Tales of the Unexpected

Roald Dahl is at the peak of his powers in this collection. For anyone who knows him only as the author of the Willy Wonka books--or who thinks of him purely as a children's book author--this is the book to change your mind and make you think admiringly about Dahl's considerable powers as an adult writer.The book is comprised of gem after gem. Two of Dahl's most famous stories are here. One is "Lamb to the Slaughter," about the wife of a police detective who kills her husband in a most unconventional way and then disposes of the murder weapon in a manner that would make any criminal proud. The other, "Nunc Dimittis," describes the lengths to which a society smoothie goes for revenge. Dahl's descriptive powers are basic, but his imagination is limitless. He manages to calmly, smoothly pull you into his stories and make the most outrageous things seem perfectly in keeping and perfectly normal--while still just a bit askew. The stories are all vintage Dahl. Each has elements of the macabre and the grotesque, couched in the comfortable trappings of middle-class life: marriage, tidy houses, bills, resentment, secrets, tidy houses, and so on. Dahl pulls off the neat trick of making the macabre laughable, though--he's not trying to scare the reader as much as make us shout with laughter and recognition and then settle back to enjoy a shiver of anticipation. In "William and Mary," the terminally ill narrator is propositioned by a neurosurgeon friend to give his brain up for experimentation after death. Despite the gruesome details, the story is hilarious:" . . . So when I get you on the table I will take a saw, a small oscillating saw, and with this I shall proceed to remove the whole vault of your skull. You'd still be unconscious at that point so I wouldn't have to bother with anaesthetic.""Like hell you wouldn't," I said."You'd be out cold, I promise you that, William. Don't forget you DIED just a few minutes before.""Nobody's sawing off the top of my skull without an anaesthetic," I said.Dahl doesn't get any better than this!

This is a terrific book of some of Roald Dahl's most deliciously twisted stories. Always suprising, clever, ingenious and, of course, unexpected!!! Deceptively simple writing with attention to odd and ordinary detail reveals wonderfully wicked stories. I cackled through the whole thing. Some are also quite thought-provoking, like "Genisis and Catastrophe." Favorite stories include "The Sound Machine" "Skin" "William and Mary" and "Georgy Porgy". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, unless you like your stories cute and wholesome, in which case you'll probably be offended by this book. Thanks for listining!

I can't believe so many people have written such scathing reviews of this book- you're putting people off! If you are a Dahl fan, this book won't dissapoint. If you're looking for scary, mysterious stories(ie point horror etc) then look elsewhere. All in all, I love Roald Dahl, and was glad that when I had read all his childrens stories I could onto this. Brilliant!

I bet right now your thinking, I don't want to read a bunch of short tales from this childrens author. However, this is a very adult targeted collection of Dahls short storys, and you'll soon learn why they are called "Tales of the unexpected", not because of any science fiction theme, but the people next door living out small events with endings you could never guess. An example? Well, remember the Alfred Hitchcock show? One of the twisted tales in here was made into an episode. A hint of mystery and even a hint of humor mixed in with Dahls' perfect writing and qualitys make each story stick, you won't forget a single one, I know I didn't.