Sam Slick - Definition and Overview

Sam Slick was the pseudonym of Thomas Chandler Haliburton, a Canadian judge and author. With his wry wit and Yankee voice, Sam Slick of Slicksville put forward his views on "human natur" in a regular column in the Novascotian, beginning in 1835. The sketches were published in a collection titled The Clockmaker in 1836. The book was Canada's first international bestseller and was hugely popular, not only in Nova Scotia, but also in Britain, and the U.S..

Slick’s wise-cracking commentary on the colonial life of Nova Scotia and relations with the U.S. and Britain, struck a note with readers, leading to a second series in 1838 and a third in 1840. The satirical sketches, mocking both Canadians and Americans, made Haliburton one of the most popular writers of comic fiction in English of that era. The Clockmaker (which was also translated into German) established Haliburton as one of the founders of North American humour.