Book Review: "The Story-Teller" by SAKI

I know what you're thinking: 'Saki? Is that like sake? C'mon, Casey, how does rice wine write a book?' Well, all I can say to that is (a) That sounds like a bad popsicle joke, and (b) don't be ridiculous. It doesn't.
Hector Hugh Munro, however, (best known by his pen name 'Saki') can most certainly write a book, and he does it well to boot. No joke.

"The Story-Teller" is a collection of thirteen short stories, all but one of which use children as the central characters. Yes, children. Turned-off? Not keen on the bubble-gum, Disney-pop-morality and charm that typically accompany youths in literature? Don't be fooled. Burmese-born Saki uses juveniles to fuel daringly dark comedy vignettes that range from the self-proclaimed 'improper story' in the book's title tale "The Story-Tellers"  to the downright sinister "Sredni Vashtar."

Saki, a.k.a. Hector Hugh Munro

                                              

For a small taste of Saki's style check out one of the included stories, "The Toys of Peace," on iTunes under the Weekly Short Stories from Librivox podcast (keyword Librivox). You can also check out other stories in the public domain at the Librivox website at http://librivox.org/