P.G. Wodehouse Books

Ingenious plot complexities, happy and unhappy coincidences, and satisfying resolutions. Tempts one to believe in "a great purposeful plan governing this sometimes seemingly chaotic world...." [p. 355] His usual funny, striking similes make for vivid descriptions of hilarious encounters and situations. Bill and Felicia each finally avoid marrying the wrong person--but it's not easy. The final unravelling of this threat, and it's complex intertwining with business crime and prosperity is ingenious.

Be sure to read all of Wodehouse--the Shakespeare of humor. And always try to buy the Overlook Press sewn-bound, hard-back edition on acid-free paper, in lovely typeface. Amazon's bargain price is lower than many paperbacks.

The Code of the Woosters, by the inimitable P. G. Wodehouse, is a fun and enjoyable romp with Bertie Wooster and his Man Jeeves. This novel features numerous plotlines, including but not limited to, the battle over a cow creamer, a lost notebook, romantic entanglements, the theft of a policeman's helmet, a potential jail sentence for Bertie, a dictator, and more romantic entanglements. Each plotline is brought to a conclusion by the brilliance of "Plum" the excellent English humorist. The book is full of hilarious one liners and brilliant wit. Amazingly, this novel was first published in 1938, yet it is still full of timely situations.

This novel of classic comedy introduces us to Totleigh Towers and its owner, Sir Watkin Bassett. Several memorable mainstay characters are in this book including Gussie Fink-Nottle, Aunt Dahlia, Madeline Bassett, and Stiffy Bing. Any journey taken with Wooster and Jeeves is time well spent. This classic series endures because the characters are wonderful and memorable. A 5 star fun-filled romp.

In the Wodehouse novels, the plots are merely superstructure upon which to develop hilarious characters, ridiculous situations, side-splitting slapstick and delicious irony about the "upper" classes. In a short story, a Wodehouse plot plays a bigger role.

P.G. Wodehouse obviously had that point in mind when he designed and wrote the stories for A Few Quick Ones. To make the collection a treat, he has given you a sampler of his best characters. Unless you are a devoted Wodehouse reader, you probably don't know about some of these characters. I recommend that you become acquainted because you may discover many Wodehouse classics that you would otherwise have not met.

As a result, the stories will be the most fun for those who already know the stories well. Happy memories from other books and stories will help evoke chuckles where others may only grunt and smile.

But, that wasn't enough. What else could he do? Well, he could vary the way he plotted the stories so that it was less predictable what was coming next. In the process, he indulged himself in creating delicious ironies. At the same time, several of the stories contain as detailed a plot as occurs in any of his novels.

The book's opening story, The Fat of the Land, is an excellent example. Oofy Prosser, the Drone's club millionaire, is determined to win the fat uncles contest . . . and no amount of skullduggery and oiliness is too much for him. Will he succeed?

The Oldest Member stories are a treat for all those who love golf, but many people don't know the stories. Mr. Wodehouse included Scratch Man and Joy Bells for Walter which eloquently show how the divine game and love can go hand-in-hand . . . but not in the ways you expect. There can be danger, too!

The Right Approach develops a theme that Mr. Wodehouse repeats in the book; don't assume that you know what someone else is thinking. Much like Shakespeare's confused lovers, the addled male, Augustus Mulliner, finds himself faced with a horrible contretemps when he attempts to press his suit.

Jeeves Makes an Omelette is the book's only story involving the inimitable Jeeves, and Jeeves swings into action in an unmistakably effective way. The story is made more delightful by one of Aunt Dahlia's daffy schemes.

The inimitable Bingo Little also does his stuff in two stories involving his far from beautiful baby son, Algernon Aubrey Little. In both cases, Bingo's tendency to wager his last cent on a losing nag is the source of the problem. The first is The Word in Season which shows how timing can be everything. The other is Leave It to Algy where Bingo becomes a baby judge.

Big Business is one of the book's best stories. The book's theme relates to whether the male or the female of the species is the stronger and wiser.

A Tithe for Charity is a delicious bit of irony about that famously poor man, Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, in which he temporarily has some funds.

Oofy, Freddie and the Beef Trust is one of the best developed of the stories and has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing what might come next for days . . . even though you will read the story in minutes.

Unless you don't like to laugh, you should read this book!

By the way, I had to search a bit to find a copy. It was worth the tracking down I had to do.

I'm a major fan and collector of P.G. Wodehouse (in my view the best writer of English prose of the 20th century). This clever edition of one of his funny cat stories is an excellent and unique addition to my PGW collection, and it's also a wonderful little literary gift and introduction to Wodehouse for the cat-fancier or fan of light humorous writing.

I first discovered the Travelman series of book pamphlets in a newsstand in London's Paddington Station...the size and shape of a paper road map, these are an ideal and absolutely unique format for reading while you commute on the subway, bus, or train. They're much easier to use (and more entertaining!) than any road map I've ever handled, however...they unfold easily bit-by-bit, never awkwardly, and each contains a classic short story.

The Travelman format is ideal for a half-hour commute and the unique concept will have your fellow travelers asking what you're reading and where you got that interesting looking mini-book. There are many more in the series available in the US, including stories by Bram Stoker, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ruth Rendell, Ian Fleming, Dorothy Parker, Roald Dahl and Oscar Wilde. The format is fun, and they make great gifts.

With delightful, tongue-in-cheek humor, P. G. Wodehouse continues the adventures of Bertie Wooster, an often silly member of the upper class who depends on his much more sensible "gentleman's gentleman," Jeeves, to keep his life from falling apart. In this novel, Wooster has been growing a mustache for the two weeks that Jeeves has been on a shrimping holiday, and he fears that Jeeves will not like it. Sure, enough Jeeves does not, and neither do any of his other friends--except for Lady Florence Craye, his former fiancée, now engaged (to Bertie's great relief) to Stilton Cheesewright.

The fate of the mustache is only the starting point for Wodehouse's comedy of errors, however, as Bertie goes from London to his Aunt Dahlia's country home, where Lady Florence, Stilton Cheesewright, and Percy Gorringe, a young man who wants to produce a play based on Lady Florence's book, are also in attendance. As Lady Florence and Stilton Cheesewright play out their on-again, off-again romance, Percy is casting longing eyes at Florence, who is flirting with Bertie, once again.

As is always the case with Wodehouse, events quickly become more complex. Percy wants Bertie to invest one thousand pounds in the play. Aunt Dahlia, wanting to sell her magazine, decides to "salt the mine," secretly selling her pearls so she can serialize a novel by a famous romance author to make the magazine more attractive. Her husband, at this point, decides to have the pearls appraised. Bertie takes Florence to a nightclub to "do research for her new novel," and he is arrested. Not surprisingly, it is the resilient Jeeves who comes to the rescue, time and time again, proving that good sense and grounding in the real world are far more important than the silly pretensions of Bertie and his friends.

Wodehouse's gentle satire of upperclass life makes his novels appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. His word play, consummate sense of irony, and ability to make dialogue sound simultaneously absurd and realistic create a fast-moving set of outrageous scenes in which Jeeves, the "gentleman's gentleman" proves to be the real hero, the one person who knows how to live in this silly world. n Mary Whipple

This BBC production features a sterling cast as P. G. Wodehouse continues the adventures of Bertie Wooster (Richard Briers), an often silly member of the upper class who depends on his much more sensible "gentleman's gentleman," Jeeves (Michael Hordern), to keep his life from falling apart. In this novel, Wooster has been growing a mustache for two weeks, and Jeeves does not approve, nor do any of his other friends-except Lady Florence Craye (Liza Goddard), his former fiancée, now engaged to Stilton Cheesewright (James Villiers).

The fate of the mustache is the starting point for Wodehouse's comedy of errors, involving engagements made and broken, Bertie's chance to invest in a play, Aunt Dahlia's (Vivian Pickles) sale of her pearls to finance her magazine, her husband's decision to have the missing pearls appraised, and Bertie's arrest at a nightclub to which he has taken Lady Florence to do "research" for her book. Not surprisingly, it is the resilient Jeeves who comes to the rescue, time and time again, proving that good sense and grounding in the real world are far more important than the silly pretensions of Bertie and his friends.

Several actors deserve special mention for their ability to make their roles come alive in this production. Richard Briers, as Bertie, conveys the slightly smug, slightly pretentious attitudes and frantic activity of a young man who feels entitled, by birth, to the good life. Michael Hordern is terrific as Jeeves, using his deep bass voice to make trenchant remarks without sounding rude, and his scenes with Bertie, in which he gives advice while never forgetting his "place," are unforgettable. Vivian Pickles comes close to stealing the show as Aunt Dahlia, a dotty woman with a mind of her own whose ability to tell everyone exactly what she thinks adds immeasurably to the comedy.

Wodehouse's gentle satire of upperclass life appeals to a broad spectrum of readers, and the acting in this production brings it even more vividly to life. The dramatic ironies and well acted dialogue create a fast-moving series of outrageous scenes in which Jeeves, the "gentleman's gentleman" proves to be the real hero, the one person who knows how to live in this silly world. n Mary Whipple

Dante had his Inferno. Odysseus had to get past Scylla and Charybdis. And Bertie Wooster has to darken the dangerous halls of Totleigh Towers again to avoid the unwelcome bands of matrimony with Miss Madeline Bassett.

Madeline's engagement to that world-class newt lover, Gussie Fink-Nottle, is on the rocks when Madeline insists that the meat-loving Gussie become a vegetarian. That's dangerous because Madeline has always made it clear that she will have no other man than Bertie as her husband if Gussie isn't available. So Bertie volunteers to enter that place where all others abandon hope in order to try to repair the engagement. But he's soon in trouble because Emerald Stoker, daughter of the American millionaire, has taken a temporary job as the cook at Totleigh Towers and is tempting Gussie with steak and kidney pie and ham sandwiches. Soon love is following the growls of Gussie's stomach, and Gussie insults the sunset and Madeline's favorite fictional character.

At the same time, Stiffi Byng's engagement to Stinker Pinker is on the rocks as well because Pop Bassett won't come through with the vicar's job that Stinker needs to be able to afford to marry. A rocky day at the school treat makes progress even more problematical.

Jeeves is the source of the all the solutions as he often is, but relations are strained even there by Bertie's new hat which Jeeves feels is unsuitable.

Stiffi also takes to absconding with Pop Bassett's prize gee-gaw, which Bertie's Uncle Tom covets, and matters develop to make Bertie look like a thief again. Can Bertie escape the goal?

In the best of the Jeeves stories, the plot unfolds in a fairly straightforward fashion that holds Bertie at ransom to fate. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves has such a plot. I highly recommend this book to you.

This book should also remind you to read the Jeeves books in order of their publication. Many of the best are sequels to the finest of the early stories. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is one of those sequels. Enjoy!

Are you ready for something to wet the old tonsils?

Bertie Wooster is one of P.G. Wodehouse's greatest comic characters. He is normally balanced by the quick wit, aplomb and shimmering progress of Jeeves, his butler. But even butlers need a vacation. So Bertie bids good-bye to Jeeves for the year . . . and promptly faces all sorts of unexpected problems.

The troubles begin a most distraught telephone call to Bertie from Lady Wickham. She sobs between words as she demands to know if "this awful news is true." The awful news is in this morning's Times. When Bertie opens the Times, he finds an announcement of his engagement to Lady Wickham's daughter, Bobbie, a woman to whom he has tried to become engaged to in the past. Darned if Bertie can figure out what it's all about. Bobbie, although beautiful, is one of those women who want to improve their men, and Bertie isn't up for such improvements. The path to solving the challenge leads him to his aunt Dahlia's country home, Brinkley Court, to help her entertain Homer Cream, an American tycoon who is doing a deal with her husband, Tom, where Bobbie is also staying. Bertie's old headmaster is also in residence, which leaves Bertie quaking. But the lure of Anatole's delightful cooking draws Bertie to Brinkley.

Once there, events become ever wackier. Sir Roderick Glossop, who thinks Bertie is dotty, is posing as the butler to evaluate a fiancé.

As usual, romance, plots to gain funds, weird collections and mistaken identities quickly twist the story into unexpected complications and directions.

The pages are filled with original similes and metaphors that will delight any student of the English language. This story has great fun with the fish theme. Bertie's great friend Reginald Herring has the nickname of "Kipper." At one point, Bertie says coldly that "I have every right to goggle like a dead halibut . . . ." Elsewhere, Bobbie's motives are described as, "She wanted you to see the big fish . . . you must have been surprised to see Kipper . . . ." Cream and cream pitchers are also done well in this story.

But the best schemes of Bertie and Kipper come a cropper, and Jeeves has to be called back to make a miraculous recovery for the causes of love and the old feudal spirit.

Right ho!

Joy in the Morning, also published under the name of Jeeves in the Morning, is perhaps the best of the Bertie and Jeeves novels. I can think of no higher praise than that for any book.

All the elements for a successful Bertie and Jeeves novel are here: love affairs go off the rails, imperiling Bertie's status as a bachelor; Bertie's actions to right things fail; and Jeeves comes to the rescue. In addition, there are some special features: Bertie's Uncle Percival, Lord Worplesdon, the second husband of Bertie's Aunt Agatha (the one who, as I recall, "chews ground glass and conducts human sacrifices at the full moon") makes his only appearance in the Wodehouse oeuvre, as I believe is also the case for Boko Fittleworth, whose actions go awry just as often as Bertie's.

It's all held together, of course, by Bertie's extraordinary narration.

I have read this book perhaps a dozen times, and I still laugh aloud at least once on nearly every page.

Long before there were Jeeves and Gally, P.G. Wodehouse was writing excellent comic novels about the foibles of the English upper classes. A number of these novels were built around the humorous character of Ukridge, a sort of beautiful dreamer who wanders about above the fray of dealing with reality. I recently read a fine companion book about Mr. Wodehouse's novels and realized that I had missed some fine early examples. Love Among the Chickens beckoned to me and I'm glad it did.

It can be expensive to know Ukridge. He'll invite you out to dinner, discover he has no funds, borrow the funds from you and never pay you back. Needless to say, friends try to avoid him.

Jeremy Garnet, the striving novelist, has successfully avoided his old school chum for some time when bad luck causes Ukridge to find Garnet's address. Soon, Ukridge is found barreling through the door along with the new Mrs. Ukridge to invite Garnet to the shore to co found an entrepreneurial enterprise, a chicken farm. In Ukridge's eyes, this is a made-to-order money machine. You borrow some chickens, raise some of your own, return the original chickens and your bounty expands from there. Naturally, neither Ukridge nor Garnet have the slightest knowledge or experience about raising chickens to lay eggs.

On the way to the shore, Garnet sees a lovely young woman who's reading one of his novels. He's immediately smitten, and the complications begin. Without a Jeeves to help him, things go downhill rather rapidly . . . interspaced with modest rallies.

You will enjoy some of the most humorous views of a new chicken farm that you can imagine with this book. What makes it even more delightful is that the book's dedication to Bill Townsend in 1920 (to the second edition) makes it clear that the book has nonfiction roots in the real-life adventures of Bill's friend on his Devonshire chicken farm.

Like most Wodehouse novels, little time is wasted in building humor and romantic possibilities. Enjoy!