When I think of Roald Dahl, I don't usually think "nasty and wicked" but these are the words used to describe the mind, and adult short stories, of the beloved children's author (in The Best of Roald Dahl). It was a pretty apt description. The short stories were deliciously dark, witty and just plain odd. My absolute favorite was entitled "Genesis and Catastrophe" and was written in 1959. It is the story of Hitler's birth (unknown to the reader in the beginning) that is chilling in its foreshadowing of tragedy and the unimaginable twists and turns of life.
How We Are Hungry was the only book of Dave Eggers' that I had yet to read. Despite what you might think from this post, I am not a big fan of short stories. Sometimes I get too involved and interested in what I am reading and it is over too quickly. I am always compelled by Dave Eggers' ability to tell a beautiful story. I was not entirely disappointed with the stories in this collection but sometimes longed for more. As always, I was impressed by the author's ability to create vivid characters and landscapes with simple and evocative language. I enjoyed seeing the resurrection of two lovely characters from my favorite Eggers book, You Shall Know Our Velocity! I also thought some of the shortest pieces (some only one and a half pagers) were the most charming. The titles of the stories were lovely too: "Climbing to the Window, Pretending to Dance", "Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone" and "About the Man Who Began Flying After Meeting Her" were some favorites.
My favorite passage was from "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly": "When Rita walked past them she tried to smile faintly, without looking too friendly, or rich, or sexy, or happy, or vulnerable, or guilty, or proud, or contented, or health, or interested - she did not want them to think she was any of those things. She walked by almost cross-eyed with casual concentration."
For readers wanting to get into Dave Eggers, I will still recommend You Shall Know Our Velocity! or What Is the What (tied for my favorites).
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