in the child and, with a little smile, he sticks the knife in both' Anthony Horowitz, from his introduction Roald Dahl is one of the world's most popular writers, equally at home writing for both children and adults. In this, the second of two volumes chronologically collecting all his published adult short stories, we experience Dahl's dark and powerful imagination in full flight in 28 stories written between 1954 and 1988 (including eight tales which are not available in any other printed edition). Here, in 'Parson's Pleasure', a piece of furniture is the subject of a deceitful bargain; in 'William and Mary', a wife revenges herself on her dead husband; and in 'Royal Jelly' some new parents find an unusual and unsettling way to give their newborn its start in life. Whether you're young or old, once you've stepped into the brilliant, troubling world of Roald Dahl, you'll never be the same again. 'One of the most widely read and influential writers of our generation' The Times 'The absolute master of the twist in the tale' Observer Look out for Volume One, introduced by Charlie Higson. Roald Dahl, the brilliant and worldwide acclaimed author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and many more classics for children, also wrote scores of short stories for adults. These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today.
Author
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".
