The Best of Roald Dahl

Whenever I hear of an author that is highly praised, but wrote primarily in the early to mid part of the 20th Century, I am always hesitant that I will find the work outdated or will be prohibited from covering "controversial" subjects. This is not the case with Ronald Dahl. This book of short stories (and one novella) are wonderful reading. And though I rarely say this, I think these stories are best read one at a time without continuing on in the book. Some of the stories have such powerful endings that I think the reader should bask in the punch before continuing. A great book - a great writer.

The infamous, the cantankerous, the grandiloquent, the absurd, the essential, the satisfying Roald Dahl is magnificent. His fame comes almost exclusively from his work as a children's author. Unbeknownst to most, he was a prominent short fiction writer for numerous magazines and publications. "The Best of Roald Dahl" is a collection of his short fiction spanning a large duration of his career rectifying him not as a child's author but simply as well-written author. This collection is unforgettable, and Dahl finds the youthful incendiary in all of us. From "Pig," to "Madame Rosetta," to "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar," there are no lackluster tales. Although they have almost no commonality subjectively, his stories share a unique aesthetic, which makes them highly approachable and easy to understand - they often have what some might call an ethereal quality. Stories like "Pig" may seem moralistically positive, but are often suggestive of the dark truth that is the real world. It's as though we are seeing our own negative world through the gentle eyes of Dahl who can only laugh. His dark humor is sometimes hilarious, but more than often grotesque. It will make you smile, it will make you sneer, and it may even make you vomit.

It seems that most people know Dahl from his children's books, most notably those made into the popular movies Willy Wonka (Charlie) and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda. And if you know those books (or most likely movies), you've already gotten a taste of the deliciously wicked imagination contained within. Well, hold on to your seats because you ain't seen nothin' yet!This collection of 25 short stories (written for adults) spans his career up to 1986 and contains some of the most tantalizingly evil ideas I have read in a long time. What fun it was to visit this mind in all its incarnations. From a seemingly sweet landlady, to a seemingly benevolent preacher, to a seemingly innocuous wager. That is the pattern. Things are not what they seem and Dahl makes sure to throw in a one-two punch of surprises within.To use a Hollywoodism, I would say this is like O. Henry crossed with Stephen King. So, if you like your short stories with pepper, you can do no better than to visit the twisted world of Roald Dahl.

But, if you liked Charlie as a kid, you may just have the twisted sense of humor it takes for Dahl's adult fiction. And I do mean adult. It's a human pheremone-toutin, spouse-swappin, hoppin into bed with an unknown leper sort of extravaganza not for the faint of heart. If you like your stories with sex and your sex with irony and your irony with extra spicy irony on top of that, you may have found your new favorite author.

I bought the first edition paperback in 1978 after my 6th grade teacher assigned The Way To Heaven as a class assignment. After reading her xerox copy I bought one of the first books I still keep in my shelves. It's yellowed and the cover is torn, but the stories are still as well written as ever.These stories are appropriate for a mature teenage reader but I would recommend it to anyone interested in an enjoyable read. Spooky, understated, this is much less formula than Mr. King. Well worth the reread 20 years later. On the back of my copy, there is a blurb by the Washington Post which sums it up: "The mind of Roald Dahl is quintessentially nasty and wicked" Spot on.

This book has left an impact on my memory like none before. Roald Dahl has an imagination that truly explores the wildness of the human mind. His creativity and stark reality to the truth is wonderful. This book has kept me up laughing and constantly brought a smile to my face when im down. My only regert is the limited number of books he wrote and i can understand how the character in "Misery"- mstephen King reacted the way she did. This book is addictive.