37 Books Like A Twist in the Tale

The great children's author of Matilda and Willie Wonka fame offers a glimpse into his deeply peculiar psyche and whimsical mixture of the comical and the grotesque. In this collection of wonderful stories, Roald Dahl has included colorful characters and bizarre situations only he could think up. 

My favorite is Lamb for the Slaughter, where the answers to a cop’s death lie right under his colleagues' noses. This book is a perfect segue to Switch Bitch, a book as risque as they get, showcasing the range of the author’s literary oeuvre. 

Reading this book, one is left marveling at the vast canvas inside the author’s mind and his amazing command of the English language, which has not received adequate justice from any Wes Anderson movie.

Ruskin Bond is known more for his simple stories about everyday people in the Himalayan foothills (like a North Indian R.K. Narayan). He does throw in the odd story, which seems like a folktale with a surprising ending like A Face in the Night and The Eyes Have It. This livens up the collection more, as you don’t know when you will get one of the unexpected plot twists.

His books ooze with his love for his adopted country, and he writes with such tenderness about young characters that they are wholesome and fulfilling to read.

What I love most about him is that he is one of the most approachable and friendly authors. He spends hours sitting in his hometown’s main bookshop talking with readers and autographing their purchases. 

William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name, O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories. He also wrote poetry and nonfiction. He is most famous for his short story "The Gift of the Magi", from which many modern romantic novels and books have been derived.

I, however, like The Last Leaf more for its poignant climax and the delicate depiction of empathy. His other stories in the collection are sepia-tinted portrayals of a different world in a more genteel times with a cast from all stratas of American society. All the other stories are equally entertaining and engrossing.

Least known among the five, John M. W. Smith has made the short story with a twist in his niche, with an assortment of wacky stories and scary stories with surprising endings. What I liked most about the book is its simple writing and uncomplicated plots. However, despite the storylines being linear, the endings were unpredictable.

Interestingly, since the reader knows that the author is leading one towards a plot twist, the anticipation builds in a crescendo towards the climax—and on coming across the unexpected ending, the reader is left with awe at the dexterity of the handling. Of the lot, I found A Social Handicap and Every Dog Has Its Day the most endearing and satisfying.

Charles Beaumont was close friends with Richard Matheson, and they worked together on such projects as the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe films and Rod Serling’s original Twilight Zone. Beaumont’s stories are as rich and varied as Matheson’s, with delightfully witty language and fantastic plot twists. If you love classic Matheson short stories like “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” and “Death Ship,” you’re bound to love Beaumont.

Despite some people’s fears, watching a lot of TV as a kid was a gateway to reading for me, not a deterrent. Seeing reruns of old horror anthology series and TV movies made me curious about who had written the stories on which the shows were based.

I discovered Richard Matheson, whose works were among the most adapted by The Twilight Zone and others. This collection features some of his classic imaginative tales that also became classic TV, including “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” (pre-Star Trek William Shatner saw a demon on an airplane wing on The Twilight Zone), “Duel” (Dennis Weaver was menaced by a killer truck in Steven Spielberg’s famous 1976 TV movie) and “Prey” (Karen Black fought a demon doll in one of the Trilogy of Terror).

This book is very close to my heart as it is written by a fellow Tai Chi practitioner who has used his insights gained from personal experience of this ancient art to help golfers develop a natural and flowing swing. The wisdom in this book also draws upon many other so-called alternative practices such as Pilates, the Alexander Technique, the Feldenkrais Method, Eastern philosophy, and Yoga to help demystify and simplify all the technical jargon that hinders a player’s ability to swing the club smoothly. It is the antidote to ‘checklist golf’ which has become the norm for so many players who have seen their game deteriorate as a result. 

This is a breakthrough book that allows golfers the opportunity to step away from all the mental and technical thinking and into something simpler that can help release a golfer’s inner talents and abilities. The now-famous ‘club-throwing exercise’ is Shoemaker’s answer to Tim Gallwey’s ‘bounce-hit’ exercise in tennis which helps take the emphasis off trying to get technique right and instead allows the body to move in a way that is natural and therefore repeatable, even under pressure. So many of my students have benefited from the drills and exercises and the whole mindset of this book which details the possibilities inherent every time you set up to the ball. 

I have a recurring dream about living in St. Andrews. Sean Zak did so for a summer, and it was glorious.

To get to spend time at the Home of Golf is special, something I’ve done on several occasions. But always as part of work and never for an extended period of time. Zak lived there for months and brings to life all the things about the ancient town that are special beyond the golf.

I especially enjoyed the backstories, the people of the town, the explanation of links golf, all of it. He shows a nice curiosity, an American seeking answers in a foreign country that I felt particularly enlightening.

There is an old adage in sports writing: the smaller the ball the better the writing. 

According to that adage, golf, with its small ball, should inspire the very best writing. I am a golfer and I have read a lot of golf books. The adage is certainly true for The Match.

The setup is that a wealthy auto dealer attending the Bing Crosby Pro-Am golf tournament in 1956 declares he has two amateur golfers working for him – Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward - who can beat any other two golfers in a match.

Another well-heeled golf fan takes the bet and shows up the next day with a team of two professionals: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson.

Pretty good setup. The 18-hole match played on the legendary Cypress Point golf course on the Monterey Peninsula is even better.