Roald Dahl: A Biography

Misogynist, anti-Semite, misanthrope...these are just some of the negative adjectives used to describe Roald Dahl. Born to Norwegian parents in England during World War 1, he lived a difficult life. His writing, however, is what people remember him by. Treglown writes about

Roald Dahl's early life, his career in writing, and much more.

Author: Jeremy Treglown

Publisher: Reed Business Information, 1995

Reviews
 Publishers Weekly  (Publishers Weekly)  This revealing biography strips away the genial persona of popular children's book author  Roald   Dahl  (1916-1990) to explore the personal demons that drove him. Born to Norwegian parents in Wales,  Dahl, whose father and older sister both died when he was four, was a divided personality. An RAF fighter pilot, war hero, art collector, philanthropist and doting father, he was also, by his account, a wartime British spy who snooped on Americans in Washington, D.C., a bully, an anti-Semite, a vain, cantankerous alcoholic given to cruelty and outbursts. Dahl, who settled in New York City in the early 1950s, wrote Hollywood screenplays and stories for adults laced with black humor. His hectic marriage to actress Patricia Neal, according to Treglown, was marred by his envy of her success, too much liquor on both sides, and a series of misfortunes including her debilitating stroke, an infant son's skull fractures in a car accident, the death of one daughter at age 7 and the drug addiction of two teenage daughters. Treglown, former editor of the Times Literary Supplement, convincingly separates the man from the myth in a scrupulously researched portrait. Photos. (Apr.)   (PUBLISHER: Farrar Straus Giroux (New York:), PUBLISHED: 1994.)

Stevenson Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books, March 1994 (Vol. 47, No. 7))  This extensively researched biography of  Dahl  paints him as magnetic and infuriating, a man who could charm and offend with equal insouciance. Treglown chronicles the writer's life from his youth in Cardiff through his wartime experiences, family life, professional success, and personal tragedies; a substantial amount of attention is paid not only to  Dahl 's writing but to his dealings with publishers and editors in a way that makes the personalities and mechanics of publication particularly vivid. This isn't for those who prefer their literary heroes unblemished, but it's a readable and enlightening portrait of an important figure. An index and photographs will be included in the bound book. n/a--Not rated. Reviewed from galleys (c) Copyright 1994, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1994, Farrar, 320p, $25.00. Ages adult professional. (PUBLISHER: Farrar Straus Giroux (New York:), PUBLISHED: 1994.)

 http://www.clcd.com/#/bookdetail/1/6/pKmPNnOnnPkNmMmN/bdrtop 

Activities   
Take this fun quiz to find out which giguantuous character you are!

http://www.puffin.co.uk/content/dam/prh/puffin/documents/gigantuous.pdf

Other Links
Roald Dahl's personal website: http://www.roalddahl.com/

Interview with Roald Dahl: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129825567