Boy. Tales of Childhood

London: Jonathan Cape, (1984).. First edition, 8vo, 160 pp. Inscribed from Dahl on the half title to his childhood friend Douglas Highton, and with two autograph letters also inserted. Cloth, d.w., a fine copy. The first letter, on a headed postcard, was sent with the book - "This little book is published next week. You will find yourself in it..." Dahl starts, referring to a story featured on pp. 108-111 where as a schoolboy Dahl had been unfairly punished and Highton had written to his father to complain about it. It didn't help, but Dahl concludes the printed account "it was... a touching and generous gesture from one small boy to another and I have never forgotten it." He goes on (in the postcard) to admit that some parts of the book "are slightly coloured by my natural love of fantasy." The second letter, again on headed stationery, must date from a few months later, with Dahl mentioning that he has had letters complaining about the portrayal of their school from other ex-pupils. Obviously part of a much longer correspondence, he begins the letter with some trenchant views on John Le Carré. "...he is grossly overrated. Obscurity is never a virtue in a writer. It is a refuge for the novelist who is either too idle or too incompetent to make the story flow. Clarity is the virtue. I personally don't believe he can manage it..." An excellent association copy.