A Tangled Web

Oxford Bookworms Collection

by Christine Lindop (Editor), Alison Sykes-McNulty (Editor), Jennifer Bassett (Series Adviser)

Deception is usually frowned on as morally unacceptable, but is it always wrong? Can hiding or distorting the truth sometimes have good effects, adding to the sum of human happiness? These ten stories are full of secrets and lies, from a light-hearted bit of fun to dark and desperate deceit; but whether harmless or evil, deception can sometimes lead to quite unexpected complications.

This collection contains stories by Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Maeve Binchy, V.S. Naipaul, Somerset Maugham, Frederick Forsyth, Clare Boylan, Paul Theroux, Oscar Wilde, and Joanna Trollope.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2005

About the author

Christine Lindop was born in New Zealand where she began her teaching career. She later taught EFL in France and Spain before settling in Great Britain, and has worked as an editor, proofreader, and writer since 1993.

With Oxford University Press, Christine has worked extensively on the Oxford Bookworms Library and is the Series Editor for Oxford Bookworms Factfiles. Her original titles include Sally's Phone and Red Roses (Starters), Ned Kelly: A True Story (Stage 1), and Australia and New Zealand (Stage 3). She has also adapted Goldfish (Stage 3) and two volumes of World Stories, The Long White Cloud: Stories from New Zealand (Stage 3) and Doors to a Wider Place: Stories from Australia (Stage 4), and edited A Tangled Web for the Oxford Bookworms Collection.

She has worked on many other Oxford readers series as both an editor and a writer.

Reviews

[Spencer Fancutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little selection of deception-themed short stories by a diverse field of authors including Oscar Wilde, Ray Bradbury, Dahl, Naipaul, and Binchy.

[Roxie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great selection, great concept. I definitely want to check out more of this series.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great little collection of stories! I love that they have notes and questions built in as well. Trying to see where I could add this book into a course on the short story. I'll definitely be checking out the other titles in the series and picking up more titles from the authors in this collection that really captured my attention.

My favorite pieces: Taste by Dahl & The Model Millionaire by Wilde

[Hashem Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best is Marionettes, Inc. others are plain.

[S.J. Townend · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, easy read of shorts all with the theme of deception.

[Iara Gonzalez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Best story is Marionettes, the others I suffered them. The interesting part of the book are the written and oral activities to do with the stories. It's a good book for teachers, but I'm interested in trying the other books from this collection instead, as they collect stories on other topics. The main topic of this one is deception.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les mentides mai acaben bé i aquí tenim deu històries d'autors molt coneguts que ho exemplifiquen a la perfecció.

[Claire Villard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lu en anglais

[Friscomama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each of the stories involves deception, in varying contexts. The authors are Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Maeve Binchy, V.S. Naipaul, Somerset Maugham, Frederick Forsyth, Clare Boylan, Paul Theroux, Oscar Wilde, and Joanna Trollope.

This is actually a textbook for advanced learners of English as a foreign language, with stories chosen for pleasure in reading. Each story has some suggestions for discussion.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-selected collection. Marionettes, Inc and Taste were particularly fascinating.

[Florencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed”

[Elbio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gran selección de cuentos cortos.

[Jennifer]

A nice read, a short bio on each writer which is interesting. Mr. Know-All was my favorite story. :)