8 Comments
Feb 24, 2023Liked by Helen Lewis

I just read your article, and within five minutes saw another article about Roald Dahl which quoted you.

"Writing for the Atlantic, journalist Helen Lewis said that Dahl’s work can “never be made nice,” stating that “his cold, unsettling spikiness is his defining quality as a writer” and that his popularity continues “despite being so thoroughly out of tune with the times.”"

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/91601-no-plans-for-dahl-text-changes-from-u-s-european-publishers.html

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Feb 24, 2023Liked by Helen Lewis

That really is one of the all time great paragraphs. A few clicks away, though, I found this (also on the telegraph) and think it also worthy of consideration:

"The Begum documentary was not the BBC’s most complained-about programme this month. Four times as many viewers complained about an episode of the home makeover show, Sort Your Life Out, in which presenter Stacey Solomon moved a family’s pet rabbits from an indoor run to an outdoor hutch".

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This just made me laugh so hard. Thank you!

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author

It’s only a matter of time.

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This article certainly blows out of the water anything I’ve read on this topic so far (everything else seems to be divided along very clear “great idea” / “terrible idea “ lines and boo hiss from there). So this is where nuance lives on the internet - good to know!

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author

Sssh, don’t tell anyone

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Clare Luce Booth and Roald Dahl?!? Where is the novelization of that?

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