Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Even though Roald Dahl’s masterpieces of storytelling were a constant feature of my childhood, this book (his first autobiography), along with its follow-up, Going Solo, has somehow passed me by until nearly two decades later.

Dahl’s hilarious, terrifying and sometimes melancholy recollections of growing up during the 1920s and ’30s depict a world that has now largely disappeared, though his anecdotes have lost none of their ability to delight, shock and amaze. His mastery of language makes his world your world, as the stories move – at a breakneck pace – between different snapshots of Dahl’s childhood. They’re often so unbelievable the book could easily be mistaken for fiction!

Tales of childhood pranks and general misbehaviour abound, often ending with the retribution of some truly horrible teachers. There are also wonderfully poetic descriptions of his family holidays to Norway, where in Dahl’s mind time gently slowed to a halt. Fans of Dahl’s gruesome side will be thrilled with his descriptions of almost losing his nose in a car crash, before having it reattached by the doctor, and being operated on without anaesthetic to remove adenoids. Definitely a book for all ages, no matter when you should have read it.


Chris Rainier