Product Description

This compendium volume includes three volumes of newspaper columns by Davies' alter-ego, Samuel Marchbanks, a character Davies invented when he had a vacancy for a columnist on "The Peterborough Examiner". Previously published works include "What's Bred in the Bone" and "The Deptford Trilogy".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1620034 in Books
• Published on: 1986-07-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 560 pages

From Library Journal
In this collection of his newspaper pieces, mostly from the late Forties, Davies introduces us to his alter ego, a mildly irascible curmudgeon whose opinions and observations have been so popular in Canada that three volumes of his columns have been published there: The Diary , The Table Talk , and The Garland of Miscellania. Davies has re-edited them to produce a single volume and in the prefatory "A Drink with Marchbanks" even given us his own view of the journalist he created. A pleasant entertainment covering such diverse topics as politics, theater, and manners, this volume offers a humorous and insightful picture of postwar Canadian life as seen through the eyes of a delightful eccentric who reminds this reader of a boozeless W. C. Fields. Charles Bishop, English Dept., Univ. of New Orleans
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Robertson Davies' Alter Ego
Samuel Marchbanks is a grouchy old newspaperman who struggles with his coal furnace, garden, and neighbours in an attempt to live life as he feels is proper. He is witty, open-minded, well-read, and likes to shock his acquaintances.

The Diary is a record of his day-to-day life over a year, with several amusing plot-lines running through it. The Table Talk is just that--a collection of Marchbanks' favourite prandial conversations (or monologues as the case may be). The Miscellanea are letters and various papers, as well as an interview of Marchbanks by Davies.

This is an extremely funny collection of fiction. Although knowledge of early twentieth-century Canadian life helps, it's not necessary.

A first class Canadian Wit
Humor has moved to tv/movies. There are very few really funny writers around. Robertson Davies is a gem, all the rarer for being in such sparse company. This book has at least two or three laughs per page. It is a compendium of miscelleanous writing by one Samuel Marchbanks (Davies' alter ego) who keeps diaries and writes columns. I find myself giggling on my way to work on the subway as I race through these short aphoristic pieces. Highly recommend for any scrooges who refer to babies in terms appropriate for judging a ham and can stand dogs only in newspaper reports about their valorous deeds.