Aaron Tracy

I found it at this auction house.

So incredible.

I know he's your favorite.

How cool is that?

And I don't quite know what to say because this is not a photograph of Billy Wilder.

So I just sort of say, oh my God, I've never quite seen him look like this before.

I didn't know he had a dog like that.

But then I had to, so I said, but I'm not sure it's actually not, this isn't Billy Wilder.

And my wife got so embarrassed.

Really not a great scene.

She bought it from this auction house that labeled it as Helmut Newton photographing Billy Wilder.

Later that afternoon, she texts me from her office after doing some research.

And not only is it not Billy Wilder, it is a photograph of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's far-right party, who many consider to be a fascist.

So we now have a giant, beautiful, black and white Helmut Newton photograph of an anti-Semite in our home.

Happy birthday?

I tell this story, of course, because Roald Dahl is, and always has been, part of the fabric of my life.

He helped shape my worldview just like Billy Wilder did.

But it's hard to escape the feeling now that there's been a bit of a mislabeling.

It's hard to see Dahl as the sweet, creative hero I want him to be, and instead, I now sort of see him as this darker figure.

Can I square Dahl's much-loved, broken-spine books scattered throughout our house with the mezuzah on our front door?