Dahl Study: Galloping Foxley

My author study of Roald Dahl started with a reading of his Collected Stories while watching the accompanying episode of Tales of the Unexpected. Each Friday I'll recap a story and show (with spoilers, just so you know), but I encourage you to read and watch them on your own if you're interested!

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"Galloping Foxley" from Collected Stories (read 1/10/19)

Mr. Perkins is an old man who loves his daily routine and commute is shaken when a stranger starts taking the same train as him. Something about the stranger seems familiar - his looks, the way he talks... It makes Mr. Perkins feel slightly afraid. Then he realizes this man was his school bully! He remembers all of the awful things this bully did to him, and is determined to politely embarrass the bully. He introduces himself, and the bully introduces himself back - it's not the bully.

"Galloping Foxley" from Tales of the Unexpected (viewed 1/10/19)

The film was pretty similar to the story, with some changes to make it more visually appealing. At the end, Perkins told everyone the awful things that happened at school before asking the man to introduce himself, and it turned out the man wasn't the bully. I liked this more than in the story where Perkins only introduced himself. Though I'm still half convinced, in the film version, that the man WAS the bully, and was just lying because that's the type of person he is. Who would listen to those awful things being said about them and then admit they are that person??

Dahl Study: Skin

My author study of Roald Dahl started with a reading of his Collected Stories while watching the accompanying episode of Tales of the Unexpected. Each Friday I'll recap a story and show (with spoilers, just so you know), but I encourage you to read and watch them on your own if you're interested!

- - -

"Skin" from Collected Stories (read 1/9/19)

A man meets a young artist and commissions the artist to paint his wife's portrait. One night the three get drunk together, and the husband has the artist tattoo a large portrait of the wife on his back. Years later, the man has lost touch with the artist, but sees his name in a gallery window. The man is old and poor and dirty and almost gets thrown out of the gallery because of how he looks, before he takes off his shirt and shows everyone his tattoo. They recognize it as the artist's work, and a bidding war starts - they want his skin! Finally, he chooses a man who wants live art at his resort - the resort owner wants the man to live at his resort and be pampered, as long as he walks around with his shirt off so all the guests can see the artwork. Later the skin is shown framed and hung.

"Skin" from Tales of the Unexpected (viewed 1/9/19)

The film followed the story well, except it seems like the artist and the wife he painted had an affair. In the story, the artist lusted after the wife, but I don't think she reciprocated.

Library Volunteers - available today!

My book, Library Volunteers: A Practical Guide for Librarians, is being released in the wild today! You can order it from the publisher, Rowman & Littlefield, or on Amazon.

The book is a handbook about how to create and maintain a volunteer program. While the specifics, such as job duties, focus on library volunteers, this handbook can truly work for any organization that can benefit from volunteers. And let me tell you, from my experience, almost any organization can benefit from volunteers! You can read more about my writing and researching process here.

I pulled from my background of creating the volunteer program for a nonprofit to lay the groundwork, so that information applies to any organization. Sample paperwork is even include, which can be copied directly from the book, or tweaked a bit for specific organizations.

I genuinely think this book can benefit many organizations. It's not a book that I would ask friends and family to buy to show their support, but please consider recommending it to your local library or any nonprofits you know that use or could use volunteers! That's the best way to help this book make a difference.