Sunday 30 June 2013

Win a copy of Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock


It's been ages... sorry; I'll make it up to you with a lovely little giveaway... from me, not from a publisher or company. And it's inadvertently to celebrate Canada Day (which I didn't even know was happening; thanks for telling me, Elizabeth!)


The other day I found a cheap copy of a book I adore, Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock - and I thought it would be a shame to leave it neglected on a bookshelf when I could be sending it somewhere around the world.  As you can see in my right-hand sidebar, it's one of my 50 Books You Must Read But May Not Have Heard About.  It was a fairly unthorough review, but I still believe it to be a wonderful book.

Everyone in Canada has heard of Stephen Leacock, I am led to believe, but almost nobody outside of Canada has had the pleasure.  I was very lucky that my Aunt Jacq put me onto him - I read a lot in 2002 and 2003, but haven't read one for, gosh, probably a decade.  Must rectify soon.  But, for now, I'll spread the joy.

Leacock was (among other things) a humorist, and Literary Lapses is a collection of humorous sketches and silliness, but with an intelligent and wry tone.  I think any fan of A.A. Milne's humour, or P.G. Wodehouse's novels, would find this hilarious... and so I'll send it off worldwide.

Actually, proviso.  I'll send this anywhere except Canada.  Sorry, Canadians, you have easy access to Leacock, and don't need me to tell you he's great!

To be in with a chance of winning, simply put your favourite Canadian thing, or person, or your favourite thing about Canada, in the comments - I'll do a draw later in the week.  And I'll start the ball rolling.  My favourite Canadian person is Alanis Morissete (once I've taken my favourite Canadian bloggers out of the equation!)  Over to you...

35 comments:

  1. Lovely gesture Simon. My favourite Canadian author is Alice Monroe. She writes brilliant short stories and I am sure is also revered by her Canadian public as well as much of the rest of the world. If you've not read her you might want to give her a try. All the best Simon, Pam

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  2. I love Victoria it's a fairytale town with a wonderful independent bookstore munros

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  3. I"m mad about the look of Canadian Mounties!

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  4. My favorite thing about Canada is the beautiful scenery and all the culture. :)

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  5. Favorite Canadian author Robertson Davies, city Vancouver, comedian Martin Short, musicians/singers Neil Young and KD Lang.

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  6. My favorite Canadian author is L.M. Montgomery, I love Matthew & Marilla Cuthbert, and I'm still hoping to visit Prince Edward Island some day!

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  7. It may sound odd to say the maple leaf on the Canadian flag, but I love maple trees. Especially when they turn red in the fall. I even transplanted a small maple tree to my yard when it was in danger of being destroyed by a crew installing a gas line years and years ago. It still turns red every year.

    emerging DOT paradigm AT yahoo DOT com

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  8. Right now my favourite people in Canada are my sister and her family who have been living there for more than two decades. :)

    On a serious note, the thing I like best about Canada is the co-existence of English and French. Thanks for the giveaway. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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  9. It's hard to say who my favorite Canadian author is...there are so many! Carol Shields, Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro, and Robertson Davies are the top four I can think of. And I love the wide-ranging cuisine of Vancouver, BC. Sushi restaurant on every corner. True story.

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  10. My favourite Canadian person at the moment is my great great (or should that be great grand) uncle John Devine, who left a comfortable home in England in the 1880s, sailed with his wife and kids to Nova Scotia, took a train to Brandon Manitoba and spent a winter living in an old railway carriage, so cold that they had to buy lorry loads of manure to pile up underneath to keep out the cold, then heard of a new town called Vancouver, travelled there by a circuitous route involving train and ship, and eventually became the City Auditor. People were wonderfully brave in those days, I think.

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  11. After meeting two of them, I am impressed Canadian women & their get-your-hands-dirty-and-fix-the-machine pioneering spirit.

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  12. I think my favourite Canadian thing must be, without ever :
    × visiting Canada myself &
    × therefore, never having had one but have heard much aboooot ;) it, from expat Canucks (so I figure there must be something in it)

    ........ The Beaver Tail

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  13. L.M. Montgomery, easily, and I hope to visit Prince Edward Island some day :)

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  14. Oooh - things I like about Canada:

    1. Margaret Atwood (genius!)
    2. My dad was actually born there and has dual passports (alas not extending to me!)

    Thanks for offering this!

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  15. This give-a-way is such a timely theme...... did you know July 1 is Canada Day, our birthday!!! I know I am not eligible but thought I would comment just to point out your cleverness! Hope you all try out and enjoy Stephen Leacock.

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  16. Like many others, my favorite thing is Anne of Green Gables, my first introduction to things Canadian. However, I would also add maple syrup!

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  17. Well of course it has to be L M Montgomery. I read all her journals a year or so ago and they broke my heart. Such a difficult life but through it all she kept going and delighted us with Anne and Emily

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  18. Hmmm...I honestly don't pay as much attention to the nationality of the authors I'm reading (gasp!), so I don't know off the top of my head which Canadians that I've read other than LM Montgomery, so I will choose as my favorite Canadian, Claire the Captive Reader who is traipsing about the world at the moment. ;)

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  19. Hi Simon! My favorite thing about Canada is Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe. Also a fan of Alice Munro and Robertson Davies. Oh, and the Buchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C., absolutely beautiful.

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  20. It has to be Anne of Green Gables and Margaret Atwood for me.

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  21. hi simon,

    My favourite and the only things I know of Canada is michael ondatjee and margaret Atwood. Would love to win the book and discover leacock for myself. Thanks for the opportunity!

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  22. My favorite Canadian(s) are Alex Trebeck, k.d.lang and Madame Heather Bastien who lives on Wendeke Reserve.

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  23. My favorite part of Canada is the two glorious ferry rides up the BC coast, from Vancouver to Lund. We used to vacation on Savary Island at a very rustic old lodge, two miles off the coast from Lund. It was heaven!

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  24. My favorite thing about Canada is that it is a fantastic neighbor. There is beautiful, varied land, interesting, hard-working people, a great example of how to care for health, and they never fail to lend a hand when we experience trouble. Who could ask for more?

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    1. Aw, that's really nice of you to say. On behalf of my fellow Canadians, thanks!

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  25. As a Canadian I must say this is very cool of you, though I admit to being disappointed I can't enter because I WANT that book. Some of my favourite books are on your "50 Books you must read" list. One that I love but nobody else seems to have heard of is "Ivor Johnson's Neighbours" by Bruce Graham. If you ever find a copy, it's worth reading. Happy Canada Day!

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  26. Isn't Alan Bradley of the Flavia series Canadian? Though I'd still have to go for L M Montgomery and Margaret Atwood.

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  27. My favorites from Canada are: Alanis Morisette whom I learnt to love through my daughter and the Maple Tree ... and this would be my first canadian author book!
    Love your blog!

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  28. It's so lovely of you Simon. My favourite is LM Montgomery. Also I quite like Shania Twain :)

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  29. Not eligible, but enjoying the comments.

    Me, I love canoeing. Cliched but true.

    (4th attempt at posting; it's some weird cookies thing)

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  30. I can only assume that everyone else here doesn't know that Michael J. Fox is Canadian. Who doesn't love Michael J. Fox?

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  31. my favorite canadian show is Due South, (although cancelled), not for the red uniform but for the very polite character Benton Fraser, quite a fun show to watch.

    have a great day.

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  32. A customer at the shop where I work loves the Canadian Rockies and takes train trips through them every chance he gets. Would enjoy taking such a trip myself one day. But my personally-experienced favorite Canadian thing would be the novels and essays of Robertson Davies. My sister put me on to him some years ago, and I've since read all eleven of his novels and several of his essays. What a character he must have been! And what fascinating characters he created!

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  33. As another Canadian, I just wanted to comment and say that I am really enjoying seeing the multitude of things that people seem to love about our country :)

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  34. Favourite Canadian author - Robertson Davies. Hoping to visit Vancouver one day...

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