Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald DahlAnyone who ever wished as a child to meet Willy Wonka or hang out with the BFG will be fascinated to learn in this engrossing, authorized biography of the late Roald Dahl that his own life was far, far more strange than even his fiction. Twenty years after his death, Roald Dahl's bestselling stories continue to inspire and entertain children around the globe. But the man behind the stories remains an enigma. Despite his astonishing life as a Norwegian growing up in Wales, whose father died when he was just five, and as an ace fighter pilot, British intelligence agent, and husband for a while to one of Hollywood's top stars, Dahl nonetheless persistently embroidered the truth about himself, rewrote history, ignored reality, and defended his deep vulnerabilities with outlandish and wilfully provocative remarks. Facts bored him. As his authorized biographer, Donald Sturrock, a wonderful writer and careful researcher, has drawn on Dahl's many previously unexamined files and a vast body of unpublished letters for this nuanced and engrossing narrative of the storyteller's long, adventurous life. From the Hardcover edition. |
Contents
Lunch with Igor Stravinsky | 1 |
The Outsider | 13 |
Shutting Out the Sun | 28 |
Boy | 40 |
Foul Things and Horrid People | 64 |
Distant Faraway Lands | 93 |
A Monumental Bash on the Head | 122 |
David and Goliath | 139 |
The Poacher | 282 |
The Master of the Macabre | 313 |
A Tornado of Troubles | 356 |
Breaking Point | 386 |
Indomitable | 413 |
The Gentle Warmth of Love | 449 |
Explosions Are Exciting | 482 |
The Wizard and the Wonderman | 518 |
Alive but Earthbound | 156 |
A Sort of Fairy Story | 174 |
Secrets and Lies | 205 |
The ScholarGypsy | 249 |
No Point in Struggling | 549 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 569 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 625 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Alfhild Alfhild Hansen Alfred Knopf Ann Watkins Armitage Watkins asked began Bob Gottlieb British called Charles Marsh child Chocolate Factory Claudia Haines Conversation Dahl's daughter described Dirk Bogarde Disney eventually eyes father felt film flying Gipsy House Going Solo gremlins Harald Ibid Interview knew later Lawrence Letter to Ann Letter to Armitage Letter to Charles Letter to Roald Letter to Sheila Liccy living Logsdail London look Lucy Maria Tucci Maschler Missenden movie Murray Pollinger Neisha never Noël Coward Norwegian Olivia once Ophelia Dahl Pat's Patricia Neal pilot published Quentin Blake Rayner Unwin RDMSC RD recalled remembered Repton returned Roald Dahl seemed sense Sheila St short story sister Sofie Magdalene Stephen Roxburgh tell Tessa Dahl Theo things thought told his mother Tom Maschler took Uncle Oswald Wallace wanted weeks wife writing wrote York young