a reader aloud, straight-faced humour and unsurpassed

Hi,

'As a reader aloud of his own work, Andersen was unsurpassed, and this tale ( the ugly duckling) is always a favourite'

Is the use of ' as a reader aloud' here ok? Yes.

Moreover, by using the phrase :'Andersen's straight-faced humour', the writer means: his funny details are  intelligent and reserved or means the readers who read his story would find it funny but wouldn't laugh or smile? If you tell jokes with a straight face, it means you say funny things in a serious way, so that the reader has to think about what you are saying in order to see the humour. Some readers may even fail to notice the humour, sometimes. Andersen writes, rather than speaks, in this way. 

Can I say : My friend is a genius at telling straight-faced humour? Definitely.

Best wishes, Clive

Hi,

Can you please explain to me more thoroughly the meaning of the sentence ( i can't get the idea here)

'As a reader aloud of his own work, Andersen was unsurpassed, and this tale ( the ugly duckling) is always a favourite'

Andersen sometimes read his own work aloud, to other people. No other author did this kind of thing  better than Andersen. The story, 'The Ugly Duckling', was a favourite with the audiences who listened to him.

Moreover, in my opinion, 'aloud' is a adverb, and it shouldn't be used after a noun 'reader', is this a grammatical error? No, it's just an unusual word order. Certain kinds of unusual word orders are found in literature sometimes.

Best wishes, Clive