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Author photo. Photo by Carl Van Vechten, Apr. 20, 1954 (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, reproduction number, LC-USZ62-116610)

Photo by Carl Van Vechten, Apr. 20, 1954 (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, reproduction number, LC-USZ62-116610)

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Roald (pronounced "Roo-aal") was born in Llandaff, South Wales. He had a relatively uneventful childhood and was educated at Repton School. During World War II he served as a fighter pilot and for a time was stationed in Washington, D.C.. Prompted by an interviewer, he turned an account of one of his war experiences into a short story that was accepted by the Saturday Evening Post, which were eventually collected in Over to You (1946). Dahl's stories are often described as horror tales or fantasies, but neither description does them justice. He has the ability to treat the horrible and ghastly with a light touch, sometimes even with a humorous one. His tales never become merely shocking or gruesome. His purpose is not to shock but to entertain, and much of the entertainment comes from the unusual twists in his plots, rather than from grizzly details. Dahl has also become famous as a writer of children's stories. In some circles, these works have cased great controversy. Critics have charged that Dahl's work is anti-Semitic and degrades women. Nevertheless, his work continues to be read: Charlie and Chocolate Factory (1964) was made into a successful movie, The BFG was made into a movie in July 2017, and his books of rhymes for children continue to be very popular. (Bowker Author Biography) — biography from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… (more)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 24,018 copies, 436 reviews
Matilda 21,101 copies, 463 reviews
James and the Giant Peach 18,871 copies, 351 reviews
The BFG 18,548 copies, 306 reviews
The Witches 14,335 copies, 190 reviews
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 10,204 copies, 78 reviews
The Twits 9,656 copies, 112 reviews
Fantastic Mr. Fox 8,935 copies, 137 reviews
George's Marvelous Medicine 8,482 copies, 93 reviews
Boy: Tales of Childhood 7,401 copies, 134 reviews
Danny the Champion of the World 7,370 copies, 77 reviews
The Magic Finger 6,941 copies, 67 reviews
Esio Trot 5,524 copies, 61 reviews
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me 5,034 copies, 47 reviews
Going Solo 4,767 copies, 52 reviews
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (Author) 4,455 copies, 48 reviews
The Enormous Crocodile 3,084 copies, 35 reviews
Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes 2,663 copies, 62 reviews
My Uncle Oswald 1,805 copies, 28 reviews
Tales of the Unexpected 1,668 copies, 18 reviews
The Best of Roald Dahl 1,522 copies, 18 reviews
Kiss Kiss 1,505 copies, 19 reviews
Switch Bitch 1,451 copies, 26 reviews
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke 1,330 copies, 23 reviews
Someone Like You 1,260 copies, 18 reviews
Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories (Editor) 1,166 copies, 21 reviews
The Minpins 1,147 copies, 13 reviews
Skin and Other Stories 999 copies, 22 reviews
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory [1971 film] (Screenwriter) 935 copies, 11 reviews
The Roald Dahl Treasury 935 copies, 4 reviews
Dirty Beasts 910 copies, 11 reviews
Over to You [Anthology] (Author) 667 copies, 9 reviews
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [1968 film] (Screenwriter) 629 copies, 5 reviews
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life 546 copies, 9 reviews
Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes 545 copies, 7 reviews
Boy / Going Solo 477 copies, 7 reviews
Completely Unexpected Tales 474 copies, 7 reviews
Rhyme Stew 406 copies, 5 reviews
Fantastic Mr. Fox [2009 film] (Original book) 321 copies, 7 reviews
James and the Giant Peach [1996 film] (Book) 273 copies, 3 reviews
James and the Giant Peach: A Play 262 copies, 3 reviews
You Only Live Twice [1967 film] (Screenwriter) 252 copies, 4 reviews
More Tales of the Unexpected 248 copies, 4 reviews
The Gremlins 203 copies, 4 reviews
More About Boy 195 copies, 3 reviews
It's Heaven To Be Seven (Contributor) 189 copies, 2 reviews
The BFG: A Set of Plays (Author) 158 copies, 1 review
Vile Verses 151 copies, 2 reviews
The Witches: Plays for Children 129 copies, 3 reviews
Memories with Food at Gipsy House 123 copies, 3 reviews
A Taste of the Unexpected 117 copies, 1 review
The Mildenhall Treasure [essay] 110 copies, 1 review
My Year 107 copies, 7 reviews
Madness 102 copies, 3 reviews
Lust 94 copies, 2 reviews
Deception 89 copies, 3 reviews
Songs and Verse 85 copies
Cruelty 80 copies, 3 reviews
The Great Mouse Plot 78 copies, 1 review
Two Fables 77 copies, 2 reviews
Sometime Never 65 copies, 1 review
Trickery 58 copies
Ten Short Stories 56 copies, 1 review
Innocence 50 copies, 1 review
Fear 48 copies
Esio Trot | The Minpins 44 copies, 1 review
War 43 copies
The Bookseller [short story] 41 copies, 4 reviews
Taste [short story] (Author) 41 copies, 3 reviews
The Landlady [short story] 38 copies, 5 reviews
Roald Dahl's fantabulous facts 34 copies, 1 review
Konfetti 25 copies
Beware of the Dog 24 copies, 3 reviews
Never Grow Up 19 copies, 1 review
My Own Book of Animal Stories (Contributor) 18 copies
Cuentos 17 copies
L'Invité 16 copies
Tales of the Unexpected 1 14 copies, 2 reviews
Modern Short Stories 2: 1940-1980 (Contributor) 12 copies
Colors 11 copies
Matilda's How To Be Brave 11 copies, 1 review
Gobblefunk Dictionary 8 copies, 1 review
Royal Jelly [short story] 8 copies, 1 review
Onde sirkler 8 copies
The Swan [short story] 7 copies, 2 reviews
The Great Switcheroo 7 copies, 2 reviews
The Last Act [short story] 6 copies, 1 review
Tales of the Unexpected 2 6 copies, 1 review
Roald Dahl ABC 5 copies, 1 review
Son Perde 5 copies
L'ospite (in Tutti i racconti) 4 copies, 2 reviews
Autoestopista 4 copies
A Little Twist of Dahl 4 copies, 4 reviews
Science Fiction Omnibus 3 copies, 1 review
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o mfg/959; 956;966;947; 2 copies, 1 review
Roald Dahl 123 2 copies, 1 review
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Parson's Pleasure / The Other Two (Contributor) 2 copies
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Tat 1 copy
Sahaf 1 copy
The BFG 1 copy
Matilda 1 copy
Les formes 1 copy
The secret garden 1 copy, 1 review
O Gag 1 copy
Gut 1 copy
Jeu 1 copy
Topklasse 1 copy
Books 1 copy
Even op verhaal komen (Contributor) 1 copy
Nokk Plikk 1 copy
LDM 1 copy
Fábulas 1 copy
The Wish 1 copy
The Classic Fairy Tales [Norton Critical Edition] (Contributor) 977 copies, 5 reviews
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory [2005 film] (Author) 732 copies, 9 reviews
The Flying Sorcerers: More Comic Tales of Fantasy (Contributor) 498 copies, 3 reviews
Matilda [1996 film] (Original story) 450 copies, 10 reviews
Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow (Contributor) 428 copies, 6 reviews
Flight or Fright (Contributor) 418 copies, 22 reviews
Science Fiction Omnibus (Contributor) 336 copies, 7 reviews
A Treasury of Short Stories (Contributor) 286 copies
It's Great To Be Eight (Contributor) 261 copies, 1 review
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories for Late at Night (Contributor) 253 copies, 4 reviews
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Stories to Be Read with the Lights On (Contributor) 211 copies, 4 reviews
The BFG [2016 film] (Original book) 206 copies, 1 review
The Penguin Book of Horror Stories (Contributor) 138 copies, 2 reviews
The Witches: The Graphic Novel (Contributor) 131 copies, 8 reviews
The Big New Yorker Book of Cats (Contributor) 121 copies, 1 review
The Witches [1990 film] (Author) 114 copies, 2 reviews
11th Annual Edition: The Year's Best S-F (Contributor) 112 copies, 2 reviews
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Wolf's Complete Book of Terror (Contributor) 74 copies, 2 reviews
65 Great Spine Chillers (Contributor) 74 copies, 2 reviews
Death Walks Tonight: Horrifying Stories (Contributor) 72 copies, 1 review
Stories of Suspense (Contributor) 70 copies, 3 reviews
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The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy. (Contributor) 63 copies, 1 review
65 Great Tales of Horror (Contributor) 56 copies
The Penguin Classic Crime Omnibus (Contributor) 53 copies
Reading for Pleasure (Contributor) 49 copies
Realms of Darkness (Contributor) 43 copies, 1 review
65 Great Murder Mysteries (Contributor) 40 copies
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The Graveyard Reader (Contributor) 36 copies, 1 review
Stories to Be Read With the Door Locked, Volume 1 (Contributor) 29 copies, 1 review
Stories for the Dead of Night (Contributor) 28 copies
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The Best Horror Stories (Contributor) 21 copies
Puffin Annual: No. 1 (Puffin Books) (Contributor) 19 copies, 2 reviews
36 Hours [1964 film] (Original story) 16 copies, 2 reviews
The Gourmet Crook Book (Contributor) 13 copies
The Playboy Book of Short Stories (Contributor) 11 copies
Growing Up Stories (Contributor) 11 copies
Inside Stories I (Contributor) 10 copies
Vincent Price Presents The Price of Fear (Contributor) 9 copies, 1 review
Mysterious, Menacing and Macabre (Contributor) 8 copies
Griezelverhalen 2 (Contributor) 8 copies
Return of the Gremlins (Original Story) 8 copies
13 Ways to Kill a Man (Contributor) 7 copies
Death on Wheels (Contributor) 7 copies
Armchair Horror Collection (Contributor) 7 copies
A Collection of Action Stories (Contributor) 7 copies
Top Teen Stories (Contributor) 6 copies
Life Styles (Contributor) 5 copies
Thrilling Adventure Stories (Contributor) 5 copies
The Stakes are High (Contributor) 4 copies
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine - 1954/11 (Contributor, some editions) 4 copies
Sanfter Schrecken (Contributor) 3 copies
Prachtig weer verhalen (Contributor) 3 copies
Personal Choice (Contributor) 3 copies
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Påskekrim 2015 (Contributor) 2 copies
In Fear and Dread (Contributor) 2 copies
El cuento literario (Contributor) 2 copies
Enjoying Stories (Contributor) 2 copies
Horror (Contributor) 2 copies
Tchnienie Grozy (Contributor) 1 copy
Vakantieverhalen (Contributor) 1 copy
Groot zomerboek (Contributor) 1 copy
Mystery and Suspense (Contributor) 1 copy

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