P.G. Wodehouse Books

For those who can't see the cover of Week-End Wodehouse (which is everyone, since Amazon doesn't have a picture of it), I'll describe it. It's a replica of the 1939 book with the same title, featuring a color sketch by Kerr. Inside, it's off the mark with an introduction by Hilaire Belloc, and a contents page listing some forty pieces. This is very misleading however, as some of the "pieces" are less than a page, so there's a second contents list which breaks down as follows: Drones Club Stories; Mr. Mulliner Stories; Jeeves Stories; Lord Emsworth Stories (Blandings Castle); Ukridge Stories; The Oldest Member Stories (Golf Stories); Extracts from Novels; and Miscellaneous.

There are two sorts of readers who will love this book: those absolutely new to Wodehouse; and those who have read all of him. The first will relish dipping into the various refreshments, as it were, and find this a helpful guide on where to go next; the second will delight in re-encountering the familiar passages and re-experiencing the stories. For these readers I rate the book a five.

But there is another type of reader who will find the book infuriating, and for them it would be a four. That is the goup who have read some Wodehouse but not all. They would like to come upon new stories and so would enjoy this book. They would also enjoy re-encountering, like the seasoned reader, those they've already read.

Should one follow the second contents page and stick to the stories, this book admirably serves both purposes. However, there are small snatches from various stories liberally sprinkled between the full-length yarns, some of which give the game and the plot away. Others merely make one want to read the book. The snatches from The Girl on the Boat made me want to track down that elusive novel, which I eventually found in a German paperback (English language) with the cover torn off. Such is the Wodehouse madness when it comes that this book may drive one Plum crazy.

This book was wildly popular in the early 'forties when Wodehouse was thought to be at his peak. As it was he wrote decades longer, cranked out numerous novels and if anything is more widely read today. The comic sketches of Kerr which adorn this volume are reminiscent of Jazz Age cartoonist John Held, whose flappers and sheiks held reign throughout the 'twenties and 'thirties, and it would seem a natural pairing, Held's stylized art and Plum's whimsical writing. For whatever reason, it was not to be. That said, a warning may be in order. As the introduction notes, the Wodehouse Madness reached fevered pitch in 1939. It was thought to have since abated, but with this volume again in circulation, appears to be reaching epidemic proportions.

Amazon has mistakenly called this book a paperback, but it really is a hardback with a paper dust jacket cover.

For those of you with any interest in the entire oeuvre of P. G. Wodehouse, this one book is absolutely indispensable for your reading pleasure. It lists in alphabetical order all of the speaking characters of every PGW work (novel or short story) with helpful information about who they are and where else in other PGW books/stories these characters appear. There is a chronological listing of the British and American published works of PGW, as well as the complete alphabetical listing of titles by PGW. Additionally, there is a helpful list of the various PGW short story collection books with the titles of the short stories contained in each collection, again, both British and American since there were some variations in each collection.

The Wodehouse Millennium Concordance by Tony Ring is also very highly recommended for a multi-volume reference work on the characters in PGW. It may be harder (and more expensive) to find a complete set, but well worth it for the truly devoted PGW reader in your family.

This funny volume by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse is really a series of loosely connected short stories. Most of them (though not all) deals with dim witted bachelor Bertie Wooster, with the help of his inimitable and intelligent butler Jeeves, trying to help his friend Bingo Little, who can't fail to fall in love with the first woman in his sight. Bingo fears that if his uncle doesn't like the current woman he is wooing, he will cut the rent he depends on for living. By the time Bertie and Jeeves has the problem kind of sorted out, Bingo has lose interest in the woman. The other stories deal with Bertie trying to get himself out of his own problems, and with his aunt Agatha, who is always looking for a woman to marry him. Very funny sort of frivolous comedy.

Delightful listening especially on a long car trip. Reader is excellent. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the sillyness of Wodehouse.

The Twenties produced several notable works of fiction, and right there in with the best of them is this, the most delightful of all the Jeeves and Wooster entries.

Composed of a running series of short stories originally published in the Strand and Cosmopolitan magazines, "The Initimable Jeeves" achieves its distinction through the remarkable quality level of the stories combined with the full blossoming of two of the more notable and best-loved characters in all of fiction, Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. They would be paired again many times, but here they are given probably the best pure story material they would ever enjoy.

This was one of the most popular books of the twenties; first published in 1923, in a decade and a half it sold over 3 million copies. To put that figure in perspective, "Gone With the Wind" , the best-seller to end all best-sellers, needed a full decade to surpass 3 million in sales. (Though admittedly Margaret Mitchell's tome came at a much steeper price!)

If you like Wodehouse you'll love "The Inimitable Jeeves".

Fans of the Hugh Laurie Television series will discover more episodes were adapted from this book than any two of the rest!

Although "The Inimitable Jeeves" is not the first appearance of the famous double act, Jeeves and Wooster, it is the first book to be 'completely' dedicated to them. It was first published in 1923, and was originally known in America as, simply, "Jeeves".

The book is set in the 1920s England and features Wodehouse's best known creations : Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves. Bertie is the book's wealthy, good-natured and rather dim narrator. He's a member of the "idle rich" and, rather than having to work for a living, lives off an allowance provided by his uncle. He spends much of his time in the bar-room of the Drones Club, is fond of the occasional wager and has an appalling dress sense. Luckily, Bertie has Jeeves to look after him. Without Jeeves, Bertie's life would be a mess : he makes an excellent hangover cure, his bets usually win and he's intelligent enough to rescue Bertie from nearly any situation. He disapproves of Bertie's more garish items of clothing, and will - occasionally - take it upon himself to deal with the offending item.

All of the short stories are connected and most of them involve Bertie's friend Bingo Little, who is always falling in love - occasionally while still 'officially' in love with another. It's Bingo who most consistently drops Bertie into trouble : Bingo's schemes generally aim for an increase in his allowance from his Uncle, with the intention of marrying his latest girlfriend. Generally, Bingo's intended is a girl his uncle wouldn't approve of - so he ropes Bertie and Jeeves into helping him out. There are also appearances for Bertie's troublesome cousins, Claude and Eustace, a devious bookmaker called Steggles and Bertie's fearsome Aunt Agatha. Bertie is held in very low esteem by Agatha, but she is determined that Bertie should marry - Bertie's opinion, as far as she is concerned, is irrelevant.

A very easy and enjoyable read.

I can't recall reading a more consistently comical book in my whole life. I wasn't sure at the start if I was going to enjoy this. For one thing, what do most of us have in common with the idle rich of 1920's England? These blokes spend most of their days carefree and content, engaging in such benign activities as hanging out at the local bar all day and gambling on everything from the ponies to what was dubbed "the great Sermon Handicap". The latter is essentially a bet about which of the parsons in the area (there are about a dozen total) end up performing the longest sermon on Sunday. What a life huh?

Bertie Wooster, our main protagonist, is a couple of IQ points above being labeled a true simpleton. He is however, despite all of his shortcomings, an extremely likeable chap all the same. Bertie would be lost in this world if it weren't for his valet, his right-hand man - Mr. Jeeves. Although Jeeves may be a man of few words, there is no doubt of his wisdom every time he does open his mouth to speak. He consistently saves the day, and keeps Bertie's chaotic life from becoming an absolute catastrophe. The refined, conservative Jeeves also does his best in preventing Bertie from dressing like a total nerd (their constant battles over Bertie's eccentric style of clothing is priceless!). On top of that, Bertie's best friend Bingo keeps falling in love with every female he sees with a pulse (which of course calls for Jeeves assistance as well). And lastly, to add even more flavor to this already colorful crew is Bertie's Aunt Agatha. This rich, pretentious, highfalutin' dame is something else to say the least. She reminds me a bit of a more refined Hyacinth Bucket from that classic British sitcom "Keeping up Appearances". Bottom line, the whole bloody bunch is absolutely hilarious!

There is nothing in this light-hearted book that is going to broaden your intellect and make you any more enlightened or wiser. However, if you are looking to have some fun, not have to think too hard, and also want to laugh, than this book is ideal for you. I am greatly looking forward to reading quite a bit more of these Jeeves & Wooster books. If they are anything like this one, I am going to be one happy man (there are thirteen more!). It took me a while, but I am glad I finally got around to reading Wodehouse. The chap definitely had a unique sense of humor and I enjoy his facile, sunny style of writing.

I give it a solid 4.5 stars. A whole lot of fun!

This funny volume by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse is really a series of loosely connected short stories. Most of them (though not all) deals with dim witted bachelor Bertie Wooster, with the help of his inimitable and intelligent butler Jeeves, trying to help his friend Bingo Little, who can't fail to fall in love with the first woman in his sight. Bingo fears that if his uncle doesn't like the current woman he is wooing, he will cut the rent he depends on for living. By the time Bertie and Jeeves has the problem kind of sorted out, Bingo has lose interest in the woman. The other stories deal with Bertie trying to get himself out of his own problems, and with his aunt Agatha, who is always looking for a woman to marry him. Very funny sort of frivolous comedy.

Delightful listening especially on a long car trip. Reader is excellent. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the sillyness of Wodehouse.

The Twenties produced several notable works of fiction, and right there in with the best of them is this, the most delightful of all the Jeeves and Wooster entries.

Composed of a running series of short stories originally published in the Strand and Cosmopolitan magazines, "The Initimable Jeeves" achieves its distinction through the remarkable quality level of the stories combined with the full blossoming of two of the more notable and best-loved characters in all of fiction, Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. They would be paired again many times, but here they are given probably the best pure story material they would ever enjoy.

This was one of the most popular books of the twenties; first published in 1923, in a decade and a half it sold over 3 million copies. To put that figure in perspective, "Gone With the Wind" , the best-seller to end all best-sellers, needed a full decade to surpass 3 million in sales. (Though admittedly Margaret Mitchell's tome came at a much steeper price!)

If you like Wodehouse you'll love "The Inimitable Jeeves".

Fans of the Hugh Laurie Television series will discover more episodes were adapted from this book than any two of the rest!

Although "The Inimitable Jeeves" is not the first appearance of the famous double act, Jeeves and Wooster, it is the first book to be 'completely' dedicated to them. It was first published in 1923, and was originally known in America as, simply, "Jeeves".

The book is set in the 1920s England and features Wodehouse's best known creations : Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves. Bertie is the book's wealthy, good-natured and rather dim narrator. He's a member of the "idle rich" and, rather than having to work for a living, lives off an allowance provided by his uncle. He spends much of his time in the bar-room of the Drones Club, is fond of the occasional wager and has an appalling dress sense. Luckily, Bertie has Jeeves to look after him. Without Jeeves, Bertie's life would be a mess : he makes an excellent hangover cure, his bets usually win and he's intelligent enough to rescue Bertie from nearly any situation. He disapproves of Bertie's more garish items of clothing, and will - occasionally - take it upon himself to deal with the offending item.

All of the short stories are connected and most of them involve Bertie's friend Bingo Little, who is always falling in love - occasionally while still 'officially' in love with another. It's Bingo who most consistently drops Bertie into trouble : Bingo's schemes generally aim for an increase in his allowance from his Uncle, with the intention of marrying his latest girlfriend. Generally, Bingo's intended is a girl his uncle wouldn't approve of - so he ropes Bertie and Jeeves into helping him out. There are also appearances for Bertie's troublesome cousins, Claude and Eustace, a devious bookmaker called Steggles and Bertie's fearsome Aunt Agatha. Bertie is held in very low esteem by Agatha, but she is determined that Bertie should marry - Bertie's opinion, as far as she is concerned, is irrelevant.

A very easy and enjoyable read.

I can't recall reading a more consistently comical book in my whole life. I wasn't sure at the start if I was going to enjoy this. For one thing, what do most of us have in common with the idle rich of 1920's England? These blokes spend most of their days carefree and content, engaging in such benign activities as hanging out at the local bar all day and gambling on everything from the ponies to what was dubbed "the great Sermon Handicap". The latter is essentially a bet about which of the parsons in the area (there are about a dozen total) end up performing the longest sermon on Sunday. What a life huh?

Bertie Wooster, our main protagonist, is a couple of IQ points above being labeled a true simpleton. He is however, despite all of his shortcomings, an extremely likeable chap all the same. Bertie would be lost in this world if it weren't for his valet, his right-hand man - Mr. Jeeves. Although Jeeves may be a man of few words, there is no doubt of his wisdom every time he does open his mouth to speak. He consistently saves the day, and keeps Bertie's chaotic life from becoming an absolute catastrophe. The refined, conservative Jeeves also does his best in preventing Bertie from dressing like a total nerd (their constant battles over Bertie's eccentric style of clothing is priceless!). On top of that, Bertie's best friend Bingo keeps falling in love with every female he sees with a pulse (which of course calls for Jeeves assistance as well). And lastly, to add even more flavor to this already colorful crew is Bertie's Aunt Agatha. This rich, pretentious, highfalutin' dame is something else to say the least. She reminds me a bit of a more refined Hyacinth Bucket from that classic British sitcom "Keeping up Appearances". Bottom line, the whole bloody bunch is absolutely hilarious!

There is nothing in this light-hearted book that is going to broaden your intellect and make you any more enlightened or wiser. However, if you are looking to have some fun, not have to think too hard, and also want to laugh, than this book is ideal for you. I am greatly looking forward to reading quite a bit more of these Jeeves & Wooster books. If they are anything like this one, I am going to be one happy man (there are thirteen more!). It took me a while, but I am glad I finally got around to reading Wodehouse. The chap definitely had a unique sense of humor and I enjoy his facile, sunny style of writing.

I give it a solid 4.5 stars. A whole lot of fun!

Nothing much to say. His stories were and are always entertaining. I have read his books over and over again and it never ever gets boring.

I haven't seen the PBS series, and only came to Wodehouse via an article in the theological/political journal First Things (of all places). Probably the only other books that made me laugh out loud were Dave Barry's "Dave Barry Slept Here" and Steve Martin's "Cruel Shoes". Wodehouse's writing is hilarious - Bertie Wooster is absurdly simple (and yet Oxford-educated), and this simplicity combined with his indignation and being referred to as dull-witted, and his incessant attempts to do without Jeeve's assistance, are the reliable comic elements that rarely fail to elicit a chuckle.

One almost wishes that there were titled upper-class nimrods tooling around America in their roadsters and confounding the proletariat with their "What-ho's"

It is Wodehouse's mastery of upper-class English slang, and his wrenchingly descriptive language that really stand out. Particularly Wooster's many euphamisms for Aunt Agatha.

Overall, an excellent book that I am delighted to discover. I'm not sure how much Wodehouse I could take on a long term basis, but Life With Jeeves certainly leaves me wanting more.

This book was my first aquaintance (I'm a late bloomer, what ho) with Wodehouse. I made the mistake of reading the story which contains Gussie Fink-Nottle's speech to the students of the Market Snodsbury Grammar School while I was on an airplane from New York to London. My fellow travelers were trying not to stare at me and I was trying to be discreet, but I lost control at some point and just about exploded with tears of laughter and tummy aching.

I defy anyone to read this passage without making a complete and happy fool of themselves!

The stories are great and Wodehouse's use of language and British slang is perfect. The perfect antidote for whatever ails you!

I should have realized that you can't shove several books into one without this happening. The low rating has nothing to do with Wodehouse - I am an inveterate fan - but I wish Amazon gave us a choice of getting him in type big enough to read.

Wodehouse's "Life With Jeeves" is a three-part volume containing "The Inimitable Jeeves", "Very Good, Jeeves!" and "Right Ho, Jeeves." The first two are collections of tales and the third is one long story. Bertram, or "Bertie," Wooster is a wealthy middle-aged man who continuously finds himself in incredible, complex messes that he is unable to solve. From the evil Aunt Agatha to the eternally in love Bingo Little, Bertie goes through it all. But just when things seem their worst, Jeeves comes through. Jeeves, "a bird of the ripest intellect, the source of all solace" time and time again devises an intricate plan that will not only rescue Bertie and his friends from the most terrifying situations but that will even benefit them.
In "Life With Jeeves," Wodehouse cleverly and hilariously pokes fun at the British aristocracy of the early 20th century. I find it funny that Bertie Wooster, an Oxford-educated man, must repeatedly request aid from his valet Jeeves. Wodehouse uses the fine art of literature to show the silliness of the British upper class. At one point in the book, Bingo, a friend of Bertie's of the same social status, dresses up as a member of lesser status for reasons I will not go into to avoid being longwinded. He eventually yells at his own uncle and Bertie: "There you see two typical members of the class which has down-trodden the poor for centuries. Idlers! Non-producers! Look at the tall thin one with the face like a motor-mascot. Has he ever done an honest day's work in his life? No! A prowler, a trifler, and a bloodsucker! And I bet he still owes his tailor for those trousers! And the fat one! Don't miss him. What has he ever done except eat four square meals a day? His god is his belly, and he sacrifices burnt offerings to it. If you opened that man now you would find enough lunch to support ten working-class families for a week." This not only comically summarizes the message Wodehouse is sending throughout the novel, but gives some insight as to what was going on at that time. The lower class was very worked up about the rich aristocracy, who generally just sit on their inherited wealth.

Although some might consider Wodehouse's works purely entertainment, I find that, while amusing, there is a significant underlying message. My only criticism of "Life With Jeeves" is that the stories tend to become somewhat predictable. They follow a certain formula: Bertie gets himself into trouble and Jeeves either advises or directly helps him, salvaging the mess that Bertie has created. Except for this one small complaint, I found "Life With Jeeves" highly entertaining and enjoyable and would recommend it to anyone interested.

One of the better Jeeves and Wooster novels, and that's saying something. Packed full of boyscouts, fiancés, and Cheesewrights. This book just plain fun and is not to be missed, pick up your copy today. Now. And get another for the road. Wodehouse is the best English humorist that you'll never hear of in Brit Lit.

Superlative, sterling, superior, tops, great, bang-up, bully, capital, outstanding, dandy, corking, distinguished, extraordinary, keen, nifty, humorous, peachy, whimsical, smashing, slap-up, swell, comical, amusing, mirthful, rummy, singular, funny, acute, sharp, perceptive, piercing, farcical, droll, risible, hilarious, witty, sidesplitting, uproarious, waggish, wry, jocose, zany, rosy, upbeat, and perfectly plotted, to say the least.

I'm sure that I've read this one before (or the alternate Joy in the Morning) but don't seem to have a copy. So I've ordered one.

Sure do wish all booksellers would put the alternate titles so that unsuspecting buyers don't buy duplicates.

Oh and I thoroughly enjoy all the Bertie & Jeeves books. Check out his Psmith ones too!

Reading some reviews I wonder if these readers read the same book I did. Wodehouse would seem the last author to psychoanalyze, and his books would seem the last to over-analyze, being almost the only antidote left to the over-everything of the modern (or is it post-modern world?). By the way, there is no "capital punishment" in this book, which refers to the death penalty. There is "corporal punishment" common in the Britain of Wodehouse's day and referred to often in his books as "six of the juciest" and by other sobriquets.

Anyone who's read a lot of PGW has already read this one, one of the topping best. But if you've perused one another Jeeves book, you may still think you've read this one due to the Wooster habit of referring to and reminiscing about his previous adventures.

Also, fans of the excellent Jeeves and Wooster (or is it Wooster and Jeeves?) TV series will find all sorts of bits from this book, some of them surviving intact. While I very much like the Penguin new reissue paperbacks, this edition and a few other American paperbacks feature art by Steven Guarnaccia. They are slightly larger than the pocket paperbacks, fall open nicely in the hand, and have slightly tan pages which minimize the glare when reading outside.

I think the reviewer is correct who said this is the same book as Joy in the Morning, itself a clever play on the Psalmist's "Joy cometh in the morning". The alternate editions are listed in two books (neither of which I have handy right now), Joseph Connolly's P.G. Wodehouse (Thames and Hudson Literary Lives), out of print and rather difficult to get but well worth it; and Richard Usborne's Plum Sauce (I may have misspelled both author's names). These books have helped me avoid ordering the same book under different titles, and also enable those so desiring to read PGW's output in chronological order.

This wonderfully humorous novel, published as Joy in the Morning in Britain, is perhaps the best of the Bertie and Jeeves novels, and 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.

This is everything a biography should be: thorough, enthusiastic, unbiased, and beautifully written. McCrum gives not only a complete "life" of Wodehouse, but an excellent picture of literary and theater life in the UK and the US during his lifetime. His explanation of Wodehouse's "wartime disgrace" is just right.

I never would have read this book, had I not watched the McCrum interview on the recently released DVD of "Thank You, Jeeves" and "Step Lively, Jeeves", known informally as "The Jeeves Collection". Why would I not have read it? First, because having read Donaldson's quite lively bio. of Wodehouse, I knew all of the salient facts. Second, there's a deplorable tendency in modern biographies to read into the subject. Ones on Wodehouse are the worst for this, since he's obviously in this sense not a modern.

Having dipped into this bio, what's the verdict? First, I think most of the reviewers of this bio haven't read Donaldson's, or they'd quit giving credit to McCrum for digging up what has long been common knowledge. Second, what's wrong with this book is the same thing wrong with the reviewers who rave about it. One "official" review calls it "authoritative", an over-used word employed when reviewers can't find anything else to say (something rendered authoritative may be superseded and rendered obsolete the next day, so rather than implying stability and permanence, the word really suggests something unstable and ephemeral; the word the reviewer wanted was "magisterial"). The New Yorker reviewer calls Wodehouse "undersexed", a completely idiotic adjective airily tossed out that makes one wonder why that magazine was ever considered a flagship of good writing. That's only the official reviews.

McCrum's book actually dates, in its British publication, to 2004, so he might have gotten a lot better since then, as shown in the interview. How I wish he'd re-edited the book, cutting out say, about 400 pages of dropping words like "repressed" where he indirectly alludes to the tired and extraordinarily dated Freudian analysis that makes modern bios such an interminably dull read. Of course, it turns out he's an editor at the Observer, whose readership take the title to mean Voyeur, and the book is republished in paperback by Norton, who absolutely cater to last Tuesday's paradigm, so what can the reader who'd simply like to read about Wodehouse in, were it possible, prose as good as his own, do?

Bios about Wodehouse love to say he was such a dull man who wrote such sparkling prose, as if there's some contradiction. The biographers, of course, in spite of their notoriously dull prose, are supposed to be the life and soul of the party. Those who have read the early Wodehouse know that he was just as bad a writer as everyone nowadays, and for the same reason (the school stories are an exception because they are largely their own genre, and a subject Wodehouse knew like the back of his hand). As he got better, he broke all the rules, and dropped out everything thought essential for a good novel. There is no description, no characterization. His later books are scripted like plays (or musicals) with a continuing narrative voice. Good writing is as much about what one leaves out as about what one puts in. McCrum could have left out quite a lot of psychobabble. Why did he not? Because he doesn't trust himself as a writer to go head to head with the moth-eaten Freudians of the Brit lit establishment. Why do readers say it's a good book? Because they don't trust themselves to read a straight forward biography without an interpretive framework.

Did one get past all that, there still remain problems for the American reader, mainly that the book is very British. Where McCrum could explain all this Britania, he doesn't, since his readership is firmly planted in the UK. He does explain lots of things that don't need to be explained, as they are self- evident in Wodehouse. Of course, if you can wade through this bio., you discover lots of great stuff, particularly about the Edwardian Age, enough to mourn for its destruction in WWI. McCrum, of course, has a motive, whether ulterior or not. He believes Wodehouse has been undervalued and wants to provide a reassessment. That would be OK if he meant, as he seems to, to provide his own view of Wodehouse's place and achievement in literature. Unfortunately, the people he seems to want to convert are the motheaten Freudians, who can't help read into everything, and sadder yet, he gives them every chance to do so. No one would mourn that Wodehouse was an "innocent" except one regaling himself as a "decadent", which, of course, these cultured despisers do (never mind that both terms are undefined). Wodehouse, like Shakespeare, never played to the box, he was "of the people". If others choose to look on, well let them, he would say. He was no snob, and he had nothing to hide.

I often wondered, when reading the various Wodehouse stories, which character most matched the author's viewpoint. Certainly not Bertie, too brainless, nor Jeeves, too understated; for a time I believed it might be those formidable Aunts. This book gives the answer - but read it to find out.
The book is entirely sympathetic to Wodehouse, its biggest surprise to me is the enormous difference between his lifestyle and that of his characters. There are similarities - Wodehouse would flit off to various leased houses in the US, UK and Europe until his fifties. However his working life resembled that of a monk, he rose early, exercised often and wrote incessantly. He was quite a remote person, and quite a few people were disappointed at his lack of sparkling repartee in company. McCrum is quite forgiving of Wodehouse's ordinariness; as he is of Wodehouse's major faux pas by broadcasting on German radio during the war. McCrum puts this down to Wodehouse's other wordliness, disorientation and lack of trusted advisors. Yet he paints a picture of an author, single-minded about his craft, and quite professional in his commercial and public relations, so this picture did not convince. Similarly Wodehouse sat out the First World War in America, but no calumny seems to have attached itself to him for that, McCrum assures us that Wodehouse did not volunteer, because he felt he would be unfit - I wonder.
The major attractions of the book for me, are the chronology of the books and the inferences McCrum makes about Wodehouse's personal circumstances. He was a most guarded personality, not given to personal revelation and the books are lightness itself, yet McCrum makes some convincing arguments about Wodehouse's feelings from the various texts. Wodehouse lived so long, and his work changed so little, that he went from writing recognizable humour to historical fiction within his lifetime.
Less known (at least to me) is the range of Wodehouse's work, he was a journalist, a theatre critic, a novelist and a lyricist - working with Cole Porter and the Gershwins.
It is the sheer craft of his work that delights - for me it is the ability to convey the full implications of the Wooster plots, through the dim-wittedness of the narrator, that makes Wodehouse unmatched. However, in some senses, he was the last of the Victorian writers - his work was serialised in popular magazines, as well as published in book form. For each novel he had four sources of income - US and UK serialization rights and book royalties, as he turned out a book a year, he became very wealthy, though his constant house-changing may have been a taxation issue as much as anything else. To have written characters which define an epoch, was a triumph. To have done so in the Twentieth Century, when the public looked to novelists to define life's meaning, may have led to Wodehouse's downfall, for he was never really interested in anything outside of professional writing, his family and sport.
I would fault McCrum's book in two ways - there is an over concentration on Wodehouse's sexuality, too much is made of fleeting references from a man who was extremely careful not to parade his life, views or feelings in public. I think no effort is made to see him as a man of his (Edwardian) times. Also McCrum does not convey a sense of Wodehouse's aging - it is difficult to envisage him as changing in character or style or experience, at any point from 1918 to 1940, thereafter it is despair and increasing infirmity which mark him.
Nonetheless this is an extremely entertaining read and I recommend it highly.

Having been a fan of Wodehouse for years, I decided to pick up a copy of this book to get the inside scoop on the man behind the stories. For starters, it was a great read. I had a hard time putting it down. What an incredible life this man lived!

More than just giving valuable insight into how all the great Wodehousian characters came to be, this book offers a rare look into what kind of a person Wodehouse was, the wide variety of experiences he lived through, and (perhaps most interesting of all, as Wodehouse was a private person) how the two are linked together. Many accounts of P.G. Wodehouse's life seem to fall short when it comes to linking his life with his work. On the surface, they appear very different, almost irreconcilable. It is here that McCrum truly excels.

After reading this book, I don't believe (as some say) that Wodehouse was a "dull" person at all. He simply wasn't the witty social butterfly that people expected him to be after they read his works. He was a shy and private man who grew up in a different era; a genius who lived a life of quiet optimism even when under the harshest of circumstances (consider his prison camp internment and the Berlin Broadcasts).

If you're a fan, McCrum's book will only help enrich your appreciation of Wodehouse. I heartily recommend it.

McCrum's book is an excellent, exhaustive account of Wodehouse's long life. McCrum avoids the trap of many biographers, that is, becoming an apologist for his subject. It would have been easy for McCrum to do 60 years after Wodehouse's controversial involvement with the Nazis during World War II. But McCrum's account is beautifully balanced, pointing out Wodehouse's strongest writings, as well as his weakest, all the while taking Wodehouse to task for his naivete of world affairs. McCrum's account gives me the impression that, seemingly, Wodehouse was about as deep and frothy as his wonderfully light-hearted books.
One of the oddities of this book, however, is how Wodehouse's immediate family, essentially, disappears upon his becoming professional. Granted, Wodehouse did not have a close relationship with his parents given their absence during his upbringing, but does McCrum believe that all connections were severed? If so, that part of Wodehouse's life certainly needed to be explored more fully or explained with greater depth.

Frederick Davidson manages to nearly ruin what is otherwise a perfectly good Jeeves story with his sneering, supercilious delivery. Bertie Wooster should never sound like an arrogant snob, nor should Jeeves sound like John Carradine at his most sinister.

The book "Jeeves and the Tie That Binds" is Wodehouse in good form, with an interesting plot and a good handful of pithy one-liners, if a -little- too much reliance on running gags and the "if X is the word I want" bit. This one is also particularly notable in the Jeeves/Wooster canon for containing the ultimate fate of Madeline Bassett and what is probably Jeeves' highest tribute of devotion to his employer (but I won't spoil it for you).

In short, get the print edition of "Jeeves and the Tie That Binds," and avoid this unfortunate rendition. For audio presentation of Jeeves stories, you're best sticking to Jonathan Cecil for reading duties, for his fizzy and nicely-varied presentation.

The club for butlers in London, the Junior Ganymede, requires every member to provide details about their employers. Jeeves has done so, giving them information about Bertie Wooster, about 18 pages long. And the book is now in the wrong hands. Not just the wrong hands but at the worst time. The Market Snodbury Election is about to happen and the pages from that book could swing the voters. To spice up things it seems Spode and Madeline have broken up again. Add Rex Stout novels, cats and crossword puzzles and you have something for everybody.

I agree with another reviewer that this seems to be the same book as Much Obliged Jeeves. That happens with a lot of P.G. Wodehouse books as they were published with different titles (and often slight revisions) in Britain and America. Some also began life as serials in magazines, particularly the Saturday Evening Post. A few places list all the alternate titles, as in Joseph Connolly's P.G. Wodehouse and Richard Usborne's Plum Sauce.

Other reviewers have noted that this is not the best book of the Jeeves/ Wooster nexus. Having said that, if you've read all the others, you'll enjoy it very much. Published four years before PGW died, it serves as both the denoument of the Jeeves and Wooster series, and as a reminiscence of their adventures. All of these books are written in the first person as Bertie Wooster's musings and remembrances, often with asides to the reader filling in the backstory thus far, but this one revisits nearly their entire career. Quite enjoyable for those who've read those books: "remember that time that Madeline Basset..." but for new readers, not the place to start. Fortunately numerous other titles beckon, like breadcrumbs left on a road, and following it one meanders one's way through all the books, culminating in Jeeves and the Tie That Binds.

This is a very special book. Written by Wodehouse at age 90, it celebrates the deep affection and friendship that grew between Bertie and Jeeves as a result of their many years of shared adventures--"the tie that binds".

Followers of the series know that Bertie belongs to the Drones men's club. In chapter one, we learn that Jeeves has also long belonged to a club for "gentlemen's gentlemen" (butlers and valets) known as the Junior Ganymede. The Junior Ganymede requires its members to contribute information about their employers to the club book. When this book (complete with its 11 pages of "dynamite" about poor Bertie's misadventures) is stolen by a villianous ex-valet a crisis ensues.

Friends of Bertie and Jeeves will greatly enjoy the warm, gentle humor of "Jeeves and the Tie That Binds".

'Jeeves & The Tie That Binds' was assigned reading for a college 'Humor in Lit' class. As so often happened to me in college, I managed to get through the class without doing the assigned reading.

What a mistake!

A week ago I happened to pick 'Jeeves & The Tie That Binds' up off of my bookshelf. I rarely so much as chuckle when reading, but P.G. Wodehouse's bumbling Bertie Wooster and his arch-English Butler Jeeves had me laughing out loud.

The story is a whirling cacaphony that includes Bertie's friend Ginger Winship standing for Parliment, money troubles, the Junior Ganymede club book (and it's dangerous contents), engagements, disengagements, theft, and every other manner of absurdity. Not that the plot really matters. P.G. Wodehouse's comic genius is in his wordplay and comic timing.

If you really want to delve into Wodehouse, you would find the ever present English obsession with class but you'd also be ruining a wonderfully light hearted piece of writing through over-examination. At only 208 pages, it's the perfect book for an airplane flight or a train ride.

I was more disappointed with the reviews of this book on Amazon.com than with the book itself! O.K., maybe it is "post-war angst", maybe it's the Long Island malaise, these stories are a bit darker than the "classics" of Blandings Castle or the Drones Club.

But, dash it, they are Wodehouse and show an important part of his personality and the personality of his wonderful characters. Imagine a Jeeves-on-loan! Brilliant! It proves that Jeeves isn't only Jeeves at Bertie's side.

By the way, isn't "Bill" Shannon (aka, "The Old Reliable") an lovely example of the modern, liberated woman! "The Butler Did It" also takes a deserved, but painless, whack at modern art.

Don't let preconceptions tarnish what could well be "five of the best" from the master.

I enjoyed them immensely.

I'm a huge Wodehouse fan, and I find this to be the oddest of all collections. Unlike anything else I've read by Wodehouse, these tales take place after WWII, imbuing the normally bucolic Wodehousian universe with a discomforting sense of dread, of post-war angst. Wodehouse, who himself had much angst following the War, seems to let it show in these stories. A Postlapsarian Wodehouse is a very shaky Wodehouse indeed; oh, for the edenic airs of Blandings Castle, or the gentle hum of the Drones in the early afternoon. The reader is better off there.

It is a wonderful book with great humor.

but I wouldn't want anyone basing his/her opinion of the large and largely breathtakingly wit of Wodehouse's collected work based merely on this budget anthology.

The novels are set in post-World War II England, and as such they reflect those dispiriting times. The great mansions are in ruin from confiscatory taxation, TV distracts the intellect, Hollywood (not the London theater) dominates popular entertainment, and a loyal butler like Jeeves is clearly a holdover from a different era in which his employers were not, relatively speaking, impoverished.

Wodehouse's fans (of which there are many, both in the UK and the USA) will probably want to read these novels anyway. But if you are contemplating your first exposure to Wodehouse, I'd recommend instead any of his "classic" Bertie-and-Jeeves novels from the 1920s, when social class, punctilio, pith, dry wit and a plenitude of household help for the rich were integral elements of this type of humor. CARRY ON, JEEVES! happens to be my favorite, but there are plenty of other wonderful reads from this era.

Fans of P.G. Wodehouse often refer to Jeeves as a butler, but as Bertie Wooster reminds us, Jeeves is actually a gentleman's gentleman, a valet. But on occasion, Jeeves is pressed into service as a butler, and performs quite well.

Imagine the surprise that many P.G. Wodehouse fans have when they open The Butler Did It and find that the butler in question is a Mr. Augustus Keggs, the English butler for one J.J. Bunyan, an American multimillionaire. But this Keggs is a worthy character who fans of Jeeves will find to be very rewarding.

The book has one of the most intriguing plots in all of the Wodehouse novels. As the story opens, it is the night of September tenth, 1929, just before the collapse of the American stock market. Bunyan is entertaining a group of bored millionaires who are having a hard time deciding how to spend the money they are raking in. Among his guests is Mortimer Bayliss, his art curator, who cannot help but want to stir up the philistines. Bayliss proposes that the men each put up $50,000 with the proceeds of the tontine to go to the last of their sons to marry. Naturally, they have to keep the whole matter a secret or deny themselves the possibility of ever having grandchildren.

The book then glides forward in time to the mid 1950s in England as the end game of the tontine arrives. Mr. Keggs is a fellow tenant with Lord Uffenham (who has fallen on hard times), whom he formerly served as a butler, and his niece, Jane Benedick. Mr. Kegg's own niece, Emma, is engaged to marry Roscoe Bunyan, son of the late J.J. Bunyan, of the tontine. Like the wise and omniscient butler he is, Mr. Keggs had recorded the conversation that night and knows all about the tontine. The tontine is down to Roscoe and one other. Mr. Keggs decides that the time has come to intercede.

Jane is engaged to one Stanhope Twine, a hopeless sculptor, but the two cannot marry because Twine hasn't the funds. Mr. Keggs suggests to Roscoe that Twine is the other member of the tontine, and that Twine will marry in a heartbeat if he can get hold of some money. Keggs suggests that Roscoe buy a percentage of Twine's future earnings in exchange for a payment now. Keggs naturally hopes to be well paid for his advice, and is thoroughly annoyed when Roscoe only gives him fifty pounds for information about a tontine payment of over a million dollars.

Here's where the plot begins to unravel. Twine takes the money and jilts Jane. Roscoe jilts Emma, and Cupid is not exactly being served.

But Keggs has been playing a game. Twine isn't really in on the tontine.

Next, Keggs sells the information to Roscoe for $100,000. Roscoe doesn't want to pay and hires a detective to get back the agreement as well as Roscoe's letters to Emma.

In the meantime, Bill Hollister falls head over heels for Jane and she for him . . . having known each other as children. Bill Hollister's name really is in the tontine, and Mr. Keggs has to try to sort out all of the romances and the money. Ultimately, he succeeds . . . but in a way that no reader could hope to anticipate. It's a marvelously funny story with great plot complications.

To my way of thinking, The Butler Did It is one of the five best P.G. Wodehouse books I have read.

Capital! Capital! Capital!

Towards the end of his career, P.G. Wodehouse found himself charmed by the idea of reprising the characters who and plot lines that provided the greatest triumphs in his earlier books. Bertie Wooster Sees It Through is a worthy sequel of that sort.

In the earlier book, you may remember that Stilton Cheesewright and Bertie Wooster had been schoolmates in preparatory school, at Eton and at Oxford. Stilton chose to become a policeman and his career led him to become very serious and strict in his outlook, so that Bertie thinks of him as "that blighter Stilton." Love transformed his life when he fell for the writer, Florence Craye. But Florence is also apt to respond well to Bertie, and Stilton takes that personally. When we last saw them, Florence and Stilton were engaged.

In this story, Bertie's Aunt Dahlia enlists him to come to her country home, Brinkley Court, to help her entertain a family by the name of Trotter. The assignment seems to be off to a rocky start, however, when the Trotters' stepson, Percy Gorringe, calls Bertie to hit him up for 1,000 pounds. That seems like too much entertaining and Bertie declines.

In the meantime, Bertie has started growing a mustache and Jeeves doesn't approve. In fact, no one else does either . . . except Florence Craye. That enrages an already touchy Stilton, who fears that Bertie is trying to steal Florence. Soon, Stilton is also sporting the hairy stuff on his upper lip. To make matters worse, Stilton has a large stake on Bertie in the Drones Club dart championship and decides that Bertie should starting keeping regular hours and keep off the sauce. And that's just why Bertie doesn't want to have anything to do with Florence, she's not only brainy . . . she also likes to improve her men. And Bertie likes himself just the way he is.

Stilton is also the jealous type and quickly turns suspicious when Bertie is picked up after a raid on a late-night bistro where Bertie had taken Florence at her request to do some research on local color.

But Aunt Dahlia has an even more serious problem. She has pawned her new necklace to buy the serial rights to a new story, and her husband, Uncle Tom, is about to have it appraised. She has been hiding the fact by wearing cultured pearls instead, but is about to be caught. Naturally, she decides to have Bertie steal the cultured pearls. And equally naturally, that proves to be more difficult than anyone can imagine and with unexpected consequences. And so the country farce begins!

Bertie Wooster Sees It Through has that nice combination of serious pending threats, irrational fears and hopes, and muddle-headedness that makes for such good social comedy. Like all of the best P.G. Wodehouse books, the language sparkles with original similes, metaphors and allusions.

Jolly good show!

This has everything I need to know from front to back. I even emailed the author a question and got a reply almost immediately!

As a Pastor and a writer, I recommend this book wholeheartidly. This isn't "The Guaranteed to get published Christian Writer's Market Guide" for those of you who are confused. It is a very comprehensive work of suberb, and I would imagine, painstaking detail that Sally has gathered from various Publishing Houses, Periodicals, Writer's groups, Literary Agents and the Likes. It is a much needed resource for any serious Christian Writer. It is a "tool" to help us unlock the doors into the very competitive publishing industry, which changes by the day. Sally even gives updates to the market in her monthly column "Write Markets" found in the "Christian Communicator." This book is essential and is worth every cent. Sometimes just browsing through the pages gives me motivation to keep on writing and see the Gospel proclaimed in as many ways as I can.
Pastor Tom Iannucci
Breath of Life Christian Ministries
Kauai

Well, I wish I could back this book 100%, but I can't.

I've found the information in it very unreliable. For example, one publisher I contacted turned out to be a vanity press, although Sally Stuart didn't identify them as such. In addition, I found many agents that were listed had either moved or were no longer in business. Perhaps the book needs to be updated more regularly?

I have yet to discover a solid publisher or agent through this book that isn't listed in the Writer's Market.

Now in a fully updated and expanded sixteenth edition, Sally Stuart's Christian Writers' Market Guide continues to be a complete and accurate reference guide and resource for Christian writers seeking publication. It is the only guide written exclusively for the Christian market and includes websites, publisher email address-es, and guidelines for novice writers seeking to break out into print. The Christian Writers' Market Guide is an indispensable, essential resource for becoming published within the Christian community.

Sally Stuart continues to provide complete and necessary information for any writer looking to be published in the Christian marketplace. If that's your market, buy this book.

Itemized and thorough, readers of the Writer's Digest writer's markets will not be disappointed. Cross referenced ministry... have a seemingly obscure niche article? She has created a section outlining the niches, listing the publications which serve them.

It is well-edited and cleanly laid out.

Useful would be this book on a searchable CD. The book lacks bigtime here. I want to search all publications publishing poetry, and have the results returned in one area. It takes a long time to thumb through and read each one. I'd like to search all the poetry publishers which pay for the poems... you can see how this would be handy. Maybe next year.

Having held out to buy a new edition, I suffered using a 1999 version. Editors, publications change locations and needs. I acquired far too many rejection slips and returned mail for delaying my purchase of this new edition. Don't make the same mistake!

I fully recommend this book.