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Roald Dahl: Teller of the Unexpected: A Biography
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About This Book
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice From one of our finest literary biographers comes a brilliant biography of Roald the much-loved author and creator of countless iconic literary characters. Roald Dahl was one of the world's greatest storytellers. He conceived his vocation as as that of any fearless explorer and, in his writing for children, he was able to tap into a child's viewpoint throughout his life. He crafted tales that were exotic in scenario, frequently invested with a moral, and filled with vibrant characters that endure in public imagination to the present day. In this brand-new biography, Matthew Dennison re-evaluates the traditional narrative surrounding Dahl—that of school sporting hero, daredevil pilot, and wartime spy-turned-author—and examines surviving primary resources as well as Dahl's extensive literary output to tell the story of a man who identified as a rule-breaker, an iconoclast, and a romantic—both insider and outsider, war hero and child's friend.
Reviews
"Matthew Dennison's Roald Dahl: Teller of the Unexpected is thin gruel."
"Dennison's biography has the virtues of clarity and brevity, but despite declaring itself 'unofficial', which might suggest it offers shocking new revelations, it adds little to the very good duo of earlier Dahlographies."
"There are no new revelations or notable interviews but it turns the baggy complications of Dahl's life into something brisk and manageable."
"Dennison makes the traditional argument for separating the art from the artist...As Matthew Dennison amply shows, Dahl's work was intensely personal."
"This is not a potted biography, but it is a politely pruned one, idealism washing over the ick."
"Without supplanting either Jeremy Treglown's pioneering Roald Dahl: A Biography (1993) or Donald Sturrock's authorized biography, Storyteller (2010) — both of which I recommend, especially the latter — this succinct new biography provides just enough information for all but the most ardent Dahl devotee."
"A sadness pervades this book: despair."
"Matthew Dennison's brisk biography of Roald Dahl...gives the teller a fair trial ..."
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