num_pages: 850
description: The only hardcover edition of Roald Dahl’s stories for adults, the Collected Stories amply showcases his singular gifts as a fabulist and a born storyteller.Later known for his immortal children’s books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and The BFG, Dahl also had a genius for adult short fiction, which he wrote throughout his life. Whether fictionalizing his dramatic exploits as a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II or concocting the ingeniously plotted fables that were dramatized on television as Tales of the Unexpected, Dahl was brilliant at provoking in his readers the overwhelming desire to know what happens next—and at satisfying that desire in ways that feel both surprising and inevitable.Filled with devilish plot twists, his tales display a tantalizing blend of macabre humor and the absurdly grotesque. From “The Landlady,” about an unusual boardinghouse that features a small but very permanent clientele, to “Pig,” a brutally funny look at vegetarianism, to “Man from the South,” in which a fanatical gambler does his betting with hammer, nails, and a butcher’s knife, Dahl’s creations amuse and shock us in equal measure, gleefully reminding us of what might lurk beneath the surface of the ordinary.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Jeremy TreglownSelect BibliographyChronologyAn African StoryOnly ThisKatinaBeware of the DogThey Shall Not Grow OldSomeone Like YouDeath of an Old Old ManMadame RosetteA Piece of CakeYesterday Was BeautifulNunc DimittisSkinMan from the SouthThe SoldierThe Sound MachineMr BotibolVengeance Is Mine Inc.The WishPoisonTasteDip in the PondThe Great Automatic GrammatizatorClaud’s Dog:—The Ratcatcher—Rummins—Mr Hoddy—Mr FeaseyMy Lady Love, My DoveNeckLamb to SlaughterGallopin FoxleyEdward the ConquerorThe Way Up to HeavenWilliam and MaryParson’s PleasureGeorgy PorgyMrs Bixby and the Colonel’s CoatRoyal JellyThe Champion of the WorldGenesis and CatastrophePigThe LandladyThe VisitorThe Last ActThe Great SwitcherooThe ButlerBitchAh, Sweet Mystery of LifeThe HitchhikerThe Umbrella ManThe BooksellerThe SurgeonAppendix: Dates of Composition and First Publication
language: English
title: Collected Stories
titlecomplete: Collected Stories
genres: Short Stories, Childrens, Literature, Horror, Fantasy, Classics, Anthologies, British Literature, Fiction, Humor
ratings_count: 7036
publisher: Alfred A. Knopf