Leave It to Psmith

Book Description

A debononair young Englishman, Psmith (“the p is silent, as in phthisis, psychic, and ptarmigan”) has quit the fish business, “even though there is money in fish,” and decided to support himself by doing anything that he is hired to do by anyone. Wandering in and out of romantic, suspenseful, and invariably hilarious situations, Psmith is in the great Wodehouse tradition.

Customer Reviews:

Best Wodehouse book I've read.......2007-09-12

In my opinion, this is the best of Wodehouse, and I was pretty surprised at it.

The Last Of Psmith Is The Best.......2007-07-20

"Leave It to Psmith" was originally published in the U.K. on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the U.S on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran. The edition I am reviewing is from "The Everyman Wodehouse" series published by Everyman's Library in the U.K., and for those in the U.S., you may be able to find the equivalent quality in "The Collector's Wodehouse" series which is being published by Overlook Press.

I did not have high expectations for this book, because I didn't think "Psmith in The City" was very good, but Wodehouse's writing clearly improved greatly over those 13 years, and the merging of the Psmith character with the cast at Blandings Castle was great chemistry. The character of Ronald Eustace Psmith (formerly known as Rupert Psmith and in both cases the P is silent), was much more interesting in this book than I found him before. He fits right in with the other Blandings characters such as Lord Emsworth, Freddie Threepwood, and a great foil for Rupert Baxter.

In this story, we have a diverse set of characters, all converging on Blandings Castle, and more than a few with the idea of stealing Lady Constance's necklace. Their motives are rather diverse, but whether they want it for money, freedom, or love, there is no shortage of people out to get it. As one would expect in any Wodehouse story, there is a fair amount of assumed identities and amazing coincidences which drive the story forward. Psmith, himself takes on the identity of Mr. Ralston McTodd, a poet from Canada in his pursuit of the beautiful Eve Halliday. The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the flower pot scenes, which is some of the funniest writing I have read in a long time.

As the second of the Blandings Castle novels, and the last of the Psmith novels, this was a great improvement on both of those series. The Blandings series would continue to grow from this point, and there are many more great stories in that series. I do not believe the character of Psmith appears again in any of Wodehouse's stories, but the fully developed Psmith that appears in this work does foreshadow such characters as Jeeves and Uncle Fred. If you didn't care for Psmith in the previous works, you may still want to give this one a try. This is Wodehouse at his best.

One of woodhouse' finest!.......2007-05-15

"Leave it to Psmith" is an amazing tale of an amazing writer. It is the fourth novel about the character Ronald Psmith (The "P" is silent, he explains, "as in phthisis, psychic, and ptarmigan."), and also the secong novel that takes place at well known Blandings Castle. In the Opinion Journal from the Wall Street editorial page, Roger Kimball selected "leave it Psmith" as the first of his five favourite comic novels. And indeed, it is, even in competition with the Jeeves an Wooster stories. It is quite simple, you like this kind of stories, with this kind of humor (for instance, if you like the quote and you can see the humor in that one-lined but already multi-layered joke, you must be a Woodhouse fan, whether you know it or not), or you don't understand even the tiniest bit of what people find so funny about it at all. In that case, don't bother. There may possibly be a therapy for it, but since I don't need that I can't help you. I have (after about 15 years) rediscovered this fantastic book, and yes, reading it brings it all back, every word still in my mind. I will not hesitate and I will reread the Jeeves and Wooster novels as well, but I am very glad I found this one again, the orange penguin was a bit, well, torn apart really. And it deserves a new generation of dedicated followers.

Psmith rocks.......2007-03-09

Many Wodehouse devotees seem to feel that Leave It to Psmith is the weakest of the Psmith books--but what does that mean? So it's the worst of the very best. How bad can it be? If you love Wodehouse, you'll love the book. If you love Psmith, you'll presumably be delighted to see his situation apparently "wrapped up." If you are unfamiliar with Wodehouse but love the English language, beware: Read Leave it to Psmith (or any other snippet of Wodehouse) and you'll be hooked. Wodehouse is the master of the comic narrative. He is simply the very best. Once you pick him up, you can't put him down until you've read all of him--and then you'll be ready to re-read him.

Can a lover of the English language not love Wodehouse and Psmith? As Jeeves would say, the mind boggles.

Marvellous!.......2006-06-29

"Leave it to Psmith" is part of the Psmith series by PG Wodehouse. This story tells of a debonnair young man, Psmith, and how he chases the girl of his dreams whilst at the same time, solving (and aggravating!) the problems of the people around him. Throughout all the mayhem and foibles, Psmith never loses his cool and definitely not his manners and composure.

A light and engaging read, Psmith is truly a delightful character created by PG Wodehouse. Filled with beautiful prose and incredible wit, this book has to be one of Wodehouse's best. Look out for the scene where the Efficient Baxter contemplates how he should get back into the house when he was locked out in the garden. I consider that part to be the apex of the book and writing at its finest!

Average customer rating:

Romance and Pignapping!
A Great Book!
Very Funny
Very good!
A 11 year old reader from U.S.A.

Pigs Have Wings
P. G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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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.

Pigs Have Wings takes us to Blandings Castle, where a romantic comedy unfolds alongside the intrigue of the Fat Pig competition in Shropshire.

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.

Customer Reviews:

Romance and Pignapping!.......2004-11-04

P.G. Wodehouse was the 20th century's answer to William Shakespeare reproduced as musical comedy. In Pigs Have Wings, Mr. Wodehouse produced one of his very best efforts.

As usual, the themes involve a satire of romantic love, miscommunications between the sexes, the vapid interests of the titled class, and the silliness of people in general.

As the book opens, Clarence, ninth Earl of Emsworth finds himself faced with a threat to the supremacy of his pig, Empress of Blandings, in the Fat Pigs class at the Shropshire Agricultural Show. Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, Bart, of Matchingham Hall, had already hired away Clarence's pig handler, George Cyril Wellbeloved . . . and Clarence is sure that some new skullduggery will soon follow. As the story develops, we find that it's all too true. Soon both pig camps are doing their best to knobble the other man's pig. With everyone else having a bet on the outcome, many other people are soon engaged in trying to sabotage one pig or the other. It's the most pignapping fun caper you can imagine!

In the background, we have all sorts of people who've become engaged to totally unsuitable people on the rebound from slights they feel from the one they really love. P.G. Wodehouse does a yeoman effort of returning all of those twisted loves to the proper party. The plot will keep you constantly chuckling throughout.

There are quite a few books based on the Empress of Blandings. So if you enjoy this one, go on to the others in the series.

A Great Book!.......2004-06-24

Wodehouse, master of words that he is, shows his wit to be in top form in this wonderfully funny story of Blandings castle. As usual, Lord Emsworth is a bit dazed and obsessing about his pig (now hoping that she'll win first in her division for the third year running at the local agricultural show) and the guests at Blandings are falling hopelessly in love with one another. This is a great book for both those new to Wodehouse and those who have enjoyed his other works. I highly recommend it.

Very Funny.......2002-08-16

In typical Wodehouse fashion, this is a comical story with many hilarious twists and turns. I found myself laughing aloud in many places. Simply put, if you like Wodehouse and especially the Blandings Castle series, you like this book. It is one of the later "chronicles" of Blandings Castle, but it would be a good read for anyone--even those unfamiliar with Lord Emsworth. This is a great book, and author, for those who enjoy light, comical novels.

Very good!.......2001-09-17

A great and entertaining read. I highly recommend it. It's one of P.G. Wodehouse's best in my opinion. Life at Blandings castle
is like paradise!

A 11 year old reader from U.S.A........2001-02-27

Pigs have wings is one of the best books I have read, because it so funny. The way the characters are many times spaced out and the way they act on their stupidity, mostly the way P.G. Wodehouse makes fun of characters. Pigs have wings, is about competition between two pigs for the fattest pig class. They try to steal each other's pig, and the Empress (the name of the hero's pig) has been the winner of this class for two years in a row. All this is tied with some knotted yet silly love relationships. But the way Wodehouse makes fun of it is so funny that you will laugh untill tears start pouring down.

Average customer rating:

24/7 Cocktail Time to Avert the Third World War
The Real Story behind the Story
Have a cocktail
A very entertaining book!
Delicious but not fattening

Cocktail Time
P.G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1585675741

Customer Reviews:

24/7 Cocktail Time to Avert the Third World War.......2005-08-01

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.......2004-11-05

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.......2004-09-17

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!.......2001-09-17

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.

Delicious but not fattening.......2001-03-09

I see that my fellow reviewers of this tasty comic novel are willing to weigh in at only four of the possible five stars. I dissent vigorously and award the full five. Nothing less than five will do for a storyline so perfectly convoluted, language and syntax so recklessly heedless of anything real or centered. The characters are familiar Wodehouse types: quaintly erratic and utterly dependable for their supply of humor. Feydeau never plotted anything as neat and door-bangingly twisted, and the master Wodehouse provides page after page of crackpot ways to describe all of the door-slamming action.

Average customer rating:

Top-shelf Wodehouse
Laugh-out-loud funny!
Fun with an airgun.
A really funny book and very entertaining!
Wodehouse at His Best -- And No Jeeves in Sight!

Lord Emsworth and Others
P. G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1585672777
Release Date: 2002-05-09

Book Description

In Lord Emsworth and Others, readers are treated to a selection of familiar characters and places, in new and unfamiliar circumstances. Fans and initiates will be highly entertained.

Customer Reviews:

Top-shelf Wodehouse.......2004-07-21

A great collection of stories that do not involve my perennial favorites Bertie and Jeeves. I'm especially enamoured with Wodehouse's way of naming club members either Bean, Crumpet and Egg, or (as in Buried Treasure) after their drinks. Highly recommend for Anglophiles everywhere.

Laugh-out-loud funny!.......2002-03-30

This is an exceptional collection of Wodehouse's short stories. He hits a grand slam immediately with "Crime Wave at Blandings," which tells the hilarious tale of what happens when a senior citizen with a tendency toward nostalgia gets his hands on an air gun for the first time since his childhood. Wodehouse is the greatest when it comes to light-hearted stories that poke gentle fun at our human foibles. If you want to laugh out loud, buy this book!

Fun with an airgun........2002-01-20

Mix yourself a hot Scotch and lemon and dive in. Emsworth is at his finest when confronted with the horrific possibility that he may be forced to take The Efficient Baxter on as his secretary again. Also there is a Mulliner tale, 3 golf stories as related by the the Oldest Member and 3 Ukridge stories. Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge has as usual tried everything to raise a few quid -- including renting his aunt's house while she is away in Hollywood, training Battling Billson the prize-fighter and pawning his aunt's diamond brooch. The funniest is the Emsworth story, while the others seem more like unfinished sketches that Master Plum (Wodehouse) was toying with.

A really funny book and very entertaining!.......2001-09-17

I very highly recommend this book. It's very funny and entertaining. I'd give it more stars if I could. I really enjoy all of P.G. Wodehouse's books. In my opinion , this is one of his very best.

Wodehouse at His Best -- And No Jeeves in Sight!.......2000-11-22

This collection of short stories begins with one about the title character, Lord Emsworth, a constantly befuddled old man who only wants to putter away his time if only his energetic relatives would let him. Though not my favorite Emsworth saga, this one is excellently written and endlessly hilarious. All the other stories are similarly well done, but they all begin to meld together somehow. I would have preferred more variety in the approach. If you read this (and you should!), I recommend one story at a time, and allow some good space between stories. Use an episode perhaps as a palate cleanser between each of those long lugubrious novels you insist on reading. That way you'll get the max out of the book, and every story will remain distinctive.

Average customer rating:

A Comic Masterpiece
My All-Time Favorite Book
scrumptious!
There is only one Wodehouse!
Excellent...

Uncle Fred In The Springtime
P. G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 158567527X

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.

Customer Reviews:

A Comic Masterpiece.......2005-05-24

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.......2002-11-07

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!.......2002-06-16

A complete Wodehouse fanatic, I would have trouble giving less that five stars to anything I have read so far. Uncle Fred is 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!.......2001-07-29

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..........2001-03-20

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!!!!! : )

Average customer rating:

Veronica Wedge Snaps Up Her Millionaire!

Full Moon (Blandings Castle Novel)
P. G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: International Polygonics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1558820124

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.

Customer Reviews:

Veronica Wedge Snaps Up Her Millionaire!.......2005-01-01

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.

Average customer rating:

Eclectic Mix of Blandings Castle and Hollywood Satire
Emsworth Stories Are a Stitch; The Mulliners Are Missable
I love Wodehouse; this is not his best

Blandings Castle
P.G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1585673382
Release Date: 2002-11-07

Book Description

Fans of P. G. Wodehouse's comic genius are legion, and their devotion to his masterful command of hilarity borders on obsession. Overlook happily feeds the obsession with four more antic selections from the master.

Blandings Castle is a collection of tales concerning Lord Emsworth and the Threepwood clan, while Jeeves in the Offing finds Bertie Wooster in yet another scrape-with the peerless Jeeves out of sight, on vacation! Poor Bertie nearly becomes unstuck! Young Men in Spats is Wodehouse at his most sparkling: stories concerning members of the inimitable Drones Club-they may be small of brain and short on cash but they are always good for ingenious adventures. And in The Luck of the Bodkins, the action spans London, New York, Hollywood, and several transatlantic liners, as three dapper young men find themselves in various Wodehousian predicaments concerning their love lives and finances.

Each volume has been reset and printed on Scottish cream-wove, acid-free paper, sewn and bound in cloth. These novels are elegant and essential additions to any Wodehouse fan's library.

Customer Reviews:

Eclectic Mix of Blandings Castle and Hollywood Satire.......2005-02-04

Blandings Castle is an unexpected mix of short stories. After P.G. Wodehouse began to weave his novels about Clarence, Ninth Earl of Emsworth, and his improbable family and friends into a series of hilarious stories, he realized that he needed to fill in a gap. He warns that the first six stories in this collection constitute "the short snorts in between the solid orgies." Specifically, these stories tell us about happenings between Leave It to Psmith and Summer Lightning.

You find out more about why Clarence doesn't like to have his son, the Honorable Freddie around. You also learn about how the Empress of Blandings won her first Fat Pigs competition. The Custody of the Pumpkin shows Clarence as a plant-focused competitor before he became a pig-focused one. Mr. Wodehouse also lets us know how Freddie came to marry his wealthy wife and join the dog biscuit business in the States. Some of these stories have plots that could have been turned into novels, which makes the short stories all the better. The most delicious of the stories is a sweet tale of Clarence taking it upon himself to do the right thing in Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend.

The seventh tale is a typical Wodehouse country hullabaloo as Bobbie Wickham manipulates all involved to her advantage in dispatching an unwelcome suitor . . . playing the role for herself the Jeeves and Gally usually play in resolving romantic mishaps. It's clever and ever so liberated.

In the last five stories, P.G. Wodehouse unleashes his dissatisfaction with the Hollywood studios into acid satires of moguls and their foibles. For those who know the Hollywood of those days, these tales are almost biographical. Like the Canterbury Tales, there's a delightful element of exaggeration that makes the humor ever so much more tangy. If you dislike phonies, incompetents and those who are out for only themselves, you'll love these stories. If you don't like biting satire, skip these stories. You'll like the earlier seven.

Emsworth Stories Are a Stitch; The Mulliners Are Missable.......2001-04-04

The first half of the book, which is devoted to Blandings Castle and Lord Emsworth, is a sheer joy to read (5 stars!). The final chapter of the first half is the oft-anthologized short story "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend," an exquisite tale of how the permanently befuddled old man befriends a young lass from London who is summering in the countryside, and together the two of them set the world straight. In fact, that's just what the Emsworth stories are always about: People thrown together, each having his/her own set of priorities, and how they get what they want by practicing "You scratch my back, I scratch yours." Communicating over the din of one another's priorities is a constant source of humor, the unexpected combination of actions and outcomes is another, and the whole reveals Wodehouse's virtuosic gift for storytelling. The Emsworth stories are hard to beat.

Not so the Mulliner stories that make up the second half of the book (3 stars). Here we have a set of stories with improbable plots about Hollywood in the early talkies days. They rely too much on myths about tons of money floating around Hollywod and the incompetent people who wield all this wealth. Though they were probably pretty well received when they first came out, by a naïve public newly fascinated with Hollywood, they are now rather dated and sometimes too silly to be funny. Plus, Wodehouse shares with Shute and Waugh that singular inability of many an English writer to capture and replicate American-ese. Well, they are not horrible stories; simply relatively uninteresting. You can stop with the last Emsworth story in this book and not miss a thing, which is what I recommend.

I love Wodehouse; this is not his best.......2000-04-11

The title's a little misleading; this is a set of 12 stories, and only the first six are at Blandings Castle. I'm a particular Blandings Castle fan -- they're my favorite Wodehouse -- so I was a little disappointed in this one. But, hey, there ARE six fairly good Blandings Castle stories here. Then again, I recommend the novels over the short stories; they're much more fun and engaging. The stories are like eating one M&M and not having any more in the bag. Not enough THERE there. The novels have more time for P.G. to do what he's best at -- weaving tangled plot lines and setting up slapstick.

Something Fresh (The Collector's Wodehouse)

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Brilliant
The First From Blandings Castle
The Company You Keep
Blandings Castle is never bland nor dull!
All the intrigue of Sherlock Holmes...minus the dead bodies

Something Fresh (The Collector's Wodehouse)
P. G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1585676586

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.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2006-07-14

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.......2006-02-19

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.......2005-02-05

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!.......2002-10-24

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.......2002-10-23

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!

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A Last Look at a Master's Inner Workings at Blandings Castle
sadly, unfinished
Sunset=Last...
The master at work--inside writing.

Sunset at Blandings
Pelham wodehouse
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0671242938

Book Description

With the sun finally setting on that wondrous earthy paradise that is Blandings, Vicky Underwood finds herself forcibly parted from her beloved, Jeff Bennison. Her Uncle Galahad turns his not inconsiderable talents to reuniting the love-birds. Wodehouse's final chronicle of Blandings is unfinished, but three Wodehouse admirers have supplied a treasure trove of notes and plot details, providing fascinating insights into the mind of the author.

Customer Reviews:

A Last Look at a Master's Inner Workings at Blandings Castle.......2004-12-06

This book will only appeal to those who are hard-core P.G. Wodehouse fans, especially those who love the books about the inhabitants of Blandings Castle and the Empress of Blandings. For these fans, Sunset at Blandings will be a delightful revelation and a final memorial to the great comic master. For everyone else, this book will be a non-starter.

P.G. Wodehouse died, unfortunately, while working on the manuscript for Sunset at Blandings (a title he would never have chosen himself, as the editor notes). The first draft of the manuscript was pretty far along with a story line written for the first sixteen chapters, along with many notes about how to revise those chapters and write the final six.

The noted Wodehouse expert, Richard Usborne, has done a fine job of reviewing the notes and taking his best guess as to how the book probably would have been competed, and arranged to transcribe the remaining hand-written notes which are reproduced here. From those notes, you get a sense of how the marvelously intricate and fast-moving plots were developed and how each page ended up with so many original turns of phrase that bring a smile to the reader's delighted face. It was well worth the trip to understand how much rewriting, condensing and polishing P.G. Wodehouse did. He always makes it seem so effortless. I found it reassuring as a writer to discover that he struggled with his craft much as most writers do.

To me, the book held two other delights that were unexpected. First, Mr. Usborne has considered all of the manuscripts about Blandings Castle and taken a crack at what the floor layout and surrounding grounds might have looked like. That's quite a challenge because P.G. Wodehouse didn't have an editor who cared about continuity to rein him in. The marvelously misshapen incongruities are brought together for a sense of what must usually have been the case in these novels. Second, Mr. Usborne used the railway schedules and descriptions of the surroundings to take a guess about where in Shropshire Blandings Castle was imagined to be. That discussion might seem senseless except when you read the notes about when the Library of Congress began its research to find out about the copy of the Gutenberg Bible that was deposited there in one of the early stories about the castle.

The story is one that holds much promise. Galahad Threepwood is again trying to help young lovers by foiling one of his sisters. He helps his niece, Victoria (Vicky) Underwood, to smuggle in her artist fiancé, Jeff Bennison, under the guise of being a well-known painter of pigs to make an oil of the Empress for the family portrait gallery. As usually, the poor fellow's fault is that he has no money. Naturally, Vicky is rolling in the stuff so the challenge is to get her stepmother out of the way. Vicky wants to elope but Jeff demurs because he wants Clarence to get his pig portrait first. That puts a strain on the old relationship. As another plot line, Sir James Piper, England's Chancellor of the Exchequer, is also drawn to Blandings where he will encounter another of Gally's sisters, Diana Phipps, with whom he is in love . . . but too shy to declare himself. Having a body guard doesn't make matters any easier. What ho! How will it turn out? No one knows for sure, and you guess is as good as Mr. Usborne's is.

Have fun!

sadly, unfinished.......2004-06-25

Sunset at Blandings was Wodehouse's last and, sadly, unfinished book. What there is of the book is, as Wodehouse's writing invariably is, very funny. Accompanying the unfished novel are some wonderful extras including Wodehouse's plot outline, some of his other notes, the editor's analysis of the book, a short piece about the origins of Blandings Castle and another about the Empress of Blandings. If you're new to Wodehouse you should probably read something else of his first (Leave it to Psmith and Pigs Have Wings are both excellent for first-timers), but for those who like Wodehouse this offers an wonderful look at how he did his writing.

Sunset=Last..........2001-03-01

This book is like all the other Wodehouse books, Galahad trying to bring a couple together. It is a wonderful satire on all the earls, lords, dukes etc. etc. This one is about a lover who is posing as a person who is going to paint a pig, the Empress. Wodehouse never finished the book (because he died while writing it), but that makes it even more interesting. But be careful, once you start reading his books, most likely you will not stop. Everybody will be able to enjoy it a little bit, for his books make you laugh until tears come rolling down your cheeks. Cheers! :)

The master at work--inside writing........1998-05-07

It was a bitter-sweet experience to read this book years ago, knowing it was P.G.'s last, and unfinished to boot. However, the editor (a Wodehouse biographer) included manuscripts and early drafts, showing marginal notes and erasures, Wodehouse's outline of his plot, and false starts of plot lines, and the editor's own analysis. A fascinating look into the process of writing.

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The Direct Route Pays Off!
Pretty neat

Heavy Weather
P. G. Wodehouse
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1585672300
Release Date: 2002-01-10

Book Description

Fans of P. G. Wodehouse's comic genius are legion, and their devotion to his masterful command of the hilarity borders on an obsession.

It's Heavy Weather for Lord Emsworth and the Empress, especially with the appalling Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe snooping around with designs on the prize pig.

Customer Reviews:

The Direct Route Pays Off!.......2001-10-31

In most P.G. Wodehouse stories, the innocents and the not-so-innocents attempt to solve tricky family problems with feats of misdirection and partial truths. The result of these complicated ruses is usually a great deal of unexpected consequences that will tickle almost any funny bone. Heavy Weather is an unusually fine example of this type of story.

Monty Bodkin, who's rolling in dough, must hold a job for a year to win the approval of his fiancee's father. Then the wedding bells can chime. Monty isn't the most helpful fellow, and makes a hash out of his writing for Tiny Tots. He soon uses his uncle's influence a second time to get a new job as private secretary to Clarence, ninth Earl of Emsworth, whose pride and joy is his prize-winning pig, the Empress of Blandings.

This new employment creates much consternation for Sue Brown, who is engaged to marry the jealous Ronnie Fish. Monty and Sue had been engaged earlier, and Sue's afraid that Ronnie won't be able to handle having Monty around. Wedding bells for Sue and Ronnie depend on getting Clarence to release trust funds for Ronnie. There are a few other problems, as well. For example, Sue earns her living as a chorus girl. What will Ronnie's mother, Lady Julia, think?

The key theme of the story is that true love will win out, if the lovers follow their hearts and seize opportunity when it arises. In that way, the end will charm almost anyone . . . much like Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream does.

In most stories like this, you can anticipate how the obstacles will be overcome. Well, Heavy Weather will surprise you, if you are like me. The plot complications and resolution are delightfully adept, acrobatic, and subtle. I felt like I was watching the elephants do their ballet dance again in Fantasia. The contradictions between the messy moments and the final neatness are brilliantly handled!

The conflict between the desire to have a good reputation and the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed (including cutting all possible corners) is shown off to good effect in Heavy Weather. Developing this point creates questions about what real goodness is, versus assumed goodness from social position and family connections. In fact, inherited intelligence is also questioned for its morality. The more powerful minds in the story tend to use those capabilities to plot for self-advantage, rather than to accomplish anything meaningful for all involved. Those of limited intelligence, by contrast, tend to follow their hearts and try to do the right thing.

Good results follow in this story whenever people are loyal and honor goodness.

What can you accomplish by being loyal and honoring goodness today? And tomorrow?

Pretty neat.......1998-11-22

This certain novel has a really complex plot, very many characters, so it is pretty hard to tell if there's a real centre-character in this book because there are so many differnt people that dramatically change the course of happenings. It has a fairly good story but what I was amazed about the most, was the poor ending of the novel and its lack of GREAT humor. To first-time Wodehouse-readers I recommend books like Right Ho Jeeves and The Mating Season.

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