Roald DahlContemporary Adult Fiction Set (8 Books)

About

Think you know Dahl? Think again. There's still a whole world of Dahl to discover in a newly collected book of his deliciously dark tales for adults... From Roald Dahl, the master of the sting in the tail, a newly collected book of his darkest stories. Dahl understood our deepest secrets, desires and fears in this Contemporary Bundle of 8 books that explore our hidden selves.

Product Features

1. Trickery: How underhand could you be to get what you want? In these ten tales of dark and twisted trickery Roald Dahl reveals that we are at our smartest and most cunning when we set out to deceive others - and, sometimes, even ourselves. Here, among others, you'll read of the married couple and the parting gift which rocks their marriage, the light-fingered hitchhiker and the grateful motorist and discovers why the serious poacher keeps a few sleeping pills in his arsenal.

2. Innocence: What makes us innocent and how do we come to lose it? Featuring the autobiographical stories telling of Roald Dahl's boyhood and youth as well as four further tales of innocence betrayed, Dahl touches on the joys and horrors of growing up. Among other stories, you'll read about the wager that destroys a girl's faith in her father, the landlady who has plans for her unsuspecting young guest and the commuter who is horrified to discover that a fellow passenger once bullied him at school. Featuring extraordinary cover art by Charming Baker, whose paintings echo the dark and twisted world of Dahl's short stories. Roald Dahl reveals even more about the darker side of human nature in seven other centenary editions: Lust, Madness, Cruelty, Deception, Trickery, War and Fear.

3. War: In war, are we at our heroic best or our cowardly worst? Featuring the autobiographical stories from Roald Dahl's time as a fighter pilot in the Second World War as well as seven other tales of conflict and strife, Dahl reveals the human side of our most inhumane activity. Among other stories, you'll read about the pilot shot down in the Libyan desert, the fighter plane that vanishes inside a mysterious thick white cloud and the soldier who returns from war but has been shockingly changed by his experiences. Featuring extraordinary cover art by Charming Baker, whose paintings echo the dark and twisted world of Dahl's short stories. Roald Dahl reveals even more about the darker side of human nature in seven other centenary editions: Lust, Madness, Cruelty, Deception, Trickery, Innocence and Fear.

4. Fear: Do you enjoy being scared? Featuring fourteen classic spine-chilling stories chosen by Roald Dahl, these terrible tales of ghostly goings-on will have you shivering with fear as you turn the pages. They include such timeless and haunting stories as Sheridan Le Fanu's The Ghost of a Hand, Edith Wharton's Afterward, Cynthia Asquith's The Corner Shop and Mary Tread gold’s The Telephone. Featuring extraordinary cover art by Charming Baker, whose paintings echo the dark and twisted world of Dahl's short stories. Roald Dahl reveals even more about the darker side of human nature in seven other centenary editions featuring his own stories: Lust, Madness, Cruelty, Deception, Trickery, Innocence and War.

5. Madness: There is a pleasure sure in being mad, which none but madmen know. Our greatest fear is of losing control - of our lives, but, most of all, of ourselves. In these ten, unsettling tales of unexpected madness master storyteller, Roald Dahl explores what happens when we let go of our sanity. Among other stories, you'll meet the husband with a jealous fixation on the family cat, the landlady who wants her guests to stay forever, the man whose taste for pork leads him astray and the wife with a pathological fear of being late.

6. Deception: The cruellest lies are often told in silence...Why do we lie? Why do we deceive those we love most? What do we fear to reveal? In these ten tales of deception master storyteller, Roald Dahl explores our tireless efforts to hide the truth about ourselves. Here, among many others, you'll read about how to get away with the perfect murder, the old man whose wagers end in a most disturbing payment, how revenge is sweeter when it is carried out by someone else and the card sharp so good at cheating he does something surprising with his life.

7. Lust: We fall not in love but in lust...Lust, in all its myriad forms, consumes us. What won't we do to achieve our heart's desire? In these ten tales of twisted love master storyteller, Roald Dahl explores how our darkest impulses reveal who we really are. Here you'll read a story concerning wife swapping with a sting in its tail, hear of the aphrodisiac that drives men into a frenzy, discover the last act in a tale of jilted first love and discover the naked truth of art, among others.

8. Cruelty: Cruelty has a human heart...Even when we mean to be kind, we can sometimes be cruel. We each have a streak of nastiness inside us. In these ten tales of cruelty master storyteller, Roald Dahl explores how and why it is we make others suffer. Among others, you'll read the story of two young bullies and the boy they torment, the adulterous wife who uncovers her husband's secret, the man with a painting tattooed on his back whose value he doesn't appreciate and the butler and chef who run rings around their obnoxious employer.