Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Norton Critical Editions) - Softcover

Leacock, Stephen

3.73

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9780393926347: Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Norton Critical Editions)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393926346 ISBN 13: 9780393926347

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2006

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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.

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From the Back Cover:

Set in the fictional landscape of Mariposa on the shores of Lake Wissanotti in Missinaba County, Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is an affectionate satire of small town life. This series of humourous connected sketches about graft, high finance, religion, love and romance is, on one level, an intimate, comic portrait of town life and local politics. On another level, the narrative is a powerful commentary on the workings of community values and on Canada’s place within the British Empire.

The Broadview edition includes a critical introduction, thorough annotation, a list of textual variants, and a range of contextual materials, including Leacock’s stage adaptation of Sunshine Sketches.

From the Inside Flap:

Affectionately combining both the idyllic and ironic, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is Stephen Leacock?s most beloved book. Set in fictional Mariposa, an Ontario town on the shore of Lake Wissanotti, these sketches present a remarkable range of characters: some irritating, some exasperating, some foolhardy, but all endearing. Painted with the skilful brushstrokes of a great comic artist, the delightful inhabitants of Mariposa represent the people of small towns everywhere.

As fresh, funny, and insightful today as when it was first published in 1912, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is Stephen Leacock at his best ? colourful, imaginative, and thoroughly entertaining.

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