These stories appeared in such magazines as
The New Yorker,
Town and Country,
Playboy, and
Esquire. Even after he discovered his talent for writing children's books he was able to return at will to the short stories of cool horror that delighted adults. It must be said, however, that his children's books were sometimes more horrific or fantastic than the stories for their parents.
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Wales, on 13 September 1916 to Harald and Sofie (Hesselberg) Dahl, Norwegian immigrants. He was the middle child of five, and the only boy; he also had two half siblings from his father's first marriage. Despite growing up without a father, who died when the boy was four years old, Dahl believed that he had a normal, happy childhood, as is evident from his reminiscences in Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984), the first of his autobiographical books. He first attended St. Peter's School in Weston-super-Mare (1925 to 1929), then Repton in Derby (1929 to 1932). Except for his increasing excellence at sports, as he grew to within an inch or two of his eventual height of six feet six inches, he did not enjoy his time at either school and did not excel academically.
This is a free page. This page contains 178 words. This
biography contains 6,659 words (approx. 22 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our Roald Dahl Access Pass.
