''Kiss Kiss'' is a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl, first published in 1960 by

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

. Most of the constituent stories had been previously published elsewhere.

It contains the following short stories: *" The Landlady" (first appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' magazine, November 28, 1959"All works by Roald Dahl."
''

''. Retrieved 1 October 2014.) *"

William and Mary William and Mary often refers to: * The joint reign of William III of England (II of Scotland) and Mary II of England (and Scotland) * William and Mary style, a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 named for the couple William and Mary may ...

" *"

The Way Up to Heaven "The Way Up to Heaven" is a macabre short story by Roald Dahl. It was originally published in ''The New Yorker'', as were some of the other short stories that would later be reprinted in the 1960 collection '' Kiss Kiss''. Plot summary Mr and Mr ...

" (first appeared in ''

'' magazine, February 27, 1954) *"

Parson's Pleasure Parson's Pleasure in the University Parks at Oxford, England, was a secluded area for male-only nude bathing on the River Cherwell. It was located next to the path on the way to Mesopotamia at the south-east corner of the Parks. The facility ...

" *" Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat" *"

Royal Jelly Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae and adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of nurse bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony, regardless of sex or caste.Graham, J. (ed.) (199 ...

" *" Georgy Porgy" *" Genesis and Catastrophe: A True Story" *"

Edward the Conqueror "Edward the Conqueror" is a short story written by Roald Dahl and first published in the 31 October 1953 issue of ''The New Yorker''. Plot summary A long-haired silver cat is nearly burnt in the bonfire Edward has set up for the autumn leaves, but ...

" (first appeared in ''

'' magazine, October 31, 1953) *"

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

" *" The Champion of the World" (first appeared in ''

'' magazine, January 31, 1959) These are some of Dahl's most macabre stories. Delicately, the naive punish the wicked, but also the other way around. Most of the stories are presented as typical narratives, albeit with imaginative characters. The horror of each story is built around implication, and many horrific endings, involving death or unpleasant situations, can only be inferred, since nothing is directly stated. "The Champion of the World" is a condensed version of the story that would become Dahl's 1975 children's book '' Danny the Champion of the World''.

Editions

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, New York, 1960, 309 pp. * McCleland, Toronto, 1960 * M. Joseph, London, 1960, 255 pp. * Hayakawa, Japan, 1961, Paperback, Japanese as ''Tales of Menace 1'' * Dell:F128, New York, 1961, 288 pp., paperback * Bonnier, Stockholm, 1961, Swedish as ''Puss puss'' * Penguin:1832, Harmondsworth, 1962, 233 pp., paperback, (1973 reprint) * Feltrinelli, Milano, 1964, 276 pp, Italian as ''Kiss Kiss: 11 storie macabre (con humour)'' * Rowohlt, Reinbek, German as ''Küsschen, Küsschen''

Audiobook

Unabridged recordings have been made of all 11 stories and released by Penguin Audiobooks. These are available individually as audio downloads, or together in a CD collection. The narrators are

Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Beacham (born 28 February 1947) is an English television, film, radio and theatre actress. Although she has a wide number of credits to her name, Beacham is best known for for playing Sable Colby in the ABC soap operas ''The Colbys' ...

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leadi ...

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', '' Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', '' The Tempest'', ''Kin ...

, Adrian Scarborough,

Stephen Mangan Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in ''Green Wing'', Dan Moody in ''I'm Alan Partridge'', Seán Lincoln in '' Episodes'', Bigwig in ''Watership Down'', Postm ...

and

Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in ...

Critical response

Lorna Bradbury, Deputy Literary Editor for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', listed the collection as one of "25 Classic Novels for Teenagers." Zoe Chace of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

told interviewer Cara Philbin her reactions during reading the collection as a child: "''Kiss Kiss'' is for grown-ups...It was actually the marriages that I remember feeling the worst about...Reading ''Kiss Kiss'' is one of the first times I can remember a real-life truth staring back at me from a book. I hadn't yet thought about the nasty tricks adults play on each other just to hurt each other. Particularly, married adults who aren't in love and who might know the other's weakness best. My imagination matured."

Contents

Editions

Audiobook

Critical response

See also

References

Further reading