Collected Stories
Roald Dahl
(Everyman's Library, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2006, $30.00)

Mention the name Roald Dahl, and those who recognize it probably identify him as the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach , two classics of children's literature.   Or they might recall he was once married to Academy Award winning actress Patricia Neal.

But he was much more than this. He was also a RAF pilot during World War II.   After the war he became an attaché in Washington where he met C. S   Forester, the author of the Hornblower series, who suggested he write about his experiences as a flyer.

The result was a series of short stories that included "Beware of the Dog," which in 1964 was made into 36 Hours starring James Garner.

Dahl went on to write over fifty short stories, all very much adult oriented and several adapted for Alfred Hitchcock Presents , including " A Dip in the Pool", "Lamb to the Slaughter", " Poison",   "Man From the South",   "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat", and "The Landlady".   These adaptations are among the most memorable from that landmark TV series. Later the tv series Tales of the Unexpected would be based wholly on the stories of Roald Dahl

The author's best stories, including those adapted for television, are more than just stories of horror or suspense. A 1953 review in the New York Times praised his "economical, precise writing style." The reviewer also noted: "...Tension is his business; give him a surprise denouement, and he'll give you a story leading to it." Reviewers seeing these qualities in Dahl have often compared him to O. Henry and Saki.   Actually he is better than both. His stories often have surprise endings, but his characters are as important as plot. Who can ever forget the title character in "Mr. Botibol" who conducts symphonies in his living room? Or the gambler in "Man From the South"? Or the crippled flyer in "Beware of the Dog"?

This is the only collection to bring all of Dahl's stories under one cover, and reading them chronologically from first to last, one sees the growth and maturity of an author. There is not a weak story among the lot, and a half-dozen or so are among the finest examples of short stories in the English language.

--Jim Hitt