Today is Roald Dahl‘s birthday. The Norwegian/English writer would have been 97 years old today if he had lived, and while his best legacy is his collection of wonderful—truly wonderful—books for children, he’s gained notoriety since his death for the more, um, adult aspects of his action-packed life. Nevertheless, I bet there isn’t a single person reading this who hasn’t read, or had read to them, at least one of Dahl’s books.
Today seems some sort of unofficial, internet-wide Roald Dahl Day, so let’s take this opportunity to argue about which of his many great books is his best. I won’t tell you my personal favorite just yet (it’s not Matilda), but there’s lots of room for discussion in the comments. To the poll! I’ve left off some of his lesser works—The Magic Finger, The Twits—but hopefully your favorite should be on there.
The Twits is considered “lesser”? What the fuck.
The correct answer is Matilda.
Or that short story about sexually transmitted leprosy.
MATILDA
What was the book about the lady who sexed kings so she could sell their sperm? That was a good one, too.
I always loved, loved, loved The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
I was working in the kids section at Powell’s when he died. I remember that day because about 4 different young boys came in and stood in front of his books just staring at them. These kids did not know each other. That was pretty incredible.
Yeah, what about The Twits you boorish twits?
As a kid, my favourite of his books was ‘Danny The Champion of the World’. I really want to re-read it now.