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Tracking Down the Vicar: My Pre-Internet Search for Every Roald Dahl Book
Roald Dahl is the reason I’m a school librarian. As a kid, his books influenced my becoming a reader more than anything else. Between Jughead Double Digests, Far Side anthologies, and Groo comics, they were the only “real” books I read for a decent stretch of my life. After taking in a few of Dahl’s classics – The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I was on a mission to read them all. My visits to the bookstore and library became visits to the D section. I would head straight for the Dahl titles in hopes of finding anything I hadn’t read.
But being an amateur completist in the days before the internet was pretty difficult. I wanted to read every book, but the thought of asking an adult for help in my search seemed out of the question. I had to hunt them down myself.
Before Wikipedia there was this:
The front of the book. These lists of the author’s other titles were my lifelines. Each time I would find a new Dahl title, I’d flip to this page, run down the list and do a mental check.
The next few books were no sweat – Matilda, The Witches, Boy – but it wasn’t long before things got more difficult. Dirty Beasts was tough to find. As was The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me. But I was still making progress.
The list got shorter and shorter until there was only one left: The Vicar of Nibbleswicke.
Published in 1991, shortly after Dahl’s passing, the book was written to benefit the Dyslexia Institute of London and is one of the author’s lesser-known works.
And I couldn’t find it. Anywhere. Each unsuccessful attempt added to the disappointment. I felt the nagging discomfort of a mission stalled.
It’s a cliché to say I’d given up hope, but in the interest of being honest, that was the situation. Some time later I was visiting family in Kalamazoo, Michigan and my parents dropped me off at the bookstore off Westnedge Avenue in Portage. I made my typical first stop to the D section. And…check. Double-check. Well, there it was. The Vicar. Royal blue and much slimmer than expected.
I didn’t have a cent on me. But I did have time. I sat down right there and read it from cover to cover. Sorry keepers of Roald Dahl’s estate – I had to. I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole time. Some of the best celebrations happen in silence and all alone.
Later that year I found out from a clerk at my public library that Dahl had passed away. It’s a clear memory, the moment I received that news. The mission was over. After all that time and effort, I realized I never actually wanted to complete the list.
Now that I’m a school librarian, I hope I can move kids to track down every book from authors they love. But they’ll be able to Google it. Lucky dogs.
Travis Jonker
@100scopenotes
Love this post Travis! I’m a fellow Roald Dahl fan and remember when I discover the Vicar as a college student. I was babysitting for a professor of mine and it was the current favorite read aloud of his two young sons.
A couple of weeks ago, the student teacher in my daughter’s 2nd grade classroom asked me for suggestions for the high readers, I sent her The BFG. They started it about 2 weeks ago and are all loving it according to my daughter. Yesterday when we were visiting the East Lansing library, she came over to me and said, “Mom can you spell the author’s name of BFG for me so I can look up some of his other books?” I grinned and wrote it down for her. Note: I have them all at home on our shelves, including the Vicar, she wanted to find them at her library.
I have long kept a journal of books read & on some of those pages, I have taken that page of ‘books written’ by the author out of a book & taped it in so I could keep track of what I’d read & what to keep searching for. It was a pleasure to keep finding books on the lists. Sorry to say that Dahl wasn’t one of them, but I recently discovered The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me which made me begin reading his lesser known books again so I could recommend them. Now I’ll have to see if the Vicar is available. Thanks for showing again how much Roald Dahl still means to us.
Travis, I was a Penguin rep in the ’80’s & ’90’s and sold a good many of those in the list. Now I’m going to obsess over whether I still have a copy of The Vicar of Nibbleswicke. Thanks! :->
I have to share this story. In 1997 as a brand new librarian in a middle school, I was working the stacks–what better way to know your collection back then?? I am a big Dahl fan too, so of course when I came across this title, I had to read it. I had read everything else! I laughed until I cried and brought it home to share with the family. I shared it with a few teachers too, and had one who became so angry over the context and implications of the book, she took it and refused to return it. Short of reporting her to my administrators, I just continued to beg her to return it, to which she refused. At the end of school I did finally make my administrator aware. That teacher left our school, never returning that book. Sigh. But I can certainly appreciate the book, the author’s style of writing, and the fun he must have had writing it. I really think if this teacher had read more of his titles, she may have come to appreciate it rather than be appalled by it. In those days I was so afraid to rock the boat or bring awareness to questionable books. I was fresh off a book challenge in my first doggone year, and so kept this one mum to my admin at the time. In reflection, how naive and cowardice of me!! SHAME.
Thank you for sharing this great story! And I love love love Roald Dahl. I came late to the Roald Dahl fan club, but I’m thoroughly in it now. As a child, I only read three of his books, but now I have just four to go…
Even in the era of Google, that list of yours is the best one I’ve seen of Roald Dahl’s kids works. Nice and simple. Clean.
(Now, I know that I still need to read /Going Solo/, /Rhyme Stew/, /Revolting Rhymes/ & /Dirty Beasts/. I’m still excited that my sister had /George’s Marvelous Medicine/ on her shelf when I helped her pack the other – I had needed to read that one, too.)
PS: Have you read any of his adult stuff? Thrilling, chilling short stories!
The timing of your post is fabulous – a copy of the Vicar just got added to my hold queue at the library yesterday (and I can’t pick it up today, sadly, as my chosen branch is closed Sundays). This is my last Dahl book, too, I believe, though it’s been a long time since I reviewed the list to make sure. And yes, it is MUCH easier now to know. Much. But I think that’s good for the obsessed among us.
I had a lot of fun writing this one. Thanks again for the opportunity.
Abi – I’ve read quite a bit of Dahl’s adult works and I agree with you – those are great as well!
I’ve never read that particular book, but I credit Dahl for turning me into a writer. After I read James and The Giant Peach I was inspired to write my first novel. I called it Thomas and The Tunnelworms. A complete rip-off of course, but I’ve never stopped writing since.
Thanks for the great post.
Since we’re sharing Roald Dahl stories, I’ll add this one:
Just last Thursday my Guys Read club met to eat oatmeal and sleeping-powder-filled-raisin cookies and discuss our February book, Danny, the Champion of the World. A member of the club relayed this story to us. When he was young (read: three years ago in second grade), he was at Value Village and happened upon a copy of Danny. He bought it for a whopping 75 cents. It was one of the first novels he had ever bought.
So yeah. Good story, right?
Wait for it.
Wait.
It was a first American edition. 75 cents. 75 cents!
OMG, Adam’s story!
This is a delicious and delightful post. Thank you.
I had a similar mission. About ten years ago I decided to give myself the gift of reading everything ever written by Hervey Allen, my favorite author. (Surprise me and tell me you’ve heard of him!) What an adventure! I had no idea that in addition to his novels, he was also a poet or that he’d written an extensive biography of Poe! We lived in Alaska at the time and I had to get just about everything through inter-library loan – which for Alaskans covers the entire country, including university libraries. I had stuff coming in from all directions. The problem was – I didn’t want to let them go back to their homes! I ended up with massive library fines and had to wait for my permanent fund dividend before I could go back to the library, where I was sure my photo was posted as the Most Wanted library patron.
I really checked in to tell you I was in your Blogging session at the Spring Institute and was inspired to start my own blog – nativeamericanbooks. Just one post so far. Thank you for all the great information you shared.