''High Spirits'' is a collection of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
by Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist and professor
Robertson Davies
William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...
. It was first published by
Penguin Canada
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.[1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...]
Robertson Davies was Master of
Massey College
Massey College is a graduate residential college at the University of Toronto that was established, built and partially endowed in 1962 by the Massey Foundation and officially opened in 1963, though women were not admitted until 1974. It was mode ...
at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario from 1963 until 1981. Shortly after founding the College, he decided that he would tell a
ghost story
A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...
at the College's annual Christmas party — its
Gaudy Night
''Gaudy Night'' (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third including Harriet Vane.
The dons of Harriet Vane's '' alma mater'', the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Say ...
— as an entertainment. The telling of a ghost story became a tradition, and for eighteen years Davies wrote a new story, which he read out at the Gaudy Night celebration.
After Davies' retirement from Massey College, the eighteen stories were collected and published in the book ''High Spirits''.
Contents
* "How the High Spirits Came About, A Chapter of Autobiography"
* "Revelation from a Smoky Fire"
*"The Ghost Who Vanished by Degrees"
*"The Great Queen is Amused"
*"The Night of the Three Kings"
*"The Charlottetown Banquet"
*"When Satan Comes Home for Christmas"
*"Refuge of Insulted Saints"
*"Dickens Digested"
*"The Kiss of Krushchev"
*"The Cat that Went to Trinity"
*"The Ugly Spectre of Sexism"
*"The Pit Whence Ye Are Digged"
*"The Perils of the Double Sign"
*"Conversations with the Little Table"
*"The King Enjoys His Own Again"
*"The Xerox in the Lost Room"
*"Einstein and the Little Lord"
*"Offer of Immortality"
Reception
Dave Langford
David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...
reviewed ''High Spirits'' for ''
White Dwarf
A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...
'' #52, and stated that "It's the best collection since
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, Medieval studies, medievalist scholar and provost (education), provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was List of ...
in this narrow genre of donnish, tongue-in-cheek ghost stories."
Reviews
*Review by Douglas E. Winter (1984) in ''SF & Fantasy Review'', March 1984
*Review by Rosemary Pardoe (1984) in ''Ghosts & Scholars'' #6, 1984
*Review
rench
The Rench is a right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the Ortenau (Baden (Land), Central Baden, Germany). It rises on the southern edge of the Northern Black Forest at Kniebis near Bad Griesbach im Schwarzwald. The source farthest from the mouth is ...
by Luc Pomerleau (1985) in ''
Solaris
Solaris may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film
* ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem
** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg
** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
'', #59
References
External links
*
''University of Toronto Quarterly''''Montreal Gazette''''Wall Street Journal''''Boston Phoenix''Canadian Literature
1982 short story collections
Short story collections by Robertson Davies
World Fantasy Award-winning works
{{1980s-story-collection-stub