Most Popular Books by Robertson Davies

"With a sure comic touch, Davies assembles his cast of characters and lets them make fools of themselves . . . in the best Shakespearean tradition."-The Emerald City Book Review Weaving a tapestry of wonderfully developed characters, smoldering rivalries, and witty satire, Robertson Davies introduces the first book in the Salterton Trilogy. An amateur production of The Tempest provides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare''s play, falls in love with the beautiful heiress Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play''s opening night. "High comedy with a spice of satire to give it savor."-Montreal Gazette "An exercise in puckish persiflage."-Toronto Star "Hilarious, satirical, witty and clever."-Edmonton Journal "By turns humorous and sympathetic, Davies shows us that he knows his stuff, even in this, his first book."-AllReaders.com "It would not be a bad thing for more writers to read and be inspired by Davies''s example of intelligent, emotionally resonant fiction, or for more readers to discover its pleasures."-The Emerald City Book Review

Woven around the pursuits of the energetic spirits and erudite scholars of the University of St. John and the Holy Ghost, this dazzling trilogy of novels lures the reader into a world of mysticism, historical allusion, and gothic fantasy that could only be the invention of Canada''s grand man of letters.

Robertson Davies always wanted to call this book of his "The Merry Heart. Now, within a year of his death, the wish is fulfilled, and fittingly by a selection of his writings that he had already planned with his publisher. The result is a selection of vintage Davies, full of the shrewd relish for life that was his hallmark. At the time of his death, readers around the world mourned the loss of a great writer with a unique and instantly recognisable style. Although we shall not see another Davies novel, we can all rejoice that there is another new book that is pure distilled Davies. His utterly distinctive voice resounds here from every line. "To ask an author who hopes to be a serious writer if his work is autobiographical is like asking a spider where he buys his thread" is one of his memorable aphorisms here. As close to an autobiography as we can ever expect, this collection of reminiscences, speeches, book reviews, parodies, and essays tells us a great deal about the writer and the man. The introductions to each of the twenty-four chapters add further biographical details, followed by tantalizing fragments from Davies'' own unpublished diary. But the strength of the book lies in its stimulating contents. Every chapter is an education for the reader, as it provides the pleasure of browsing through Davies'' richly stocked mind. Whether he is discussing art fakes, his schooldays, the differences between Canadians and Americans, Thackeray, Ibsen, "The Little Red Hen, or "Ulysses, this collection gathers his reflections on books, on writing, on reading, on his own writing, on other authors and much else, into a fascinating whole. The result is a tonic, a provocation, and adelight.

Conversations with Robertson Davies is a long overdue anthology of interviews with Canada''s most respected literary figure. Journalist, essayist, reviewer, playwright, and novelist, Robertson Davies has not only been a leading figure in Canadian literature since World War II, but, since the publication of Fifth Business in 1970, he has become known throughout the world. Conversations with Robertson Davies will be of interest both to the student of Canadian literature and culture and to the scholar examining Davies''s plays and novels as well as to the general reader who would like to know more about the awesome man behind the Salterton and Deptford trilogies, What''s Bred in the Bone, and The Lyre of Orpheus. A majority of this anthology of twenty-eight interviews has never before appeared in print. Along with these previously unpublished interviews, the reader finds a selection of the best print interviews: Tom Harpur of the Toronto Star proves Davies''s spiritual beliefs, Ann Saddlemyer looks into his dreams, and author Terence M. Green questions Davies on the supernatural.

Best friends Arlo and Robby are almost identical in what they wear, what they like, and even where they have teeth missing, but when Robby insists on betting on who is going to lose the next tooth their friendship is endangered.

Dr. Jonathan Hullah is a "cunning man," one who will help almost all infirmities of mind and body, and enjoys a reputation as a brilliant, if unorthodox, diagnostician. Earlier in his career, Hullah was present at the death of Father Hobbes, who died while celebrating Communion. Prompted by a journalist''s questions about this mysterious death, Hullah begins to reflect on his past and the other mysteries he has encountered, medical and spiritual.

The first of three linked novels, the second being The manticore and the third, World of wonders.

This humorous novel explores the reactions of a small town to a false engagement notice in the local paper.