The climax of this very short story is the gruesome death of an imaginary baby. If you did not know who wrote it, you might attribute the plot to the playful, postmodernist style of an author like Donald Barthelme. In fact, the story was published way back in 1910. It comes from Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock’s first short story collection, Literary Lapses. A fascinating aspect of the story is its modern relevance. Viewed in the context of today’s world, the story is a wonderful satire of heavily processed convenience foods and the contribution they make towards child obesity.
Original Text / PDF (394 words)