Ep. 681, The Hostelry of Mr. Smith, by Stephen Leacock

Of the plethora of Mr. Smith’s ideas, is there one that will save his business? Stephen Leacock, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

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Today’s story is from the Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock. It’s tricky with the pandemic still in our faces, it’s made it very tricky to choose what stories to do, and this one is a quirky little odd one. There are a few things that drew me to this story.

First, I love Leacock’s description of the town of Mariposa. With so many of our local festivities cancelled this summer, I felt like hearing about life in a small town would do us good right now.

Secondly, I like how Leacock’s protagonist, Mr. Smith, is not a perfect guy. He does some good things, and some kind of dumb things. And it seems like the environment of the town actually determines which of his scattered ideas make it all the way to fruition. It’s almost like Leacock has created this town as a kind of character with its own set of motivations, and we kind of watch and see how Mr. Smith fares inside.

And now, The Hostelry of Mr. Smith, by Stephen Leacock

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