Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich is a collection of humorous interwoven vignettes by Stephen Leacock, published in 1914. It exists as a companion work to his Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), due to the similarity of composition, and their subject matter. Arcadian Adventures follows the members of the 'Mausoleum Club' on Plutoria Avenue, in an unnamed American city (usually referred to as Plutoria, after its main street), and pokes fun at their obsessive individualism and materialism.Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich Leacock, Stephen. 'Afterword, by Gerald Lynch'. New Canadian Library, 2010. Print. As Leacock thought humour to be 'the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life and the artistic expression thereof', Acardian Adventures tends to steer slightly away from this form of 'kindliness', and, thus, ranks as one of his most scathing works, as well as arguably one of his funniest.

At the time of publication, Arcadian Adventures became extremely popular in North America, and, for a while, was considered a greater success than Sunshine Sketches.McMillan, Eric. The rich are not as funny as you and I. Accessed on: 19-05-2008

It is believed that the book was translated and published by the Bolshevik government soon after the 1917 revolution, and it became a bestseller in the Soviet Union.Stephen Leacock And The Left. Accessed on: 19-05-2008Glavin, Terry. Stephen Harper is no Tory. February 2, 2006. Accessed on: 19-05-2008 While Leacock biographer Carl Spadoni has yet to find definitive evidence that a Russian edition exists, a communist-approved translation was printed in the German Democratic Republic in 1955.Kiedrowski, Jonas. Revolution or Resignation: The Satirical Purpose of Stephen Leacock's Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich Retrieved 25-02-2021

Stories A Little Dinner with Mr. Lucullus Fyshe The Wizard of Finance The Arrested Philanthropy of Mr. Tomlinson The Yahi-Bahi Oriental Society of Mrs. Rasselyer-Brown The Love Story of Mr. Peter Spillikins The Rival Churches of St. Asaph and St. Osoph The Ministrations of the Rev. Uttermust Dumfarthing The Great Fight for Clean Government

Characters

Mr. Lucullus Fyshe Rev. Edward Fareforth Furlong, the Reverend for St. Astaph's Miss Phillpa Furlong Juliana Furlong, the sister to Rev. Furlong The Duke of Dulham Mr. Asmodeus Boulder Dr. Boomer, the President of Plutoria University Mr. Tomlinson, the Wizard of Finance Mrs. Tomlinson Fred Tomlinson Dr. Boyster Mr. Skinyer, a lawyer for Skinyer-Beatem Mr. Rasselyer-Brown Mrs. Rasselyer-Brown Miss Dulphemia Rasselter-Brown Mr. Yahi-Bahi, a character who caricatures the religious leader 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who visited Leacock's resident city of Montreal in 1912.Wagner, Ralph D. Yahi-Bahi Society of Mrs. Resselyer-Brown, The. Accessed on: 19-05-2008 Mr. Sikleigh Snoop, the sex-poet Mr. Ram Spudd Mrs. Buncomhearst Miss Snagg Mr. Peter Spillikins Mrs. Everleigh-Spillikins Mr. Edward Ruff Mr. Newberry Mrs. Margaret Newberry Dr. Slyder The Little Girl in Green Rev. Dr. McTeague, minister at St. Ostoph's, and professor at Plutoria University Mr. Dick Overend Rev. Dr. Uttermost Dumfarthing Catherine Dumfarthing

Relation to Sunshine Sketches

While Arcadian Adventures takes place in an anonymous American city, and focuses upon the wealthy of that metropolis, Sunshine Sketches revolves around a small Canadian town, the fictional Mariposa, and her inhabitants. Indeed, where Arcadian Adventures begins at the 'Mausoleum Club', Sunshine Sketches concludes in one. Arcadian Adventures has been likened to "a satire of the rich, set in a fictionalized Chicago", but actually based in Montreal.

In many ways, the works should be read in tandem, as Sunshine Sketches exemplifies Leacock's ideal community, from the perspective of a traditional Tory, and Arcadian Adventures the vision to be avoided. He ultimately sought "a middle way between socialism and liberalism".

Influences Leacock, as an economist, had studied under Thorstein Veblen at the University of Chicago, and his The Theory of the Leisure Class permeates the book with influence. It has been argued that Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America had also influenced the book. Given that Leacock was well-read in John Stuart Mill, there has also been the suggestion that Mill's Chapters on Socialism had some influence on the book.Kiedrowski, Jonas. The Revolution Will Not Be Satirised Retrieved 25-01-2019

Reviews Per the Chicago Evening Post: "Crisp conversation and paragraphs jammed with American sarcasm of the gilt-edged variety characterize this latest effort of a really humorous humorist. Mr. Leacock penetrates upper-class sham and satirizes it cheerfully. This is almost certain to generate little chuckles and long smiles for the intelligent proletarian who treats himself to these 'adventures.'"

See also Canadian humour

References

External links