Recently read: My Man Jeeves

[Originally published at the now defunct group blog explananda.com]

P.G. Wodehouse. My Man Jeeves

This is a collection of early Wodehouse stories. If you’ve never read Wodehouse, his stories and books always involve convoluted plots, upper class (though not always wealthy) characters behaving in very silly ways, and happy endings. None of the stories in this collection is especially strong, but they were entertaining enough. If you want to start with Wodehouse, this is probably not the best place. For that, you might check out Code of the Woosters.

By the way, I was prompted to start reading Wodehouse by Anthony Lane’s wonderful piece on him in the New Yorker a few years ago—one of the best appreciations of a writer that I’ve ever read. Sadly, it seems to be restricted to subscribers, but it’s worth reading if you can get your hands on it.

Comments

Author: Steve Laniel
Date: 2009-01-28

Speaking of Lane, drop whatever you might be doing – and if it happens to be intercourse, apologize to your partner, for Christ’s sake – and read his “Nobody’s Perfect.”

Author: Chris
Date: 2009-01-28

It’s funny, what struck me about the appreciation of Wodehouse was how much better it was than his usual stuff. However, just to be safe, I have added Lane’s book to my “To Get from the Library” list.

Author: Chris
Date: 2009-01-28

Not that I don’t like his usual stuff. Just saying.