This book is a collection of seven short stories, some of which are fiction and others chronicles of Roald Dahl's life. The stories included are: The Boy Who Talked with Animals, The Hitchhiker, The Mildenhall Treasure, The Swan, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Lucky Break, and A Piece of Cake.
Morality
This is not a book for kids, although he dedicates this book to young people everywhere.
In The Swan, two bullies make little kids cuss their parents out, and actually tie one to an active train track and shoot his leg. This also has pickpockets (in The Hitchhiker). Henry gambles, and, by his own admission, does so dishonestly.
Spiritual Content
God is not a part of this book.
Violence
The Swan has violent content, as mentioned above. Also, in two stories Mr. Dahl recounts how he had to fight in a cramped, burning plane against Nazis, and some of the injuries he sustained. As a kid, his teachers and older classmates would beat him and his friends with rods.
Drug and Alcohol Content
Dahl and his characters do drink occasionally. His teachers would regularly get drunk once a week.
Sexual Content
Dahl once imagines a woman he liked and seeing her pale shoulders and the curve of her neck while dancing.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
D**n, h*ll, and bloody.
Conclusion
All in all, except for the fact that it was long, this collection of short stories was pretty enjoyable, especially how Dahl describes his stumbling into the world of writing. Some of the short stories, such as The Hitchhiker, are much more amusing than others.
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