The copy of the book that was passed to me was older than myself. The owner bought it at a second-hand store, and there's an inscription on the final page that reads, 'If this book should ever roam, smack it[sic] botton and send it home'. Carol Paul, your book is now in Melbourne, Australia.
The blurb at the back says 'If your taste is for the macabre, the sick, the outrageous, the unexpected, the horrifying - Roald Dahl will give you orgiastic delight'. Read a book for orgiastic delight? I can do that.
Of course, being not entirelu familiar with such concept, I can neither confirm nor deny the blurb's promise. The book proved to be a delight to read in any case. A collection of 11 short stories originally published in magazines such as The New Yorker etc, Roald Dahl writes for adults here. There are no giant peaches in these stories, but there are enough surreal settings and events to leave you scratching your head long after you read the story. And so incredibly dark too.
The overall themes are adult, and by some chance you might even remember this book from your childhood. You know, the slim Dahl volume your parents bought by mistake, thinking it was a collection of short stories for children.
But if you're not feeling too prudish, dive right in and you'll find a fair share of dark and surreal comic material to last a few weeks. But by today's standards, it really is pretty tame.
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