Evil Machines: When Monty Python Meets Roald Dahl

How do you feel about your phone? Or your car? You probably don't think about them much, except when they go wrong. But what if they go really wrong and turn properly bad—evil, even? Join Terry Jones on a hilariously disturbing journey into the dark heart of machines that go wrong: meet the lift that takes people to places they don't want to go, the vacuum cleaner that's just too powerful, the apparently nice bomb, the truthful phone, the terrifying train to anywhere, and Mrs. Morris, a little old lady from Glasgow who turns out to be a very resourceful heroine . . . Brisk and cheerful on the outside, but as edgy and uncomfortable as any of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected within, Terry Jones's collection of thirteen cautionary fables will make you look at the "helpful" inventions that surround you in a very different way. A brilliantly-written and gleefully mischievous book, suitable for Luddites of all ages or anyone who likes a bit of Pythonesque edge to their silliness.

Terry Jones is best known as a member of Monty Python, but he has also written four books on medieval England: Chaucer's Knight, Who Murdered Chaucer?, Crusades, and Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, which accompanied a major television series he presented in 2004. He is the author of several children's books including Fairy Tales and Fantastic Stories, The Knight and the Squire, and The Lady and the Squire. He has directed several feature films: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, Personal Services, Erik the Viking, and The Wind in the Willows. Terry presented the four-part television series Barbarians in 2006.