

Not quite the thoughtless diversion I first took it for, which actually makes sense, because the sharply satirical Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is the whole reason I picked up another work by Stephen Leacock.
I'll admit some of these entries - it's a collection of ten short stories - read a little goofier than others, but once you realize it's as much a commentary on different types of classic stories as it is a collection of individual 1/?
These are genre send-ups, so the form is fooled with to the extent that most stories are actually a dark comedy of errors, many people are obviously made fools of by conmen or shown to be fools by their own actions, naming schemes are often ridiculous (which I fear wanders past stereotypical into xenophobic/racist when the tales have a clear cultural origin 😬), 5d
I don't actually think this book offers enough to the modern reader that you need to seek it out, but it hasn't completely put me off checking out Leacock's other works either.
⚠️mention of suicide, cannibalism, child abandonment, infanticide, misogyny (edited) 5d