Switch Bitch

Last updated

Switch Bitch
SwitchBitch.jpg
First US edition
AuthorRoald Dahl
Cover artistCharles Shields (US)
Genresuspense, thriller
Publisher Michael Joseph (UK)
Alfred A. Knopf (US)
Publication date
1974
Media typeprint
Pages140
ISBN 0-14-004179-6
OCLC 4800308

Switch Bitch (1974) is a book of adult short stories by British writer Roald Dahl. Four stories, originally published in Playboy between 1965 and 1974, [1] are collected. They are linked by themes of rape by deception: in each one some major act of cunning, cruelty, or hedonism underpins the sexuality.

Contents

The book is notable for its introduction of the Uncle Oswald character, a wealthy hobbyist and gadabout who stars in both the first and last stories. (Although the first story seemingly presages his imminent decline and death.) He later appeared in Dahl's comic novel for adults, My Uncle Oswald . Oswald is a male fantasy figure described as "the greatest fornicator of all time", his adventures recounted by a nephew who inherits his diaries and decides to edit them for publication. Despite the stories in Switch Bitch being dark and cynical in tone, the Oswald tales are also humorous and satirical, resembling crude comic anecdotes.

Contents and introductions

"The Visitor"

Wealthy gadabout Oswald Hendryks Cornelius is stranded in Cairo when a Syrian businessman picks him up by the side of the road and offers him a room for the night in his desert mansion. While there Oswald meets the man's wife and daughter, both of whom are extremely beautiful. A midnight liaison occurs and Oswald wonders whom it was he spent the night with, when the businessman reveals to him new information that could be fatal.

"The Great Switcheroo"

Two middle-class suburban men at a neighbourhood party devise a ruse whereby each can sleep with the other's wife, without either wife realising the deception. They compare sexual techniques beforehand, and one receives a rude awakening the morning after.

"The Last Act"

After being widowed a woman reconnects with the man she left for her late husband years ago. The man is a gynaecologist, recently separated, and unbeknownst to the woman still harbours a grudge for her breaking off their relationship. He begins to seduce her, and a terrible revenge ensues.

"Bitch"

Oswald Cornelius becomes entangled with a Belgian olfactory expert who claims to have discovered an eighth smell-related nerve that, when stimulated, unlocks certain aspects of human sexual experience. The expert develops a perfume to stimulate the nerve, causing chaos when it is exposed during a high society dinner for an American women's movement that Oswald is attending.

Reception

The stories have been criticised for their cruel and misogynistic elements. The central conceit of "The Last Act", in particular, has been described by Jeremy Treglown, Dahl's biographer, as having "no purpose as a mechanism other than to lead to a crudely sensationalist conclusion", [2] and by British novelist Zoe Heller as describing "in obscene detail the rape of a menopausal woman by a gynecologist." [3] In the same article for The New Republic she commented generally on Dahl's later adult stories: "the sexual sadism is at its crudest and the 'wit' at its most vestigial... [they] are almost unbearable to read."

Despite this negative reception, the stories have also been praised. Alfred Hitchcock, for whose television programme Dahl's story "Man from the South" was adapted, was fond of "The Visitor" and in later life recounted its plot on American talk shows as a dark joke. [4] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roald Dahl</span> British writer and poet (1916–1990)

Roald Dahl was a British popular author of children's literature and short stories, a poet, and wartime fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. Dahl has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".

<i>Matilda</i> (novel) 1988 childrens book by Roald Dahl

Matilda is a children's novel written by British writer Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It was published in 1988 by Jonathan Cape. The story features Matilda Wormwood, a precocious child with an uncaring mother and father, and her time in school run by the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull.

<i>Boy</i> (book) 1984 autobiography by Roald Dahl

Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984) is an autobiography written by British writer Roald Dahl. This book describes his life from early childhood until leaving school, focusing on living conditions in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, the public school system at the time, and how his childhood experiences led him to writing children's books as a career. It concludes with his first job, working for Royal Dutch Shell. His life story continues in the book Going Solo.

<i>Kiss Kiss</i> (book)

Kiss Kiss is a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl, first published in 1960 by Alfred A. Knopf. Most of the constituent stories had been previously published elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roald Dahl short stories bibliography</span>

Roald Dahl short stories bibliography is a comprehensive annotated list of short stories written by Roald Dahl.

<i>My Uncle Oswald</i> 1979 adult novel by Roald Dahl

My Uncle Oswald is a 1979 novel in the sex comedy genre written by Roald Dahl.

"The Visitor" is a 1965 short story by British writer Roald Dahl, centered on the fictional Uncle Oswald and the lurid adventures he describes in his elaborate diaries. In this story, set in 1946, Oswald has amorous designs on his Syrian host's wife and teenage daughter, with unfortunate and unexpected consequences.

"Bitch" is a short story written by Roald Dahl, and it is the second appearance of Dahl's character Uncle Oswald.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" is a 1953 short story by Roald Dahl. It was initially rejected, along with four other stories, by The New Yorker, but was published in Harper's Magazine in September 1953. It was adapted for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (AHP) that starred Barbara Bel Geddes and Harold J. Stone. Originally broadcast on April 13, 1958, this was one of only 17 AHP episodes directed by Hitchcock. The episode was ranked #59 of the Top 100 Episodes by TV Guide in 2009. The story was adapted for Dahl's British TV series Tales of the Unexpected. Dahl included it in his short story compilation Someone Like You. The narrative element of the housewife killing her husband and letting the policemen partake in eating the evidence was used by Pedro Almodóvar in his 1984 movie What Have I Done to Deserve This?, with a leg of mutton.

"The Great Switcheroo" is a short story by Roald Dahl.

<i>Roald Dahl: Collected Stories</i>

Roald Dahl: Collected Stories is a hardcover edition of short-stories by Roald Dahl for adults. It was published in the US in October 2006 by Random House as part of the Everyman Library. The present volume includes for the first time all the stories in chronological order as established by Dahl's biographer, Jeremy Treglown, in consultation with the Dahl estate. A few of the short stories were not published chronologically in book form, but appeared later, collected in More Tales of the Unexpected (1980). The collection contains all of the short stories published in the following collections:

<i>Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen</i> 1948 novel by Roald Dahl

Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen is a 1948 book by Roald Dahl, his first adult novel. Dahl began writing it after editor Maxwell Perkins expressed an interest in publishing a novel length book if Dahl were to write it. The book was met with predominantly poor reception and was considered to be a failure, although it is historically noteworthy as one of the first novels about nuclear war to be published after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The story is a darker take on the same premise as Dahl's first children's novel, The Gremlins.

"Man from the South" is a short story by Roald Dahl originally published as "Collector's Item" in Collier's in September 1948. It has been adapted several times for television and film, including a 1960 version that aired as an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and starred Steve McQueen, Neile Adams, and Peter Lorre.

The bed trick is a plot device in traditional literature and folklore; it involves a substitution of one partner in the sex act with a third person. In the standard and most common form of the bed trick, a man goes to a sexual assignation with a certain woman, and without his knowledge that woman's place is taken by a substitute.

"The Last Act" is a 1966 short story by Roald Dahl, described by its author as an attempt to write about "murder by fucking." It was first published in the January 1966 issue of Playboy, having been rejected by The New Yorker because of its disturbing content. It was later included in the collection Switch Bitch, published in 1974 by Michael Joseph Ltd.

<i>The Roald Dahl Omnibus</i>

The Roald Dahl Omnibus is a 1986 short story collection by Roald Dahl.

<i>The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl</i>

The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl is a 1991 short story collection for adults by Roald Dahl. The collection containing tales of macabre malevolence comprises many of Dahl's stories seen in the television series Tales of the Unexpected and previously collected in Someone Like You (1953), Kiss, Kiss (1960), Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl (1969), Switch Bitch (1974), and Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl (1989).

"The Bookseller" is a short story by British writer Roald Dahl. It was first published in the January 1987 issue of Playboy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roald Dahl bibliography</span> List of works written by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl (1916–1990) was a British author and scriptwriter, and "the most popular writer of children's books since Enid Blyton", according to Philip Howard, the literary editor of The Times. He was raised by his Norwegian mother, who took him on annual trips to Norway, where she told him the stories of trolls and witches present in the dark Scandinavian fables. Dahl was influenced by the stories, and returned to many of the themes in his children's books. His mother also nurtured a passion in the young Dahl for reading and literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagonda V12</span> Motor vehicle

The Lagonda V12 is a large car produced by the British Lagonda company from 1938 until 1940. It was first shown at the 1936 London Motor Show but production did not commence until 1938.

References

  1. Roald Dahl (1976). Switch Bitch. These stories were originally published by Playboy magazine. Published in Great Britain in book form by Michael Joseph 1974. Published in Penguin Books 1976.
  2. Treglown, Jeremy (9 September 2006). "The height of fancy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  3. Heller, Zoë (20 October 2010). "The Miserabilist". The New Republic.
  4. The Tomorrow Show (hosted by Tom Snyder). Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2022 via YouTube.
  5. Skerry, Philip J. (29 August 2013). Dark Energy: Hitchcock's Absolute Camera and the Physics of Cinematic Spacetime. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781623568696.