- Mass Market Paperback: 216 pages
- Publisher: New Canadian Library; New edition edition (May 1 1989)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0771099665
- ISBN-13: 978-0771099663
- Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 1.3 x 17.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 113 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #423,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Of the many books by Canada’s most celebrated humorist, none has received more acclaim than his brilliant, caustic treatment of the glittering rich who gather at the Mausoleum Club on Plutoria Avenue.
Today, Leacock’s pointed satire of the privileged class, and their social abuses and pretences, retains every ounce of its freshness and bite. An undisputed comic masterpiece, Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich reveals a depth of compassionate criticism rare in Leacock’s writings.
Today, Leacock’s pointed satire of the privileged class, and their social abuses and pretences, retains every ounce of its freshness and bite. An undisputed comic masterpiece, Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich reveals a depth of compassionate criticism rare in Leacock’s writings.
About the Author
Stephen Leacock was born in Swanmore, Hampshire, England, in 1869. His family emigrated to Canada in 1876 and settled on a farm north of Toronto. Educated at Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto, Leacock pursued graduate studies in economics at the University of Chicago, where he studied under Thorstein Veblen.
Even before he completed his doctorate, Leacock accepted a position as sessional lecturer in political science and economics at McGill University. When he received his Ph.D. in 1903, he was appointed to the position of lecturer. From 1908 until his retirement in 1936, he chaired the Department of Political Science and Economics.
Leacock’s most profitable book was his textbook, Elements of Political Science, which was translated into seventeen languages. The author of nineteen books and countless articles on economics, history, and political science, Leacock turned to the writing of humour as his beloved avocation. His first collection of comic stories, Literary Lapses, appeared in 1910, and from that time until his death he published a volume of humour almost every year.
Leacock also wrote popular biographies of his two favourite writers, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. At the time of his death, he left four completed chapters of what was to have been his autobiography. These were published posthumously under the title The Boy I Left Behind Me.
Stephen Leacock died in Toronto, Ontario, in 1944.
Even before he completed his doctorate, Leacock accepted a position as sessional lecturer in political science and economics at McGill University. When he received his Ph.D. in 1903, he was appointed to the position of lecturer. From 1908 until his retirement in 1936, he chaired the Department of Political Science and Economics.
Leacock’s most profitable book was his textbook, Elements of Political Science, which was translated into seventeen languages. The author of nineteen books and countless articles on economics, history, and political science, Leacock turned to the writing of humour as his beloved avocation. His first collection of comic stories, Literary Lapses, appeared in 1910, and from that time until his death he published a volume of humour almost every year.
Leacock also wrote popular biographies of his two favourite writers, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. At the time of his death, he left four completed chapters of what was to have been his autobiography. These were published posthumously under the title The Boy I Left Behind Me.
Stephen Leacock died in Toronto, Ontario, in 1944.
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The more things change...,
By
This review is from: Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (Mass Market Paperback)
The antics of the "idle" rich may have changed, at least according to TMZ et al, but truth of their lives remain the same as Leacock described.
It just goes to show that vapidity has no time limit! How sweetly devastating he was - I can only imagine what he would do with today's cast of charlatans and poseurs.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not a great gift for your CEO, unless they self depricate well.,
By Mark S. Sheffer "Ologist" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (Hardcover)
Great insight into the rich, powerful, educated and vain that will make you laugh at them and at the same time understand them better and see your own tendencies in that direction on occasion. This should be a must read for anyone that is employed by a country club or works in direct service to the elite. It might help the world if all our educators, CEOs and politicians were forced to read it as well. As Vanity, Superiority and Greed never seem to leave us this book will be a treasure to keep handy and pass down from one generation to the next. If you can't beat them, might as well laugh at them.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Timeless Satirical Classic,
By avidreader - Published on Amazon.com
Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich is a short, fast-paced and very entertaining novel. I read it with great delight many years ago and it remains one of my favorite satiric works. During the financial meltdown of 2008, I read it again (for the fourth time) and marveled at how little has changed in the world of finance -- it's still rife with pretension, avarice, speculation, delusion and folly. Leacock knows whereof he speaks: he was an internationally respected professor of economics, and wrote his satiric fiction and essays as a profitable sideline. In his day, he was the most popular published humorist in the English-speaking world. Groucho Marx and Jack Benny were among his avid fans. Leacock's style is never pedantic or laboured -- his pen is more rapier than battle axe, and he's deliciously funny in a sly, understated way. Arcadian Adventures takes aim at entrepreneurial neophytes, predatory financiers and credulous denizens of private clubs. In other fiction and essays, Leacock satirizes everything from small town life to public institutions. I recommend all his works, and I recommend that you start with this one.
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