Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism

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W.W. Norton, 2006 - Fiction - 235 pages
Canada's answer to Mark Twain and Charles Dickens, Stephen Leacock was a master of humor and characterization. His endearing portrayals of small-town life in Ontario and his memorable characters place him in the company of Canada's finest writers. This Norton Critical Edition of "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town" uses the text of the 1912 first edition, second impression, the only edition that takes into account the corrections made between impressions. It is accompanied by explanatory annotations and textual emendations. "Backgrounds and Contexts" includes a concise excerpt on "Sunshine Sketches" from the leading Leacock biography, as well as a selection of contemporary reviews from Canada, Britain, and the United States. "Criticism" is comprised of two sections. The first presents eight scholarly interpretations, by Desmond Pacey, Silver Donald Cameron, W. H. Magee, Ina Ferris, Beverly J. Rasporich, Frank Birbalsingh, Gerald Lynch, and Glenn Willmont, selected for their contribution to critical discussion of the novel. The second brings together responses to the novel by esteemed Canadian novelists Robertson Davies, Guy Vanderhaeghe, and Mordecai Richler. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included. About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paperand every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

About the author (2006)

Born in Swanmore, England, Stephen Leacock was one of 11 children of an unsuccessful farmer and an ambitious mother, a woman to whom Leacock no doubt owed his energetic and status-conscious nature. In 1891, while teaching at the prestigious Upper Canada College in Toronto, Leacock obtained a modern language degree from the University of Toronto. In 1903, after receiving a Ph.D. in political economy from the University of Chicago, he joined the staff of McGill University, Montreal, as professor of politics and economics. Leacock's career as a humorist began when he had some comic pieces published as Literary Lapses in 1910. This successful book was followed by two more books of comic sketches, Nonsense Novels (1911) and Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), which is now considered his best book. Leacock continued this frantic literary output for the remainder of his career, producing more than 30 books of humor as well as biographies and social commentaries. The Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour was established after his death to honor annually an outstanding Canadian humorist.

D. M. R. Bentley is Professor of English at the University of Western Ontario. He is the editor of a critical edition of Stephen Leacock's Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich. He is the author of Mnemographia Canadensis: Essays on Memory, Community, and Environment in Canada, The Gay Grey Moose: Essays on the Ecologies and Mythologies of Canadian Poetry, 1690-1990, and Mimic Fires: Accounts of Early Long Poems on Canada. He is the founding and continuing editor of Canadian Poetry: Studies, Documents, and Reviews. He is also the author of many articles on Canadian fiction, culture, and art.

Bibliographic information

TitleSunshine Sketches of a Little Town: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism
Volume 0 of Norton critical edition
AuthorStephen Leacock
EditorD. M. R. Bentley
PublisherW.W. Norton, 2006
ISBN0393926346, 9780393926347
Length235 pages
Subjects › 

Fiction / Short Stories (single author)
  
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