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My Uncle Oswald
318 pages
A wickedly funny, unapologetically bawdy romp through the bedrooms of early twentieth-century Europe's intellectual elite.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like sharing a bottle of expensive, slightly illicit wine with a charmingly wicked raconteur. It is a brisk, farcical romp that leans heavily into the bawdy and the absurd, stripping away the polite veneer of high society to reveal a playground of unabashed hedonism. The prose crackles with a mischievous energy, delivering crisp, theatrical sentences that make even the most scandalous schemes feel delightfully cheerful. There is no moral lesson to be found here, only a gleeful subversion of decency that maintains a high pitch of irreverent amusement. It will thoroughly delight readers who appreciate politically incorrect satire, audacious capers, and a healthy dose of scurrilous, unapologetic wit.
- Mood
- farcical
- zany
- cheerful
- cheeky
- Tone
- irreverent
- bawdy
- mischievous
- satirical
- scurrilous
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- unabashed hedonism · audacious schemes · the absurdity of fame · subversion of morality
- The writing
- Crisp, witty, and unapologetically theatrical, marked by a signature macabre charm and linguistic playfulness.
- The arc
- A gleeful, unapologetic romp that maintains a high pitch of mischievous amusement from start to finish.
- Who it's for
- Readers who enjoy bawdy, politically incorrect satire and the darker, adult side of mischievous imagination.
Content notes
- sexual content
- dubious consent
- bawdy humor
- satirical eugenics
About the book
Roald Dahl's first-ever novel presents the scurrilous memoirs of that delightful old reprobate from switch bitch, Oswald Hendryks Cornelius - connoisseur, bon vivant, collector of spiders, scorpions, odd walking sticks, lover of opera, expert on Chinese porcelain, and without doubt the greatest fornicator of all time. In this delightful picaresque story, it is revealed how Uncle Oswald first achieved great wealth - all thanks to the Sundance blister beetle, which when ground to powder has the most electrifying aphrodisiac qualities. It is 1919 - armed with the powder and aided by the beautiful amoral Yasmin how comely, Oswald begins an audacious commercial enterprise which involves seducing the most famous men in Europe - from crowded heads to Bernard Shaw and Marcel Proust.
Description from Open Library.
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