Titles in This Set
1. Deception
2. Madness
3. Cruelty
4. Lust
5. Trickery
6. War
7. Fear
8. Innocence
Description:
Deception
Why
do we lie? Why do we deceive those we love most? What do we fear
revealing? 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.
Madness
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 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.
Cruelty
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.
Lust
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.
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 hitch-hiker
and the grateful motorist, and discover why the serious poacher keeps a
few sleeping pills in his arsenal.
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.
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 Treadgold's The Telephone.
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.