The Cast-Iron Canvasser
"The Cast-Iron Canvasser" is a humorous short story by Banjo Paterson. It was first published in the 19 December 1891 issue of The Bulletin, and later included in the author's short story collection, Three Elephant Power and Other Stories, and in many short story anthologies.[1] Plot summaryIt tells of a mechanical book-seller, built to overcome the treatment given to travelling salesmen by residents of the outback, which attempts to sell an atlas to a giant Scot named MacPherson. Further publications
The story was also translated into German in 1984.[1] Critical receptionA reviewer in The Sydney Morning Herald said it is a "broadly farcial" story "in which the fun waxes fast and furious, and even where the comedy is less uproarious the author indulges his vein of quiet humour very effectively."[2] In The Canberra Times Maurice Dunlevy called the story "not only one of the best examples in our literature of that familiar form of the tall tale, the remarkable invention story, but is also one of Paterson's best remembered."[3] NotesThe depiction of the mechanical book-seller has led some critics to label this as story as an early example of steampunk.[1] See alsoReferences
|