Moonbeams from the Larger Lunacy
by Stephen Leacock
On This Page
Description
Dividing his time between academic pursuits and humor writing, Canadian author and scholar Stephen Leacock had a vivid, kinetic imagination. His playful mental prowess is on full display in the collection Moonbeams From the Larger Lunacy, which veers between a wide array of topics, ranging from suffrage to literary satires of overwrought purple prose..
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
While not quite at the same level as Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, this collection of articles and pastiches is an enjoyable book to nibble on, a couple of stories at a time. I particularly enjoyed the ones that dealt with the book world: "A Sample of a Thousand-Guinea Novel" and "The Reading Public" had me snorting with laughter on the bus, and "Our Reading Bureau" sounded like something that could actually work today (or maybe even already exists in the form of book reviewing sites such as this one). Fans of Wodehouse, particularly Mr Mulliner, might enjoy the "Afternoon Adventures at My Club", and those who are more familiar with current affairs at the time of WW1 might get more out of stories like "The Last Man in Europe" and show more "Sidelights on the Supermen: An Interview with General Bernhardi". Overall, a good collection. show less
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
First published in 1915
87 works; 11 members
New Canadian Library
191 works; 7 members
Author Information
142+ Works 3,136 Members
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. show more 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. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
New Canadian Library (43)
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1915
- Blurbers
- Davies, Robertson
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 71
- Popularity
- 440,750
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 33
- ASINs
- 7
