Lessons from Leacock

Three of Stephen Leacock's best-loved stories -- "My Remarkable Uncle," "Maddened by Mystery," and "The Marine Excursion of the Knights of Pythias" -- were recorded live by CBC Radio at the Shaw Festival's Bell Canada Reading Series for this unique, entertaining audiobook. In the early part of the twentieth century, Stephen Leacock was one of the best-known humorists in the English-speaking world. His most celebrated work, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, depicts everyday life in the fictional town of Mariposa. Its denizens, based on Leacock's own acquaintances in Orillia, Ontario, are as alive today as they were when he created them in 1912. Performed by members of the Shaw Festival ensemble, the stories in this recording feature deadpan humour and wry observations of ordinary people and showcase the gentle satire of Canada's greatest humorist.

"I was born at Swanmore, Hants, England, on December 40, 1869. I am not aware that there was any particularly conjunction of the planets at the time, but I should think it extremely likely." So wrote Stephen Leacock on the circumstances of his birth. Before his death in 1944, Leacock's place as one of the great humorists of all time had been established by millions of readers the world over and by tributes from his successors. Robert Benchley, with appealing frankness, once confessed: "I have enjoyed Leacock's work so much that I have written everything he ever wrote -- anything from one to five years after him."