SKIN AND OTHER STORIES

Although this collection of previously published stories was compiled for teenagers graduating to adult fiction, Skin and Other Stories will also seduce grown-ups with its nefariously nimble wit. Dahl, who wrote both short stories and children's books (notably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), was a champion of ingenious pranks and revealing deceptions. In ''Lamb to the Slaughter'' -- famously adapted as an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1958 -- a jilted wife kills her husband, then cooks and serves police the murder weapon, a frozen leg of lamb. ''The Champion of the World,'' also filmed, follows two imaginative poachers who drug, steal, and hide pheasants in a baby carriage -- until the the birds wake up, take flight, then alight near the thieves like a feathery indictment. Skin and Other Stories is a posthumous treat from a devilishly funny author. A

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• Book Review Skin and Other Stories | Margot Mifflin