Although all but the title story of this collection was published previously, Dahl's 1989 preface offers some telling notes about the impetus behind his stories. When read alone, the stories are quite satirical. The satire is tempered, however, by the tone of the preface, which actually adds ambiguity to the author's intentions. Because the author states an affinity and friendship with these laughable characters, particularly Claud, we are encouraged to laugh at them rather than despise them.

By using two basic narrative techniques Dahl provides a consistent thread of believability between his stories. Although a number of the stories were originally separately published in magazines, his preface Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stones of Roald Dahl ties them together. In the late 1940s Dahl spent time living in Buckinghamshire and became friendly with a number of its inhabitants, who enjoyed various types of gambling and petty theft...