The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks

Davies created the Samuel Marchbanks character while he was the editor of the Peterborough Examiner newspaper in the city of Peterborough, Ontario.^[3]

The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks presents a number of Marchbanks' columns from 1947 and 1948, presenting them as observations purportedly made by Marchbanks during a seven-course formal dinner.^[4]

The book was generally well received.^[1] Richard J. Needham, writing in Calgary Herald, found it a "thoroughly enjoyable book".^[3] W. J. Hurslow, in The Ottawa Citizen, called him a "Canadian Oliver Wendell Holmes", so well argued where the essays in his view.^[4] The Montreal Gazette's Roy Kervin called it a "rich, rollicking collection" of "garrulous wit".^[5] Both Needham and Hurslow thought it would make a good Christmas gift.^[4][3]