D.M.R. Bentley teaches English at the University of Western Ontario. He has published widely on Canadian poetry and nineteenth-century British poetry. He is the editor of "Canadian Poetry: Studies, Documents, Reviews" and the periodical "Canadian Poetry: Studies, Documents, Reviews." He is the author of "The Gay]Grey Moose: Essays on the Ecologies and Mythologies of Canadian Poetry 1690-1990," a collection of critical essays on Canadian poetry. He edited the Borealis Press publication "Archibald Lampman: Selected Poetry" as well as numerous other literary works.

"CHEER UP, EVERYBODY." With these words and the following note Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich was introduced by its publisher to readers of the November 18, 1914 issue of The New York Times Book Review: Stephen Leacock is a humorist who puts big ideas into satire and fun. These delicious adventures take us into the realm of financiers, American clubmen and clubwomen, and the magnificent homes of the wealthy, and literally bubble over with wit and farcical satire. A week later (and perhaps at Leacock´s request) the last phrase of this advertisement was changed to "good-natured fun," and a week later again, Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich was included among the Review´s "Two Hundred Leading Books of the Season," where it was "classed with" Leacock´s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, and credited with "great clearness . . . the utmost good nature" and an "apparently . . . spontaneous" manner of bringing out "the humor of personalities and incidents . . . ." None of these qualities has diminished in their appeal or effectiveness and none of the targets of Leacock´s "farcical satire" and "good-natured fun" has either disappeared or become less needful of critique: Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich is as funny and pertinent today as it was in 1914. So long as there is a "realm of financiers," Leacock´s humour will remain a "delicious" reminder of what is truly valuable in life.