Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
What I mean is, while there's no doubt that in certain matters of dress Jeeves's judgment is absolutely sound and should be followed, it seemed to me that it was getting a bit too thick if he was going to edit my face as well as my costume. No one can call me an unreasonable chappie, and many's the time I've given in like a lamb when Jeeves has voted against one of my pet suits or ties; but when it comes to a valet's staking out a claim on your upper lip you've simply got to have a bit of the good old bulldog pluck and defy the blighter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The First Bertie/Jeeves Collection with Reggie Pepper, too
According to the PG Wodehouse website, this was the first collection of the Jeeves and Bertie stories to be published in book form (in 1919) and also includes three Reggie Pepper stories.Reggie Pepper was the precursor to the Wooster/Jeeves stories and RP is almost a combination of the two.It would seem that PG was smart enough to realize that by splitting the concept into two people, he could create dialog between the two as opposed to writing about RPs musings.History would probably agree that he made the write choice (pun intended).

The W/J stories are standard PG fare with Jeeves always having the right solution to any problem, including which tie to wear.Bertie does a good job of standing in for the 'dissipate' pre-WW1 fin-de-siecle English Aristo who were killed off in droves during 'The Great War' doing their best for King and Country.

More than anything, these stories preserve a time that will never come again and people who probably never really existed in the first place.It would seem that anyone as smart as Jeeves would take his knowledge and make a fortune, don't you know! And that someone like Bertie would either walk in front of a 'motor' or fall down a 'lift shaft', bugger all!

More than that, it preserve a 'language' that in itself is so self-depre- cating as to impress the modern ear as to be comedic in the dryest and funniest sense.Bertie way of speaking and his way of looking at things from that special bent of his, reminds me of John Cleese (in Monty Python) doing his best to give a report from a desk in a field with a war going on behind him.Totally unfazed and non-plussed and unmussed.

Topping, don't you think, what?

clean surface and sleek condition
the book is in excellent, in fact, perfect, shape, and has a beautiful feel to it--the contents are the usual brilliant Jeeves and Wooster humor!

A bed book for reading in the bed.
I love Jeeves stories and these are some of the first.But not all are about Jeeves and Wooster, thou they would show up in later books changed to be Jeeves and Wooster stories.
A bed book, as I pointed out, is meant to be used while in bed.It is designed so you can read it while on your side.I like to read books while laying on my front in bed, so it is nice to have.I had to take a star away for the fact that not ALL stories were of the J & W type.

A cure for insomnia
I listen to audio books all night - re-cuing to where I left off every time I wake up. Jeeves is a very light, relaxing, entertaining listen - especially when narrated by Jarvis. I DO laugh out loud occasionally - even on the 2nd or 5th listen - and even at 3am, but the lightness of the stories and the humor are surpassed (to my taste) only by John Mortimer's Rumpole series read by Leo McKern.

Like "Tootsie" the movie, you won't come away from this with a different outlook on life, but it's good escape and, for me, chases away the worries that night in the George Bush era bring.

Early Jeeves/Wooster, and Reggie Pepper too
This was the earliest (1919) of Wodehouse's short story collections to mention Jeeves in the title, and these are very early Jeeves/Wooster stories. But only half of the stories in this volume are set in the Wooster household. The other half of these stories feature Reggie Pepper. Pepper can be thought of as a proto-Bertie, but he has no Jeeves-like character around. The Reggie Pepper stories are also similar to the Jeeves/Wooster stories in that they are written in Reggie's voice. Once Wodehouse got rolling with the Jeeves/Wooster stories, he abandoned Reggie Pepper. I think there are only eight Reggie Pepper stories in total, with half of them found in this collection.

A few points are worth noting. The earliest Jeeves/Wooster story is not in this collection. That first story was "Extricating Gussie", which is to be found in the 1917 collection "The Man With Two Left Feet." It is in "Extricating Gussie" that Jeeves and Wooster travel to New York. All the Jeeves/Wooster stories in "My Man Jeeves" are set in New York as well. Another factor to bear in mind is that most of these early stories were later reworked, and appear in "Carry On, Jeeves." The story "Leave it to Jeeves" appears in "Carry On" as "The Artistic Career of Corky", with the first few paragraphs re-written for that version. The stories "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" and "Jeeves and The Hard-Boiled Egg" appear in "Carry On" with no obvious alterations. Also, the story "Helping Freddie" appears in "Carry On" as "Fixing it for Freddie", but in that case the story has been changed from a Reggie Pepper vehicle to one featuring Bertie and Jeeves - the plot and much of the language carry directly through this transformation.

In short, three of the four Jeeves/Wooster stories, and one of the Reggie Pepper stories, appear, with varying degrees of alteration, in "Carry On, Jeeves." The only Jeeves/Wooster item in this collection that doesn't appear in "Carry On" is "The Aunt and the Sluggard." ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks.Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG- - If the management of the Hotel Guelph, that London landmark, could have been present at three o'clock one afternoon in early January in the sitting-room of the suite which they had assigned to Mrs Elmer Ford, late of New York, they might well have felt a little aggrieved. Philosophers among them would possibly have meditated on the limitations of human effort; for they had done their best for Mrs Ford. They had housed her well. They had fed her well. They had caused inspired servants to anticipate her every need. Yet here she was, in the midst of all these aids to a contented mind, exhibiting a restlessness and impatience of her surroundings that would have been noticeable in a caged tigress or a prisoner of the Bastille. She paced the room. She sat down, picked up a novel, dropped it, and, rising, resumed her patrol. The clock striking, she compared it with her watch, which she had consulted two minutes before. She opened the locket that hung by a gold chain from her neck, looked at its contents, and sighed. Finally, going quickly into the bedroom, she took from a suit-case a framed oil-painting, and returning with it to the sitting-room, placed it on a chair, and stepped back, gazing at it hungrily. Her large brown eyes, normally hard and imperious, were strangely softened. Her mouth quivered. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Gold in the rough
Peter Burns, at the insistence of his fiancée Cynthia, sets out to kidnap Ogden Ford, son of an American millionaire, and return the boy to the custody of his doting mother.Knowing Ogden will soon be arriving at Sanstead House, an English preparatory school, Burns secures a teaching post there.However, Burns is not the only one attempting to kidnap Ogden.Rival criminals Buck MacGinnis and Smooth Sam Fisher are both trying to get hold of the boy.To further complicate matters, the school's butler is a Pinkerton's detective in disguise and the woman who jilted Burns five years earlier is also employed at Sanstead House.

I quite enjoyed this comical thriller.The story is light-hearted and full of amusing characters and humorous situations.But this is not a typical Wodehouse farce.At times, the book is somber as the protagonist engages in self-examination.There are some beautiful yet poignant reflections on being in love.The story climaxes with a rather suspenseful chase sequence complete with gunplay.As a long-time Wodehouse reader, I found thesedifferences in both style and content refreshing.

Although the book may lack the polished wit and sparkling prose of Wodehouse's later works, "The Little Nugget" is still a gem.

What Makes It Different Makes It Good
The Little Nugget was my first experience with PGW, and I've since gone on to read several more. More serious in its nature than any of the other Wodehouse's I've ever read, Nugget is still a hillarious story--if not more wistful in the romance section. Smooth Sam Fisher is possibly the most likable villain I have ever read--every section with him had me rolling. While this might not be the best place to start, this is still an excellent novel and a humorous, easy read.

The Inimitable Wodehouse
However happy your mood, reading a Wodehouse book will turn it up a notch. The early Wodehouse novels are no exception. "The Little Nugget" is funny, exciting, and romantic. It doesn't have as many memorable lines as a Jeeves and Wooster story, but it's definitely worth reading and is very interesting to those of us who have already read and re-read "The Inimitable Jeeves."

Not A Typical Wodehouse Story
Part of the fun of P. G. Wodehouse's stories is that even when you know where the characters will end up, it is usually by a path which is unpredictable.Unfortunately, that isn't true in the case of "The Little Nugget".While the story does have a few curves in it, compared to a typical Wodehouse it is a veritable straight line.The book is divided into two parts.The first is very short, and introduces the character of Ogden Ford, i.e. The Little Nugget, and his mother Nesta, as well as her associates which lead us to the narrator of the second part of the book, Peter Burns.Peter has been asked by his fiancée Cynthia (who works for Nesta Ford) to kidnap Ogden from the school in which his father has placed him, and deliver The Little Nugget to his mother.

While there are a few moments in the story, in general it just doesn't measure up to the other Wodehouse stories that I have read.In particular it pales compared to "Piccadilly Jim", which sees the return of Ogden and his mother, but in a different setting and with a much more entertaining plot full of twists and turns.In particular, this is not a good choice for someone unfamiliar with Wodehouse, as they would miss out on what a typical Wodehouse story is like.

This is an early Wodehouse book, first being published on August 28, 1913 by Methuen & Co. London.In the U.S., it was first published on February 10, 1914 by W. J. Watt and Company.This edition is part of The Collector's Wodehouse series published by Overlook Press in the U.S., and in the U.K. it is known as The Everyman Wodehouse series published by Everyman's Library.This title is not part of one of Wodehouse's series, although as mentioned before there are characters that appear in a later book.

Bot a Wooster style story, but an enjoyable read
The Little Nugget was Agatha Christie's favourite Wodehouse - a choice Wodehouse himself was offended by (as he felt she was not keeping up to date with his latest works). The book contains traces of the "school" genre of writing (e.g "The Pothunters") with its school and setting and gangster involvement. There is also a romantic storyline - unlike the humorous romances of the Wodehouse's later works (the various struggles of the later Blandings books, or the Wooster romances) this has a slightly more serious tone to it - a reminder that Wodehouse wrote for Mills and Boon in his time. The humour, though undoubtedly something different from the polished Jeeves and Wooster dialogue is still very good, and the character of the "little Nugget" is well captured in all his repulsiveness. Indeed his reappearance in "Picadilly Jim" builds on this story - and shows Wodehouses recognition that this was a good comic character that could be developed further. Overall, those whose previous experience of Wodehouse has been Wooster or Lord Emsworth may find themselves a little shocked by the different tone here, but it is a good story with occasional flashes of inspiration in the dialogue. I would not agree with Agatha ... Read more

Book Description
The Girl on the Boat features red-haired, dog-loving Wilhelmina "Billie" Bennet, and the three men, a long-time friend and admirer of Billie, a lily-livered poet who is engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale, and his dashing cousin, who falls for Billie at first sight. All four find themselves on an ocean liner headed for England together, and typically Wodehousian romantic shenanigans ensue. ... Read more

Book Description
In a moment of absentmindedness, Lord Emsworth helps himself to a priceless relic, leaving its owner to offer a thousand pounds for its return. Pretty soon, Blandings is a madhouse with people tripping over one another to claim the prize. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Brilliant
Very funny book. One of the Wodehouse series I have truly and thoroughly enjoyed.

It's worth it for that one scene at night with Emsworth wandering with a revolver and the "Efficient Baxter" stumbling into some surprises.

I read that portion and had tears running down my cheeks and an aching belly for the next two weeks from laughing so hard! The visualisation of that scene isn't hard to do, since Wodehouse is an amazing artist with words.... and it's rewarding.

Too funny!

You won't regret it!

The First From Blandings Castle
This book was first published as "Something New" in the U.S. on September 3rd, 1915 by D. Appleton and Company, and then in the U.K. on September 16th, 1915 by Methuen & Co., and this is the first of the Blandings Castle stories.As far as Wodehouse stories go this is not his best, but it does introduce characters which appear in many of his later works.

The main two characters of the story are Ashe Marson, a writer of cheap detective novels, and Joan Valentine, a woman who lives in his apartment building who laughs at his morning exercises which results in their meeting.Neither of them is satisfied with what they are doing in life, and both are in the need for money.

The story moves to different characters from time to time, in typical Wodehouse fashion.Important characters include Aline Peters, Jane's friend who is engaged to Frederick Threepwood, who is the son of the Earl of Emsworth who is the lord of Blandings Castle, and is a very absent minded individual.Jane's father is J. Preston Peters, an American business man who collects scarabs and suffers from digestion problems.

Other characters included are Baxter, the Earl's secretary, and R. Jones, a less than honest man whom Frederick has hired to recover love letters he wrote to an actress (Joan Valentine) in the past which might contain evidence for a breach of promises suit.There are also the many guests and servants of Blandings Castle.

It would be impossible to cover all the twists in a Wodehouse plot, but many of his usual devices are here.Characters pretending to be someone they are not, misunderstandings galore, and love, of course.Some of the scenes which I liked the best included Baxter's attempts to catch someone trying to steal the Scarab, and the servant scenes where the hierarchy of servants comes into play.I have yet to read a Wodehouse book which wasn't enjoyable, and this one is no exception.However, there are many of his stories which are better than this one.

This edition is part of "The Collector's Wodehouse" series being published by The Overlook Press in the U.S. (in the U.K. it is "The Everyman's Wodehouse" series being published by Everyman's Library).

The Company You Keep
In P.G. Wodehouse (Thames and Hudson Literary Lives Series), James Connolly offers this advice: "Relax and reread Wodehouse; he's the boy to restore a sense of proportion." Absolutely good advice. I find rereading Wodehouse is more enjoyable than most first reads of other authors, and he's quite easy to reread, even if you don't intend to, because his stories appear in various collections and his novels were often published under various titles.

Something Fresh, officially the first book in the Blandings Castle saga, was published as "Something New" as a serial in The Saturday Evening Post in 1915, and then as a book with the same title in an American edition. "Something Fresh" is a slightly altered British edition of that book. Ashe Marson, the unknown author of the hard-boiled Gridley Quayle, Investigator series of paperback pulps, answers an ad: "WANTED--Young Man of Good Appearance, who is poor and reckless, to undertake delicate and dangerous enterprise. Good pay for the right man." Poor and reckless is a formula in Wodehouse for a good-hearted, down on his luck guy, about to be smiled upon by a beneficent Providence. It's a carry-over from his work in musical comedy and as a struggling writer, but he is one of the few authors who make his leading characters writers, and one of the very few who throws them any of the good parts.

This book is a double bonus, with not only Ashe, but a female writer, Joan Valentine, who knows even more of the hard-bitten life of the streets, and is therefore even poorer and more reckless, as a stellar second in the personnel. Throw in all sorts of millionaires and mix-ups, maids and butlers, a loveable, old, potty Earl, and the beginning of the crime wave at Blandings, and you have the makings of either a rollicking musical comedy or a long series of delightful novels. With Wodehouse it was both. He alternated between the two worlds and if Something Fresh were a film or a musical, Ashe and Joan would no doubt break into song and start dancing about the parlour, as do Gracie Allen, George Burns and Fred Astaire in the Gershwin Brothers' film adaption of Wodehouse's novel, A Damsel in Distress. Why four stars? You can't give everything five, and in my view, as good as Something Fresh is, some of the later Wodehouse novels (such as the Jeeves, Mulliner and Drones Stories) are even better.

Blandings Castle is never bland nor dull!
This is the first Blandings Castle novel, and the first novel in what we now think as the true P.G. Wodehouse style. For the first time, the interplay between absent-minded peers, quick-to-anger relatives and friends, and those amazing good-natured yet good-for-nothing younger sons come together in a comic dance of quick assumptions, identity switches, flirts with embarrassment, and, oh yes, love.

If Wodehouse wasn't so widely admired by the critics, I would have to claim him as a guilty pleasure. Although I can quote style and form with the best of them, the real truth is that I read Wodehouse because he amuses. In Wodehouse's hands, the sly wink equals the over-the-top exaggeration, and only one will work in the place that he puts it.

I tried to slow my reading speed down on this book, to gain an understanding of the flow and the way the language worked. I failed miserably--before I realized it, I was caught up once again in the action of the story and I wasn't observing but enjoying. I'm thinking that to truly study a novel, I am going to have to force myself to retype it.

All the intrigue of Sherlock Holmes...minus the dead bodies
If your acquaintance with the wonderful world of Wodehouse begins and ends with Jeeves and that bit of a thick-o, Bertram Wilburforce W. then it's high time you came to Blandings Castle to meet Lord Emsworth and his idiot son Freddie,what?And "something fresh" is exactly where you'd want to start.Structured like a detective or spy novel and woven ever so tightly,it leaves you wondering....could all this bally intrigue be about something so incredibly silly? (and I'm far and away from meaning silly as an insult).Lighthearted and romantic without ever being lightweight, beautifully written and zanily paced, you'll want to spend a holiday as a guest at Blandings castle as soon as possible.Go ahead,satisfy your anglophilic urges...read some Wodehouse! ... Read more

Product Description
Beloved British humorist P.G. Wodehouse produced a wealth of literature in his lengthy career, contributing novels, short stories, plays, lyrics and essays to the canon of comic writing. His work in film and television included two stints as a screenwriter, and his stories have been the basis for more than 150 film and television productions. He also wrote several novels and essays about Hollywood, often satirizing the city and its entertainment magnates. This book studies P.G. Wodehouse’s extensive, but often overlooked, relationship with Tinsel Town. The book is arranged chronologically, covering Wodehouse’s Hollywood career from his early efforts in silent film, to his later contributions in television, to his work adapted posthumously for the screen.It includes a discussion of his internment in occupied France and how his brief appearances on German radio, which he intended as a way of communicating with concerned fans in America, led to his forced separation from his homeland and his assumption of American citizenship in 1955. Reflecting Wodehouse’s international appeal, the book cites both British and American sources and explains differences between international anthologies, performances and broadcasts of his work. Also included are a comprehensive, detailed list of Wodehouse’s stories and articles about Hollywood, and a complete filmography of motion picture and television works to which he contributed or which were based on his stories. ... Read more

Book Description
Despite marriage to a millionaire's daughter and success as a vice-president of Donaldson's Inc., manufacturers of the world-famous Donaldson's Dog-Joy, Freddie Threepwood, Lord Emsworth's younger son, still goes in fear of his aunts when at Blandings Castle.Full Moon tells the story of how he faces them down while promoting the love of Bill Lister and Prudence Garland.

A charming Blandings comedy with a full Wodehouse complement of aunts, pigs, millionaires, colonels, imposters and dotty earls. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Veronica Wedge Snaps Up Her Millionaire!
Full Moon is one of the better Blandings Castle episodes and is graced by a delightful set of illustrations by Paul Galdone that increase the fun.

When there's a young American millionaire in the woods, the British nobility are apt to trot out their finest-looking, young unmarried women.In the latest generation, that's Veronica Wedge, daughter of Lady Hermione Wedge who is the sister to Clarence, ninth Earl of Emsworth.What Veronica offers in beauty, though, is more than lost in brainpower.So one needs a very shallow, very rich American for her.But unexpected difficulties arise because Freddie Threepwood, Clarence's not-too-bright son, is in charge of squiring Tipton Plimsoll, the American millionaire, around.

Tipton has been on a toot.He's just come into his money and seems dedicated to drinking it up.But some red spots lead him to wonder if he's overdoing it.A trip to the doctor's office warns him that seeing spectres could be next.That observation becomes the basis of a running gag as Plimsoll comes to regard another young lover, Bill Lister, as a spectre whenever Plimsoll sees Lister.Frightened by Lister, Plimsoll decides to go to Blandings to take the cure for his alcoholism . . . and falls madly for Veronica Wedge.

A new problem arises though when Plimsoll perceives that Veronica and Freddie are very friendly.Assuming the worst, Plimsoll stifles his feelings and wanders around depressed.

There's a second romance that needs help.Bill Lister finds himself stood up at the registry office where his awaited his bridge to be, Prudence Garland.Prudence has been bundled off to Blandings Castle by her mother, Dora, also one of Clarence's sisters so that Hermione can keep the young suitor at bay.Prudence becomes annoyed that Bill won't give up on painting in order to run an inn near Oxford.And even if he gives up on painting, they still need 700 pounds to fix the old place up.

Into the breach comes Galahad Threepwood who wants all the young lovers to be happy.In the process, he introduces Bill Lister into Blandings Castle on three occasions under false colors and helps overcome Plimsoll's wavering.

Along the way, there's enough good fun and goofiness to amuse anyone. ... Read more

Book Description
Bertie Wooster's friend Gussie Fink-Nottle must spend two weeks in jail for illegal fountain wading. Worse, Gussie's fiancee Madeline, a volatile young woman who turns to Bertie when Gussie upsets her, will probably not take the news very well. Bertie's idea of impersonating Gussie triggers an array of comic complications in this witty romp. As always, Jeeves, who dons his own disguise, comes through to save the day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not up to usual standard.
This is not P.G. Wodehouse at it's best amd this,I think, is due to the narration. For me, Jonathan Cecil just cannot compare with Martin Jarvis as a narrator.

nopunctuationinthewhole5cds
I have several Jeeves CDs and many, many, many Rumpole CDs.I put both in the same genre because they're written lightly but with a brilliant sense of humor.Unfortunately with "The Mating Season," either Wodehouse forgot to include punctuation or the narrator, Jonathan Cecil, was in a hurry to get to dinner.He's better suited as a disclaimor reader at the end of automobile commercials.

Try "Carry on Jeeves" - or "My Man Jeeves" both narrated by Martin Jarvis, or ANY Rumpole narrated by Leo McKern.

Nix on this one.

Wodehouse+Cecil=Perfection
We have sampled most of the narrations of Wodehouse's books over the years - from cast dramatisations from the BBC with Richard Briers to Jarvis to Jonathan Cecil and can tell you that Cecil comes out on top.

I can comfortably tell you to ignore the blighter who most ill-advisedly recommends Jarvis over Cecil.Jonathan Cecil brings consistency and clarity to some incredibly convoluted passages, the voices and affectations are appropriate and help the narrative.Pure joy is the only way to describe our experience of Cecil's reading of Wodehouse.

On my last rip to London, I picked up the remaining Wodehouse audiobooks narrated by Jonathan Cecil for our next long driving trip.One of joys was discovering that the U.K. release includes the narration of the preface/introduction written by P.G. Wodehouse (now missing from most paperback editions).

As for Wodehouse - All hail the master.I hope that your lives can slow down long enough to let the gentle humour and joy of his stories cast its spell on you.

Delightful
Do yourself a big favor and disregard the ill tempered blighter that gave this CD a poor review because of Cecil's reading...he preferred Davidson.Amazing!Yawn.....
Cecil is brilliant and far better in his interpretations than most others. A master of his art.A sensational deal too! Hear for yourself.

Great book--try the Frederick Davidson version instead
Jonathan Cecil isn't the best reader of this material.His Bertie is all right, but his Jeeves is all wrong.Cecil gives Jeeves an almost flamboyantly snooty accent that overplays the comedy and spoils the gentle irony of Jeeves' remarks.Also, the other male characters (besides Jeeves) sound too much like Bertie.Cecil also gives every line the same emphasis, as if he were putting an exclamation point at the end of every sentence, which becomes monotonous.

My advice: avoid Cecil and go straight to the version read by Frederick Davidson.Davidson reads this delicate material with just the right feeling.He doesn't push the jokes too hard, and lets Wodehouse's beautifully bizarre phrases do their own work.His Bertie is somehow more "real" than that of Cecil, who sometimes seems to be reading his lines one word at a time from a distant cue card.Davidson's Jeeves is far superior as well--more reserved, and at the same time much funnier.And Davidson gives each of the characters a unique, interesting, but non-irritating voice--especially the aunts.His Aunt Dahlia (who appears in some of the other books, but not this one) is astonishingly good.

I'll put it this way: if your favorite TV comedies have a laugh track, you'll probably prefer Cecil's reading.For a defter touch, I recommend Frederick Davidson. ... Read more

Book Description
Spring brings four more antic novels by P. G. Wodehouse. In Quick Service a complicated chain of events is set into motion after Mrs. Chavender takes a bite of breakfast ham, and readers are reminded that disaster can be averted if you Ring for Jeeves. Bertie Wooster avoids Madeleine Bassett in Much Obliged, Jeeves, at Blandings Castle, in Uncle Fred in the pringtime, Uncle Fred is asked to foil a plot to steal a prize pig. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Light But Entertaining Read
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881 to 1975) was a talented and prolific British comic writer of novels, short stories, plays, and musical comedies. He wrote 96 books, too many for most of us even to attempt to read from one author.

The Jeeves and Wooster stories are among his most popular works. They are light reading and are purely fictional comedy -based on life in Britain around or before the WWI era. There are approximately 18 books in the Jeeves series plus some short stories. All the stories are narrated by the "the wealthy, scatterbrained" Bertie Wooster and feature his butler Jeeves as a steadying force.

As pointed out by many others, "the plots are on the surface formulaic," but Wodehouse's genius lies in the ability to create a complicated web of characters and sub-plots that somehow have a happy ending. The plots often involve women, politics, and gambling. In many cases, a relative or a friend will create a situation which is inevitably solved through some unlikely and humorous set of events.

Jeeves, the butler or valet, is the most intelligent character in the stories with a superior education and intellect, far ahead of Bertie and most of the others. He seems to be everywhere anticipating problems and providing solutions. These stories are referred to as the "Jeeves" works. Wodehouse has suggested that Jeeves was not completely fictional but was based on an actual butler called Eugene Robinson, who he employed for the purpose of study. According to the author, he extricated Wodehouse from a real-life predicament.

In general, the books feature a humorous cast of characters with names that remind one of Dickens, such as Tuppy Glossop, Augustus (Gussie) Fink-Nottle, Bingo Little, Rev. Harold P. "Stinker" Pinker, Curate of Totleigh-in-the-Wold who plays rugby football, Freddie Widgeon, Harold Winship, who stands for parliament as the Conservative candidate in Market Snodsbury, Beefy Bingham, Parson in the East End, etc.

This is a quick light read of a few hundred pages. I thought it was very entertaining and had many twists and turns - as Bertie extricates himself from a potentially bad marriage engagement.

Great Fun in the Master's Inimitable Style
P.G. Wodehouse was ninety years old when he published this, the second-to-last of the Bertie and Jeeves novels.Despite Wodehouse's advanced age, he managed to fill this book, also published as Jeeves and the Tie That Binds, with the sparkle and fun that characterizes all the Bertie and Jeeves novels.

There is, of course, the usual cast.In addition to Bertie and Jeeves, Aunt Dahlia is present, as is her husband, Thomas Portarlington Travers.In addition, Roderick Spode (who is now Lord Sidcup), Madeline Bassett, Florence Craye, and Bingley, who filled in for Jeeves for a short time, join us from previous novels.A Bertie and Jeeves novel wouldn't be complete, of course, without an old school chum; in this case, it is Harold "Ginger" Winship, who is standing for the seat in the House of Commons for Market Snodsbury.Add in L.P. Runkle, Magnolia Glendennon, and Bertie's marvelous narration, and you have all the ingredients for a great Wodehouse farce, as Bertie preserves his bachelorhood and all else turns out for the best.

Great read!
Much Obliged, Jeeves was the second Wodehouse book I read. While I enjoyed the almost short story styling of The Inimitable Jeeves, I thoroughly enjoyed the cohesiveness of Much Obliged. Much Obliged starts with Bertie being invited to visit his Aunt Dahlia in Market Snodsbury. An old pal of Bertie's by the name of Harold "Ginger" Winship is a candidate for Parliament in the Snodsbury election. By this time, even a relatively new fan of Wodehouse, such as I am, can tell that trouble is brewing on the horizon. Enter Jeeves and the Junior Ganymede club book. The Junior Ganymede is a club of butlers; each member is obliged to write about his employer in the club book. This is done so that anyone seeking employment with a gentleman may look him up in the club book and, thus, know what they're in for. Of course, Bertie has an unusually large section in the club book. However, much to Bertie's surprise, Ginger also has quite a few damning pages in the club book as well. When the club book is stolen by a unethical, as well as repulsive, character by the name of Bingley, Ginger's chance of winning the Snodsbury election becomes uncertain and the hilarity begins. Again, another great book that leaves the reader shouting, "Good show!" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Uncle Fred All the Time
The Fifth Earl of Ickenham, Uncle Fred to his nebulous nephew, is my favorite Wodehouse whack-o whenever he is gracing a page that I am reading. He is a walking, talking plot twist whose penchant for wrinkling that which he means to iron out and convoluting that which he propses to set straight are riotous illustrations of a true character driving the plot and driving it insane.

Nothing is more intriguing, indeed disorienting, in Ickenham situations than the interplay of brute chance with the machinations of the Earl himself. In this novel your breath is taken by the improbable journey of a coveted letter propelled by Uncle Fred's designs as well as by a lively swan and a disinterested auction house. And that's just one brilliant thread entwining a fabulous fabric that will leave you in stitches as it moves seamlessly and that metaphor is about as exhausted as you will be trying to keep up at Plum's hectic pace while recovering from his chronic attacks on your funny bone.

The Earl of Ickenham is the wisest of fictional characters, one who not only comprehends the absurdity of our lives, loves, and bald delusions, but dives in among them just for the transcendently profound fun of it.

24/7 Cocktail Time to Avert the Third World War
Wodehouse has created another set of hilarious, self-absorbed, but well-meaning, and typically British characters here. Who needs Jeeves and never mind those stupid pro-Nazi Wodehouse ramblings, this is the real thing. Every page has some serious laugh out loud stuff to it.

First Lord Ickenham initiates some serious soul-searching and literary output from a former class-mate, Beefy Bastable, by slyly knocking his hat off his head as he looks for a taxi. Then to make it even more fun, he encourages poor Beefy in this pursuit by assuring him that he is not capable of writing a novel. The over-worked barrister then pens a blockbuster about how the younger generation lacks discipline, vision, and morality. When bishops decry the racy bits from the pulpit, the novel becomes a success and Hollywoood comes calling for the movie rights.

Now Wodehouse really rolls up his sleeves. Ickenham intervenes in four on-again, off-again romances, putting them all right in the end. The paternity of Cocktail Time becomes a bit confused, as several claim the authorship (Bastable used a nom de plume as he did not want the outcry over the novel to affect his goal of standing for Parliament as a Conservative). Additional loopy characters such as Young Mr. Saxby and the elusive Flannery drop in.

Good light reading, take it to the beach and enjoy.

The Real Story behind the Story
Do you enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process?If so, Cocktail Time will soon become one of your favorite comic novels.

The book's premise is deliciously contrary -- if a friend says that you cannot write a novel, some people will feel bound to prove the friend wrong.The backdrop for that decision is uproariously bizarre.The friend, the fifth Earl of Ickenham, has been feeling his oats a bit too much at the Drones Club and decides to borrow a slingshot (catapult in the UK) to pop the top hat off his old friend, Sir Raymond (Beefy) Bastable, with a Brazil nut as Beefy left the neighboring Demosthenes Club.When Beefy tells Ickenham that he wants to find the miscreant who did the dastardly deed, Ickenham offhandedly comments that it's a pity that Beefy is not an author who could use the literary sword to put all such pranksters in their place.That sets the stage for Beefy's novel, Cocktail Time, which he writes under a nom de plume.

There's only one complication.Beefy wants to stand for Parliament and he has written a scandalous book that would ruin his political career.

As the book's sales begin to take off like a rocket ship, Beefy realizes he needs some cover.Ickenham suggests that Beefy find someone else to pretend to be the author.With that suggestion, an unimaginable series of events follows . . . each more humorous than the last.

Will Beefy keep his honor?Will someone else keep his royalty checks?Will love conquer all?

The plot is one of the most complex ones that I have ever read in a comic novel, and the ever-shifting action works well.You'll have great fun with Cocktail Time.I don't remember a P.G. Wodehouse book that I have enjoyed more than this one.

Have a cocktail
P.G. Wodehouse made a legendary name for himself by writing dozens of humorous novels. In "Cocktail Time," Wodehouse turns his considerable wit toward politicians, scandalous novels, and of course, the carefree twentysomethings of the British upper-class.

Lord Ickenham (also known as Uncle Fred) gets a little "loopy" when he comes to the city. So when he's at his nephew's favorite hangout, the Drones Club, he fires a brazil nut across the street at a stuffy relative of his, Beefy Bastable. Bastable is not exactly a nice person, and so to retaliate against the young idiot he thinks has attacked him, he writes a scathing, scandalous novel called "Cocktail Time," denouncing modern youth.

Written under a non de plume, "Cocktail Time" gets denounced from the pulpits and is a huge hit. Bastable is terrified that the book will derail his political career, so he enlists his nephew Cosmo to pretend to have written the book. Since the royalties will let Cosmo pay off his debts, he's more than happy to oblige. There are only two problems: An American con artist (known as Oily) is homing in on Cosmo, and so is Hollywood...

If somebody could write songs about brazil nuts and banned books, this would make a GREAT musical. It's lighthearted enough, goofy enough, and complex enough. Wodehouse is in fine form here, writing the lovable characters that fit into the molds we love so much -- stressed young men, disapproving uncles and stolid butlers.

Wodehouse's writing is still fresh and funny -- he has a few awkward moments, such as describing a couple dancing the "rock'n'roll." Okay, what does that mean? But whatever decade his novel is set in, it has that pre-WW II flair. Not to mention deceptive formality -- at first glance, it looks very dry, but it's actually very goofy. ("Yo ho. In fact, I will go further. Yo frightfully ho.")

Lord Ickenham is a fun character, very smooth and debonair with a distinctly loopy personality. The impoverished Cosmo and his deeply stressed uncle Beefy Bastable are good variations on Wodehouse's classic characters, and he adds a twist by having the butler fall in love with his employer's sister (an unexpectedly sweet touch).

"Cocktail Time" is a funny novel about a nasty novel, and the resulting hijinks are fun for anyone to read. It's bumps-a-daisy as billy-o.

A very entertaining book!
I highly recommend this book.It is very good and entertaining.It's very funny too.Any fan of P.G. Wodehouse's work will really enjoy it. ... Read more

Book Description
The extraordinary Overlook Wodehouse series continues, withBig Money, one of Wodehouse's most irresistible comic tales. WhenLord Biskerton--bearing only the beginnings of a mustache and a nobledistain for work, and his friend Berry Conway, who sadly succumbed toeconomic pressure to become the secretary to American millionaire T.Paterson Frisby, seek Ann Moon, Frisby's beautiful niece and heiress fortheir mutual betterment, the results are unforgettable. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

whoa nelly
I LOVE Wodehouse.I have this system where I try to read really thick "smart" books.You know, like the kind you bring up when you're trying to impress people with your intellectual prowess ("Oh yes, I completely agree.In fact, in the 'Metaphysics of Morals', Kant says basically the same thing, albeit more obtusely.")When my brains slither out through my ears in protest, that's when I know that it is time to put down the philosophy and pick up a Wodehouse.They're insanely funny and impossibly witty, and it gives me time to collect the pieces of my gray matter and shove them back in my head for another go at snooty intellectualism.

Wonderfully funny!
I enjoy all of P.G. Wodehouse's novels, and this one is just great.I really liked it. The story kept me interested. If you like a book that's funny and witty here's the book for you.

One of Wodehouse's Finest
This 1931 novel has long been one of my favorites among Wodehouse's many novels.It's a mix of farce and romantic comedy; whereas in much of Wodehouse's later work, the love plots seem almost perfunctory, here the romance between English Berry Conway and American Ann Moon (Wodehouse loved to work in trans-continental romances for his American readers) takes up much of the novel and is given a sweetness and warmth not always apparent in Wodehouse's funny, but sometimes slightly mechanical, post-WWII work.Of course, there's plenty of farcical action too, including many inspired sequences set in Wodehouse's "Valley Fields" (a thinly disguised version of the London suburb Dulwich).The hilarious chapter in which Lord Hoddesdon visits Valley Fields - and runs into a menacing fellow with an admiration for Stalin - is alone worth the price of this wonderful book.

Vintage Wodehouse.
This one begins at the Drones Club, just like several of the Bertie Wooster stories, but these are not the Wooster characters. But with wonderful names like the Biscuit, Torquil, Kitchie, and Merwyn Flock, PGW does use some of his usual character types and plot lines: couples engaged to the wrong people, young men needing money. This is good vintage Wodehouse and a rather complex novel, not just a series of stories thrown together. And it was a lot of fun. But give me Bertie Wooster any day! ... Read more

Book Description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

With a New Introduction by John Mortimer

P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) was perhaps the most widely acclaimed British humorist of the twentieth century. Throughout his career, he brilliantly examined the complex and idiosyncratic nature of English upper-crust society with hilarious insight and wit. The works in this volume provide a wonderful introduction to Wodehouse’s work and his unique talent for joining fantastic plots with authentic emotion.

In The Code of the Woosters, Wodehouse’s most famous duo, Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves, risks all to steal a cream jug. Uncle Fred in the Springtime, part of the famous Blandings Castle series, follows Uncle Fred as he attempts to ruin the Duke of Blandings while he is preoccupied with his favorite pig. Fourteen stories feature some of Wodehouse’s most memorable characters, and three autobiographical pieces provide a revealing look into Wodehouse’s life.

With his gift for hilarity and his ever-human tone, Wodehouse and his work have never felt more lively. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lots of Fun
How do you select a Best of Wodehouse collection. Everyman's Library does an excellent job of pulling some of the best from the many Wooster & Jeeves books as well as other writings. Totally enjoyable read...great book to take to bed with you. Light but interesting stories with lots of twists and turns...Great comic sense.Also this addition is beautifully bound with built in page ribbon (I always like that!)

Some information
I don't own this anthology, just became aware of it half an hour ago, but a little Googling reveals that it comes in at about 500 pages. Introduction by John Mortimer. It contains two complete novels, one Jeeves and one Blandings Castle: The code of the Woosters (1938) and Uncle Fred in the springtime (1939); along with 14 stories: Jeeves takes charge, Jeeves and the impending doom, The love that purifies, Jeeves and the Yule,tide spirit, The great sermon handicap, Uncle Fred flits by, The crime wave at Blandings, The amazing hat mystery, Honeysuckle cottage, Ukridge rounds a nasty corner, A bit of luck for Mabel, The editor regrets, The heart of a goof, The nodder; plus extracts from his memoir: From over seventy.

It all looks pretty fine to me. The short story selection, in as much as I'm able to judge, looks excellent. Golf stories, yahoo! But really it'd be worth it just for the Code of the Woosters and Uncle Fred which are basically priceless (and both customer reviewed elsewhere at Amazon). Also Everyman hardbacks are really nice books in my experience, well printed on decent paper and bound properly, made to last.

But, you know, Wodehouse is Wodehouse. He's just stone brilliant, God's gift to readers. The only thing that could really go wrong with having this would be the book catching fire. ... Read more

Book Description
Wodehouse fans beware: Uncle Fred is in town and that meansanother literary dose of wacky hi-jinks. Love is in the air in UncleDynamite, and good old Fred (a.k.a. Lord Ickenham) resorts toimpersonations, blackmail and ridiculous irreverence in an effort to sortout the havoc of a matchmaking blunderbuss. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A fun read
Wodehouse's books that don't concern Jeeves and Wooster can be a bit hit or miss (or, at least, some of them are so similar that they are pretty much interchangeable).The broad outline of the plot here will seem vaguely familiar to Wodehouse fans, but this book is still definitely among his best.The sharp writing, the softly sarcastic observations, and the jokes are often laugh-out-loud funny.It is a very, very amusing book.Well worth it for Wodehouse fans looking for a few days of quiet pleasure.

Hilarious!
This is the first non Jeeves and Wooster book of Wodehouses's that I've read, and I'm pleased to report that the adventures and exploits of Uncle Fred (aka Lord Ickenham) are just as madcap and droll as those of his more renown duo. As with many of the Jeeves and Wooster stories, the plot revolves around (mis)engagements, misunderstandings, country houses, bonny baby contests, blustering pompous old men, duck ponds, and a constable. However, the difference here is that instead of an idiot (Bertie) getting into sticky situations and being rescued by a genius (Jeeves), we have Uncle Fred, who seems to relish creating havoc and then sorting it all out through a variety of impersonations, good natured lies and blackmail, with general irreverence for one and all. The matchmaking leads to all manner of wacky hi-jinks, and as per usual, Wodehouse's comic timing is impeccable. Of course, the real treat is the language, which sparkles as it amuses. The names are especially good in this one, with Pongo, Bill Oakshot, and Sally Potter leading the way. (Coincidentally, two characters share the names of prominent characters from the Harry Potter saga: constable Harold Potter and Hermonie Bostock.) Uncle Fred is the equal of any Wodehouse character, and look forward to tracking down the rest of his tales. ... Read more

Book Description
Pig snatching and the eminent destruction of Blandings Castle makes for a rollicking story with Uncle Fred, at his shining best in the springtime, right at the center of it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A Comic Masterpiece
Professors of literature are fond of writing that the three greatest novelists of the twentieth century are Marcel Proust, Thomas Mann, and James Joyce.In this, they could hardly be more in error.The only contender for the title of the greatest novelist of the twentieth or any other century is P.G. Wodehouse, farceur supreme, or, in plain English, an extraordinarily funny writer.

Wodehouse wrote novels and stories that can be easily classified into several series:there are the Bertie and Jeeves novels and stories, the Blandings Castle novels and stories, the Mr. Mulliner stories, the Uncle Fred novels, etc.The characters from one series rarely appear in another.This novel is an exception.Uncle Fred appears at Blandings Castle, where he poses as Sir Roderick Glossop, normally seen in the Bertie and Jeeves novels (and one story); indeed, he encounters Sir Roderick while traveling to Blandings Castle.Uncle Fred, properly, Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, fifth Earl of Ickenham, is a man who "together with a juvenile waistline, . . . still retained the bright enthusiasms and the fresh, unspoiled outlook of a slightly inebriated undergraduate" at the age of sixty or so.It is he who sets in motion the events that enable young lovers to marry and his nephew Pongo to settle his gambling debts.In general, his role is that normally played by Lord Emsworth's younger brother Galahad.

Of course, any reader of Wodehouse novels knows at the start that things will turn out all right for any sundered hearts or frustrated lovers, as he knows that, any time the efficient Baxter appears, he will be discredited despite being thoroughly correct.The fun is in discovering just how it happens.

And what fun it is.Wodehouse's mastery of the English language is unrivaled.He succeeds in producing prose that not only is enjoyable in its own right but also moves events ahead at a pace that is nigh exhausting.In the Bertie and Jeeves novels and stories, it is Bertie's narration that does this.In this novel, it is the dialogue as much as the narration that moves events ahead, establishes the characters, and gives the reader immense pleasure.

My All-Time Favorite Book
This is my very favorite book, and I have been reading it about once a year for the past 15 years or so.I still laugh out loud at every reading.The very complex plot deals with Pongo Twistleton and his Uncle Fred, who visit Blandings Castle as imposters (Sir Roderick Glossip and his secretary, to be exact) in an effort to prevent the Duke of Dunstable from stealing the Empress of Blandings, Lord Emsworth's prize pig, and to keep him from smashing the drawing room furniture with the fireplace poker.Polly Pott (daughter of private investigator Mustard Pott) is also in attendance, pretending to be Sir Roderick's daughter.The story also involves the Duke's two nephews and their romantic problems:It seems Horace Davenport has hired a private investigator (none other than Mustard Pott) to tail his fiancee Valerie (Pongo's sister) and she has called off the engagement as a result, and Ricky's jealousy of his fiancee's attention to cousin Horace has landed him in the onion soup.Money won and lost at Persian Monarchs, the slipping of mickey's into people's drinks, and a Duke who throws eggs at people who whistle The Bonny Bonny Banks of Lock Lomand outside his window add to the hilarity.Of course, Mr. Wodehouse's unique turn-of-phrase doesn't disappoint in this delightful novel.I recommend this book to anyone who seeks diversion from reality.A must-read.

scrumptious!
A complete Wodehouse fanatic, I would have trouble giving less that five stars to anything I have read so far. Uncle Fredis a particularly good one to add to the guest room bookshelf----incredibly funny and nice light reading for a few days away from home.

There is only one Wodehouse!
If you have ever read "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White (and if you haven't, then you should be legally prohibited from writing even so much as a thank-you note), then this book, like all Wodehouse books, is a perfect example of how to violate almost every rule in the book.

Consider the following: "The ninth Earl of Emsworth was a man who in times of stress always tended to resemble the Aged Parent in an old-fashioned melodrama when informed that the villain intended to foreclose the mortgage. He wore now a disintegrated air, as if somebody had removed most of his interior organs. You see the same sort of thing in stuffed parrots when the sawdust has leaked out of them."

How's that for failing to "omit needless words"? And how's that for vividly portraying the feeble-minded Lord Emsworth, one of Wodehouse's most memorable of his many memorable and hilarious characters?

The plot here is typical Wodehouse: a few love-stricken young people see their dreams of eternal wedded bliss threatened by either misunderstandings or lack of cash or both, and a young ne'er-do-well has run up some gambling debts, a circumstance which puts him in danger of some painful bone-crushing. Enter Uncle Fred, an aging playboy with a manipulative mind and a sense of adventure. He orchestrates a plan involving a visit to Blandings Castle (the Emsworth estate) which results in everyone living happily ever after.

But, of course, that plot outline is pretty much the plot outline of every Wodehouse novel. What makes it (and every Wodehouse production) a 5-star novel is the delicious phraseology, the preposterous and yet believable characterizations, and the continuous twinkle in the author's eye. You either "get" Wodehouse or you don't. If you don't, then go to a doctor and get it fixed immediately!

Excellent...
P.G. Wodehouse has written this wonderful book about a pig, and love relationships (the author makes fun of the love relationships, nothing to worry about).In the beginning, it seems boring, but it speeds up after about 30 pages.Unlike other Blandings books where the hero is Galahad, in this story the protagonist is Uncle Fred. But it is the common Wodehouse theme where the Empress is kidnapped, and couples cannot get married because of the shortage of money. The funny things about his books are the way he plays with the character's personality.Beach-cold and calm.Empress-with a frown on her face tries to eat a bit of soap while locked in a bathroom. Mr. Wodehouse has a way with words when he describes the character's actions and he puts them in such a way that you laugh until tears pour down your cheeks.This is a really good book, and if you think it is boring in the beginning, stick with it for it becomes very funny.Enjoy!!!!Cheers!!!!!: ) ... Read more

Book Description
Sam the Sudden chronicles Spike Murphy, of the John B.Pyneet Export and Import Company's heroic contest for the Office Boys'High-Kicking Championship's final against a willowy youth from theConsolidated Eyebrow Tweezer and Nail File Corporation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Outrageously Funny
I am surprised that the Wodehouse fans out there haven't reviewed this book. According to me this is one of his best works - Sam the sudden has an adorable protagonist Sam , and a host of quirky characters "Hash" the cook/friend , Kay the heroine , "Soapy" and "Dolly" the partners in crime , the cook "Claire Lippet" . The book is set in the suburbs unlike the city or the country as in most of other Wodehouse books. I liked the characters and the dialogues much more than the plot twists. The book is full of outrageously funny situations, but a rather predictable twist at the end. All said and done this one is well worth a read - just to know what "Hash" has to say about love and about Kay's picture.

A Capital Alternative to "Pyke's Home Campanion"
Probably best known for his Jeeves and Wooster books, P.G. Wodehouse was born in Surrey in 1881. His first book, "The Pothunters", was published in 1902 and he went on to write over 70 novels. He also wrote many short stories, with Jeeves making his first appearance in one of them. This book was first published in 1925 as "Sam the Sudden" in the UK, but as "Sam in the Suburbs" in the US.

The book's hero is Sam Shotter, the nephew of the hugely successful businessman John B. Pynsent. Although from New York, Sam was educated at Wrykyn, in England. (Mike Jackson, Psmith's trusty sidekick, is another former pupil). However, as the book opens, he has been working for his uncle for three months and has succeeded in little more than kissing stenographers, organising high-kicking competitions and generally demoralising the workforce. As a result, Uncle John feels he has no option : Sam is to leave the Pynsent Import and Export Company immediately and take up a position at Lord Tilbury's Mammoth Publishing Company in London. (Lord Tilbury is currently holding negotiations with Sam's uncle and hopes to curry favor with him by 'helping' him with his troublesome nephew). Rather than travelling in luxury with Lord Tilbury on the Mauretania, however, Sam makes the trip to England on the Araminta, a tramp steamer. A close friend of Sam's, Hash Todhunter, is the steamer's pessimistic cook - someone whose company Sam finds a good deal more enjoyable than his future employer. When he finally arrives in London, Sam finds himself a little short on funds. This is largely due to Hash secretly emptying Sam's wallet to back a greyhound at the local dog-track. Luckily, Sam stumbles across Willoughby Braddock, another old Wrykynian. Braddock, despite staying as a guest with a former neighbour, is remarkably drunk and offers to put Sam up for the night. Sam had beenon a fishing trip in Canada several months previously and had found a girl's photograph pinned on the wall of a hut he'd taken shelter in. He had, naturally, fallen in love with the girl in the photo. When he discovers the object of his desires, Kay Derrick, lives in the house he is spending the night in, he decides that nothing will stop him winning her heart. The first step in his plan involves renting the empty house next door. Unfortunately, three criminals - Soapy and Dolly Molloy and Chimp Twist - have their eyes on the same house. They believe the proceeds from a former colleagues heist has been hidden in Sam's new home - and they're not about to turn their backs on two million dollars. (They would, however, be quite happy to double-cross each other if it meant they didn't have to split it).

Wodehouse is a very funny author and has a very distinctive style of writing. He isn't afraid to use outrageous twists of fate to make sure that if something can go wrong (or right, depending on your point of view), it will. This was one of the first books by Wodehouse I read, and it remains one of my favorites - I really can't see it failing to raise a smile. As the author himself said : "Sam the Sudden" is darned good. ... Read more

Book Description

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse wrote more than a hundred books and at least twenty film scripts, and he collaborated on more than thirty plays and musical comedies with the likes of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin. Best known as the creator of Jeeves -- the impossibly wise, supremely well-mannered gentleman's gentleman -- and Wooster -- his unflaggingly affable but bumbling employer -- Wodehouse invokes the very British spirit of a bygone era in a gentle satire that, as Evelyn Waugh puts it, "satisfies the most sophisticated taste and the simplest."

In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, fate conspires to draw Bertie Wooster back to Totleigh Towers, the site of an earlier ordeal that nearly landed our hero in prison and, worse still, in continuing danger of marriage to Madeline Bassett, the svelte and sadly syrupy daughter of the house. Only one thing stands between Bertie and the dreaded state of matrimony, and that is his good friend Gussie Fink-Nottle, lover of newts and Madeline Bassett. So long as Gussie and Madeline continue to profess their undying love for each other, Bertie is safe...but disaster looms when Gussie rebels at Madeline's attempt to turn him into a vegetarian. Throw in the intrigues of Miss Stiffy Byng and her dog Bartholomew to gain the Reverend Stinker Pinker a vicarage, the renewed rivalry of art collectors Sir Watkyn Bassett and Bertie's Uncle Tom, and the irresistible cooking skills of American Emerald Stoker (who happens to be the younger sister of Bertie's old friend Pauline, whom he also narrowly avoided marrying), and you have trouble of the sort that only Jeeves can mend.

In other words, here is a classic version of one of the great plots of the English language from the Master himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

SOOO JEEVES
This was the first Bertie and Jeeves' book I'd ever read. If you're interested in British humour, exquisite-snobbish language and witty puns, or in bizarre but classy situations, this is just the book for you. Wodehouse possessed this wonderful characteristic of balancing an unfortunate situation with a good dose of modest humour. The title says it all! Thoroughly recommendable.

A Tonic for the 21st Century
What could the Nobel Prize for literature signify if PG Wodehouse not only didn't win one, but never made the short-list? Good grief. What other writer living or dead, in Nobel's own words, "help[s] dreamers, as they find it hard to get on in life."

Take STIFF UPPER LIP, JEEVES, for example. If you want to read a book that'll grab you by your lapels and hoist you out this mundane, dynamite-scarred world, try this one.

Crisp dialogue, intricate plotting, witty wordplay, amusing situations, and distinct characters make this book satisfying to read repeatedly. In fact, it is astonishing that STIFF UPPER LIP, JEEVES and many other Wodehouse creations seem just as fresh the second, third, and even seventh time around.

I would liken reading this book to drinking one of Jeeves's famous pick-me-ups "and their effect on a fellow who is hanging to life by a thread on the morning after." Wodehouse writes: "For perhaps the split part of a second nothing happens. It is as though all Nature waited breathless. Then, suddenly, it is as if the Last Trump had sounded and Judgment Day set in..."

If heaven's half as delightful as reading PG Wodehouse, (should I get there) I'll be in paradise.

British Humor Wonderfully Read.
This unabridged audio version of "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves" was wonderfully read by Cecil.This is not my typically genre of book and I was pleasantly impressed and surprised by this book.I have not read the prior books in this series and had no problems following along so the priors are not a necessity. In a nutshell, this book is about a dim-witted Bertie and his attempt to keep from inadvertently becoming engaged to a sappy Madeline.The dry, British humor of this story is excellently portrayed by Cecil and I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a refreshing change of pace!

WODEHOUSE + CECIL = A SPLENDID READING

Just as we believe some actors were born to play a certain role or a singer was born to sing a specific song, I'm convinced Jonathan Cecil was born to read P. G. Wodehouse.The British accented Cecil voice delightfully inhabits the personas of Jeeves, Bertie Wooster and sundry other characters with charm, humor, and distinction.

My first introduction to the talents of Cecil was with his stunning reading of"Jeeves and the Mating Season."Since that time no other voice will dofor the born to the purple Bertie and his long suffering butler.

P.G. Wodehouse is quite another story.Obviously, one of the greatest humorists to ever take up pen his tongue-in-cheek take on the British upper classes is pure laugh provoking perfection.With "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves" we find Bertie returning to Totleigh Towers, a place he had hoped never to see again as it is the domain of Sir Watkyn Bassett, who lined his pockets with fines he collected.Bassett's daughter, Madeline is always on the prowl and Bertie wants no part of her.

Fortunately, Madeline has fallen forand captured another - Gussie, a friend of Bertie's.Now, Madeline is not only a huntress but she is also passionate about changing her quarry to suit her own tastes.In this case, the word "taste" may be taken literally as she wants to change the meat loving Gussie into a vegetarian, which is where most of the trouble begins.Bertie, as usual, finds himself embroiled in this sticky situation.

Alas, once again it's left up to Jeeves to come to Bertie's aid.

Wodehouse has been dubbed a "comic genius;" Cecil is his full partner in this splendid reading.Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

Terrifying Trials at Totleigh Towers!
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? ... Read more

Book Description
A full cast of Wodehouse creations—including tyrannical relatives, beastly acquaintances, demon children, and literary fatheads—return for further near catastrophes and sparkling comedy

A Gentleman of Leisure is a comic novel dedicated to Douglas Fairbanks—who starred in the film version—and concerns a young man, his love life, and a burglary. Famiiliar Wodehouse characters from both sides of the ocean make appearances. Meanwhile, in Hot Water, J. Wellington Gedge is the man who has everything—but finds himself caught in a series of international events which will, if he doesn't put a stop to it, leave him wearing the sissy uniform of the American ambassador to Paris. Summer Moonshine involves Sir Buckstone Abbott trying to sell what is probably the ugliest home in England, as well as a complicated love quadrangle and Carry On, Jeeves is a collection of stories in which Jeeves take charge and a familiar bevy of individuals appeal to him to solve their problems—and are never disappointed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

A Capital Collection
This volume of ten stories originally hails from 1925. I read them in the 1999- 2000 Penguin paperback edition. While many readers like the covers by Ionicus on earlier Penguin paperbacks, these recent editions with covers by David Hitch are my favorites. They are very well done, reasonably priced and just the right size, which is to say, perfect for the novice or seasoned Wodehouse reader. The stories are also among the absolute tops in the Wooster/ Jeeves canon, and give the back stories that Bertie meditatively refers to in so many of the later books.

As Richard Usborne notes in his invaluable guide, Plum Sauce, five of these stories appeared earlier in My Man Jeeves (1919). Two of the stories there told by Reggie Pepper are here transformed into Bertie's ruminations. Carry On Jeeves was the next collection following the ten stories in The Inimitable Jeeves (1923), and Wodehouse was on a roll. Here's Bertie's first engagement to Florence Craye, and his first encounter with her younger brother, Edwin, the Boy Scout, who rapidly renders unsafe house and home. Enter Biffy and Bingo Little, later fixtures in the Wooster ouvre. Here also Bertie pens his oft- mentioned "piece" for his "good aunt" Dahlia Travers, and her struggling paper, Milady's Boudoir. The last story in this collection is somewhat questionably narrated by Jeeves, but Wodehouse fortunately reverted to telling tales in first person Bertie in the later shorts. Some of these tales also found their way into the Jeeves and Wooster TV shows with even more riotous results. All in all, a capital collection.

Carry On, Jeeves
Carry On, Jeeves is another classic from P.G. Wodehouse.It follows in the same kind of humorous hiliarious vein of his other books that involve Berty Wooster and his Man Servant Jeeves.This is a book that should not be missed.In fact,
all of P.G. Wodehouse's books involving Jeeves and Berty Wooster
should be thoroughly enjoyed by every one.

The original show about nothing
I had never got around to reading any P.G. Wodehouse until I read this volume, and now I regret the delay.

My first exposure to Wodehouse, at least the first I can remember, was the great Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (better known from "Black Adder" and "House") TV series "Jeeves and Wooster". That series, plus a few artsy articles on Wodehouse (for example this one by Christopher Hitchens [...] ), turned my Wodehouse radar on.

Even though the world of butlers and aristocratic drones in the 1920s may as well be life of the Siberian Steppes to us web connected suburbanites, the human comedy never really changes. It was the Jeeves and Wooster stories, not "Seinfeld", that was the original "show about nothing."

Every story starts from a minor mishap that turns into major mayhem, requiring the sagacious Jeeves to slide in and rescue his well meaning but social accident prone patron from the self induced quagmire.

This is humour that is sympathetic to all the parties involved. As such it is a pleasant change from the rude brood of "cruder than thou" comedies that has dominated mainstream TV / movie comedy from both England and America for most of the last dozen years. My guess is that generation of young media consumers has grown up that know no humour other than the stick it someone else variety. Not to say there is anything wrong with that, it's just the monotony of it all that I am tired of.

Bring back Wodehouse!

The Immortal Bertie and Jeeves Sparkle (Carry On, Jeeves)
P G Wodehouse specializes in extremely humorous, complex plots, with everyone seemingly at cross purposes, and the ubiquitous happy ending. His characters are the offspring of the builders of the British Empire, wastrels all.Bertie is an extremely affable chap, but a bit lacking in brain power. In the opening story Jeeves becomes Bertie's butler, definitely the brains of the duo.Bertie is one of natures bachelors, but this never prevents him from being engaged to completely unsuitable fiances.They generally have terrific profiles, volatile temperments, and consider Bertie to be a spineless jellyfish with brains to match; and attempt to mold him.The brainy literature they force on poor Bertie is way beyond our heroes reading level. Bertie leads an idyllic life, the sun is in the sky, the birds are singing in the trees, but he manages to always land himself in the soup.The magnificent Jeeves is ever there to fish him out, not unlike the magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat.Jeeves's mental prowess is always made available to come to the aid of Bertie's menagerie of pals.

Classic Wodehouse
This is a collection of Jeeves stories, most set in New York, that also includes the story of how Jeeves came to be hired by Bertie Wooster and Jeeves own account of one of his adventures with Bertie. All is classic Wodehouse and great fun to read. ... Read more

Book Description
On the 25th anniversary of Wodehouse's death, booksellers and readers will be cheered to find the finest editions available of his classic novels--the first in a series of his best known works--by one of the greatest English comic writers of our time.

Fans devoted to the master of comic fiction P. G. Wodehouse are legion. He represents an antic high point in the world of farce and social satire. Best known for the creation of two fictional worlds based on Blandings Castle and the Wooster-Jeeves gentleman-valet duo, Wodehouse is appreciated the world over for his exceedingly clever and comically savvy send-ups of the idle rich in Edwardian England.

In Right Ho, Jeeves Bertie's old friend Gussie Fink-Nottle has fallen in love and, as usual, makes a hash of the affair until Jeeves comes to his rescue.

With each volume edited and reset and printed on Scottish cream-wove, acid-free paper, sewn and bound in cloth, these novels are elegant additions to any Wodehouse fan's library. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Baccarat and Milady's Boudoir
"Right Ho Jeeves" was first published in 1934 in the UK, though was first published in the US under the name "Brinkley Court". The book is set in 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 is 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.

The book opens with Bertie's return from Cannes, having spent two months on holiday with his Aunt Dahlia, his cousin Angela and Madeline Basset - Angela's best friend. Arriving back at his flat, Bertie is surprised to learn that Gussie Fink-Nottle has been a frequent caller in his absence. Gussie, an old school-friend of Bertie's, is something of a reclusive character : he doesn't drink, looks rather like a fish, prefers country life to the city and is a noted newt-fancier. Gussie has apparently fallen in love, and has - wisely - taken to visiting Jeeves for his advice on how to win the young lady's heart. However, following a disagreement with Jeeves about a white mess jacket purchased in Cannes, Bertie decides to take over Gussie's case.

By sheer coincidence, the object of Gussie's desires is none other than Madeline Basset - who, after the trip to Cannes, has returned to Brinkley Court (Aunt Dahlia's stately home). Bertie sends Gussie off to the stately home in question - though his motives aren't entirely noble. As well as spending time with Madeline, Gussie will also be delivering a speech at the local grammar school's prizegiving day - a job Aunt Dahlia had intended for Bertie. However, when word comes through that Angela has brokern off her engagement with Tuppy Glossop, Bertie and Jeeves race off to the countryside to offer their support. Naturally, Bertie's attempts to ease smooth things over land everyone in a great deal of bother.

A very easy and enjoyable read.

Love and scheming
If there's one thing Bertie Wooster should never do, it's make elaborate plans to bring estranged lovebirds back together.

And he demonstrates just why in the second full-length Jeeves novel, a screwball disaster saga that sees Bertie confidently trying to fix people's lives. Of course, things go horribly wrong, and Wodehouse's arch, nutty look at what happens next is an absolute gem.

When Aunt Dahlia summons him to Brinkley Court for a prizegiving, Bertie sends his newt-fancying friend Gussie instead -- especially since Gussie is enamoured of a girl staying there, the soppy Madeleine Bassett. But when Bertie hears that his cousin Angela has broken off her engagement to Tuppy Glossop -- and his aunt is in need of money -- he rushes down to assist all his relatives and pals by advising them to feign such sorrow that they're unable to eat.

Unfortunately his plan falls through, and they manages to enrage the cook Anatole to the point where he storms out. Even worse, the prize-giving is a disaster and the wrong people end up engaged -- and pursued by homicidally angry exes. Only Jeeves' formidable brain can somehow save the day -- and Bertie's behind.

P.G. Wodehouse made a pretty good living off of spoofing the upper crust of England, and the subtlely intlligent servants who bail them out. "Right Ho Jeeves" is a prime example of his writing -- some small mistakes rapidly balloon out into a crazy tangled mess, which only an intelligent manservant can rescue Bertie from.

Much of the book's charm comes from its complex plot and series of disasters (such as Tuppy's homicidal rampage). And as usual, poor Bertie finds himself the object of young ladies' affections -- in this case, the appallingly goofy Madeleine thinks he's madly in love with her, when she's not rambling about fairies and bunnies. If there's a flaw, it's that Jeeves' final solution is a bit limp.

But Wodehouse's writing is what really makes the book timeless. It's arch and wry, whether he's describing basic actions ("He leaped like a lamb in springtime"), or goofy dialogue ("But if you were a male newt, Madeline Bassett wouldn't look at you. Not with the eye of love, I mean").

Jeeves and Bertie are the perfect comic team -- Bertie is proud, goofy, and not terribly bright, while the quiet Jeeves is a towering intellect with wry wit. And they're backed by a colourful, small cast of nutty aristocrats, schoolboys, sharp-tongued aunts and cousins, newt-fancying fish-faced men, and a girl who talks about how "every time a fairy sheds a tear, a wee bitty star is born." Yech.

"Right Ho Jeeves" is a hilarious, tangled farce of love, money, jealousy, dinner jackets and the mating rituals of newts. Absolutely priceless, from start to finish.

cure for the blues.
got the blues? melancholia got you in its grip? the prospect of death got you down? jeeves to the rescue! nothing like a good wodehouse read to cheer one up. problem is, the man wrote just short of a million books, and not all of them are good. so where to start? right here, with this book. of all the wodehouse books i've read, this is my favorite, the most consistently entertaining. just what the doctor ordered to smash you in the funny bone and get a smile going on the old face.

Classic British Humor...Hysterical!!
If you love Monty Python, Faulty Towers, and the like, you'll love RHJ.The glowing reviews on this page are spot on.This is timeless stuff.And Cecil's reading (if you incline towards the recorded version) is terrific.Laugh out loud funny.I adored every moment!

Very good, sir.
It is rare that I derive such pleasure from a book, but Right Ho, Jeeves, gave me a delightful surprise. Not only does Wodehouse make an art of the satirical novel, but in the process wraps the reader up in the witty speech of Bertram Wooster and his strange arrangement of friends, family, and butler. Bertram, or "Bertie," as he is commonly known, stumbles through the entire novel with the idea that he alone must bear the weight of being the sole aid to his friends' problems. Despite several attempts at a kind reprimand from Jeeves, his personal servant, ("I beg your pardon sir... What I intended to say, since you press me, was that the action which you propose does seem to be somewhat injudicious."); Bertie continues to give it his best.Among other things, Wooster implements the best intentions while attempting a match between old friends, but with little success: "All he had to do was propose." "Yes, sir." "Well, didn't he?" "No, sir." "Then what the dickens did he talk about?" "Newts, sir."

Despite the playful banter, colorful characters (such as a sensitive French cook), an inept yet lovable narrative voice found in Wooster, and of course, Jeeves, behind all is an incredibly clever satire on the "upper crust," so to speak. Although, admittedly, many readers cannot associate directly with the early-middle twentieth century, one cannot help but feel the idle, privileged and somewhat clueless lives of the English aristocracy seep from the pages of Jeeves. Wodehouse does a wonderful job of capturing the lives of people who have nothing better to do then dabble about ridiculously in the lives of one another.

Indeed, Wodehouse does much to reflect the over-privileged lives to which Bertie and company cling to so humorously. However, what might have become a novel filled to overflowing with hilarity and drama is brought back down to a more substantial level with the constant subtle humor and patronization brought in by Jeeves. "Jeeves, don't keep saying `Indeed, sir?' No doubt nothing is further from your mind than to convey such a suggestion, but you have a way of stressing the `in' and then coming down with a thud on the `deed' which makes it virtually tantamount to `Oh, yeah?' Correct this, Jeeves." The nature in which Bertie and the rest are virtually ignorant to Jeeves' little jibes such as this shows clearly the statement of Wodehouse, how the aristocracy is too self absorbed to notice even the slightest. In short, this is a wonderfully clever novel, which keeps the pages turning with quick wit and snappy humor. I highly suggest it.
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Customer Reviews (1)

More mayhem with the Mulliners
Whatever the topic of conversation in the bar-parlour of the Angler's Rest, Mr. Mulliner always has something to say.So sit back and listen as he relates the trials and tribulations of his extended family.

This book contains the following short stories:

The Reverent Wooing of Archibald
The Man Who Gave Up Smoking
The Story of Cedric
The Ordeal of Osbert Mulliner
Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court
Those in Peril on the Tee
Something Squishy
The Awful Gladness of the Mater
The Passing of Ambrose

The stories range from amusing to laugh-out-loud hilarious.

More of Mr. Mulliner's tales can be found in "Meet Mr. Mulliner" and "Mulliner Nights".A few of the Mulliner stories were dramatized for the television show "Wodehouse Playhouse" now available on DVD and highly recommended.
... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A Peach of a Bio on Plum
I am somewhat diffident about biographies, and I think our age has no taste for them. The reason is that they reveal more about the author than their subject. So unless you're a voracious reader, you'd far rather read something else. Bios of Wodehouse are particularly suspect. Firstly, hardly anyone is as good a writer as PGW, and therefore the bio will be less engaging than its subject. Secondly, hardly anyone in the hard-bitten writing trade is as amiable as PGW, and therefore their bio will be less enjoyable than their subject. Regardless of these obstacles, there is still good reason for the itinerant biographer to charge ahead: that is because PGW has been the object of a sustained attack, and mired in a smokescreen of disinformation. Someone must rise to the challenge to clear the air, and hopefully, his good name.

And someone has. Stephen Fry, who gave us the unforgettable Jeeves in the wonderful videos of Jeeves and Wooster, long ago raised one eyebrow (Jeeves' equivalent to two thumbs up) in favor of Donaldson's vita, and for good reason. Having full access to the collected papers of Richard Usborne (author of Plum Sauce) re: Plum's Berlin broadcasts, she delves in to set the record straight, so that, as writer Evelyn Waugh devoutly hoped, Britain can at last hug its greatest national humourist to its bosom.

That cloud dispelled, she takes us on a walking tour of the sorts of places we tourists are anxious to visit: Plum's ancestral home, where we search the grounds for a bevvy of aunts, his young days as a schoolboy and sportsman, where we look for the type of Malvern House, to the Hollywood stint whose flickering light would grace so many books, the clubs and cronies forever resonant in "Drones" and "Blandings," the pekes of Ukridge's dog wash, and a lifelong devotion to the "dumb chums." And of course we wonder whether Plum ever smothered Ethel's upturned face with kisses and called her "My Rabbit."

The mind boggles at the enormity of her task, but Donaldson has somehow won the day. Twin souls with the reader, she seems to share our distaste of bilge literature and instead shows us how Plum shines through in his engaging and enjoyable books. How can one reply but in the words of one Wooster to another soul who saved the day? Donaldson, you're a wonder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Runnin' High
"Spring Fever" is a classic example of P.G. Wodehouse's inimitable style, a story so convoluted in concoction that it actually works.The story begins when Stanwood Cobbold, a millionaire heir with a face like a hippo, is sent to London by his father to keep him from marrying a Hollywood actress.He is escorted by his valet and reformed thief, Augustus Robb, and his friend, Mike Cardinal, the Hollywood agent with the face of a Greek god.Throw into the mix Lord Shortlands, a destitute earl who longs for two hundred pounds so he can marry his cook, his daughter Teresa who wants nothing to do with Mike Cardinal, and his butler who also wants to marry the cook and will stop at nothing to woo her away from Lord Shortlands.

All of the troubles and concerns of these characters intertwine when Stanwood is meant to visit Lord Shortlands at his castle.However, his Hollywood paramour has just arrived in London, and he doesn't want to leave her.Mike Cardinal agrees to visit the castle pretending to be Stanwood so that he can woo Teresa, with her and her father the only ones in the know.But when Mervyn Spink (Lord Shortland's conniving butler) catches on, he springs a plot of pretense of his own involving the real Stanwood Cobbold.As the story progresses, more and more lies need to be told until the reader is uncertain as to how any of this can be wrapped up with all characters satisfied.

"Spring Fever" is a classic comic novel from P.G. Wodehouse.It is a time capsule of a particular era and a portrait of the strictures of British high (although a little cash-strapped) society.Its humor manages to transcend time and tradition, making Wodehouse's writing truly timeless.

Nearly Blandings Castle
This one-off novel, dating from1948, follows just after a Jeeves novel, Joy in the Morning (1947), a Blandings saga, Full Moon (1947), and just before the excellent Uncle Dynamite (1948) and another Wooster, The Mating Season (1949). Arguably, it stems from the era of Wodehouse at the top of his form. Nevertheless, it seems to be pieced together from a musical comedy, with one of the longest and most unconvincing love scenes in his ouvre, a thin and unlikely plot, and the happy ending repeatedly dished so many times that the deus ex machina tie up seems almost anticlimactic when it comes.

Those would be major problems for most writers, but they are merely small oversights for Wodehouse, since this book yet contains some of his best sustained scenes and most quoted lines. Wodehouse liked it well enough to rehash it as The Old Reliable in 1951. It's almost a Blandings Castle novel, with Lord Shortlands instead of Emsworth, but with far more dialogue, as if written for the stage. Even after the main characters exit to the altar or registry, there are enough loose ends left to fill another novel, which likely suggested The Old Reliable. Not top drawer PGW, but a readable light novel just the same.

A true Wodehouse
Written in P.G.W's inimitable style, Spring Fever has as its principle characters a young man who looks like a greek god and has brains too ( Note: Brains preferring to ignore gentlemen with drop-dead-handsome good looks), a girl with equally good looks but not so sharp a brain, another young man with neither the looks mentioned above nor the brains, also mentioned above, and a Lord, given to uttering sudden exclamations, and not so given to contributing intelligent ideas to any conversation involving himself. Add to this lot of players a daughter hell-bent on keeping her father, the afore mentioned Lord, in proper discipline, a dashing butler with a cunning mind, and a stamp collector husband and you get a simply riotous tale. This tale, as every Wodehouse tale, has his usual ingredients - engagements between 'ladies' and 'gentlemen' being solemnised in every other chapter and broken in the very next, an amazing array of problems being solved equally amazingly as yet another amazin array of P. comes up. Simply lovely.Wodehouse ranks right up there with the best. ... Read more