Every day brings a new story. And each day contributes to story telling -- in prose and in poetry, in art and in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books.
Today is the story of September 13th
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It is the 256th day of the year, leaving 109 days remaining in 2022.
He told his stories with a subversive wit, fantastical plots, and musical prose. Many of his children's books broke the traditional mode and were darkly comic, pitting mean-spirited adults against children, who ranged from greedy to stupid, but the protagonist was always noble.
And the child usually won out in the end.
Adaptations of his work followed a pattern: Irrelevant and inventive producers and directors would put their own spin on Dahl's work, resulting in creative and unique films and musicals.
In addition to his well-known children's books, Dahl also wrote macabre fantasy stories for adults. He won three Edgar Awards for his mysteries. He was a screenwriter (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and You Only Live Twice, among others) and a television writer. Before there was a Twilight Zone, Dahl wrote for and hosted a science fiction/horror TV anthology series, Way Out.
His first book was The Gremlins, tales he heard during his days as a fighter pilot, when gremlins were blamed for whatever went wrong on the planes. A later book, Kiss, Kiss, explored stormy romantic relationships.
But it is his children's books that made his career. His first was James and The Giant Peach, about an English lad who has adventures inside a magical peach with several magical garden bugs. He followed that with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, about a boy who wins a golden ticket to tour a chocolate factory run by the eccentric and bizarre Willy Wonka. Both were adapted for movies; the latter twice.
His other children's books include Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG, about a giant who does not eat children.
Dahl died in 1990.
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