Visar resultat för..."P. G. Wodehouse"

Nothing but trouble can ensue when Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia instructs him to steal a silver jug from Totleigh Towers, home of magistrate and hell-hound, Sir Watkin Bassett. First he must face the peril of Sir Watkin's droopy daughter, Madeleine, and then the terrors of would-be Dictator, Roderick Spode and his gang of Black Shorts. But when duty calls, Bertram answers, and so there follows what he himself calls the 'sinister affair of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeleine Bassett, old Pop Bassett, Stiffy Byng, the Rev. H. P. ('Stinker') Pinker, the eighteenth-century cow-creamer and the small, brown, leather-covered notebook'. In a plot with more twists than an English country lane, it takes all the ingenuity of Jeeves to extract his master from the soup again.

The titles of the first story in this collection – 'Jeeves Takes Charge' – and the last – 'Bertie Changes His Mind' – sum up the relationship of twentieth-century fiction's most famous comic characters. In between them, the various feeble-minded men and lively young women who populate Wooster's world appeal to Jeeves to solve their problems and are never disappointed.

'A cavalcade of perfect joy' Caitlin Moran 'There are periods when I'm not up to the journey, when hope is too much to ask for and I am only fit for ... cowering under the covers with P. G. Wodehouse' Cathy Rentzenbrink_____________________________________'There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, "Do trousers matter?"' 'The mood will pass, sir.'Aunt Dahlia has tasked Bertie with purloining an antique cow creamer from Totleigh Towers. In order to do so, Jeeves hatches a scheme whereby Bertie must charm the droopy and altogether unappealing Madeline and face the wrath of would-be dictator Roderick Spode. Though the prospect fills him with dread, when duty calls, Bertie will answer, for Aunt Dahlia will not be denied.In a plot that swiftly becomes rife with mishaps, it is Jeeves who must extract his master from trouble. Again.

Typical. Just when Bertie thinks that God's in his heaven and all's right with the world, things start to go wrong again...There's young Bingo Little, who's in love for the umpteenth time and needs Bertie to put in a good word for him with his uncle; Aunt Agatha, who forces Bertie to get engaged to the formidable Honoria Glossop; and the troublesome twins, Claude and Eustace, whose antics when let loose in London know no bounds.Add to that some friction in the Wooster home over a red cummerbund, purple socks and some snazzy old Etonian spats, and poor Bertie's really in the soup...Only one man can save the day - the inimitable Jeeves.Characters Bertie Wooster - Narrator who went to school with Bingo. Won a prize at his first school for the best collection of wild flowers. Jeeves - Bertie's valet who has an aunt who loves the romantic novels of Rosie M. Banks Bingo Little - Mortimer's nephew who loves Mabel. Tells his uncle that Bertie is really Rosie M. Banks. Mabel - Waitress in a tea shop Mortimer Little - Retired fat businessman who owned Little's Liniment - "It Limbers Up the Legs." He is a gourmet. Jane Watson - Mortimer's cook engaged to Jeeves, but not for long

Blandings Castle lacks its usual balm for the Earl of Emsworth, as his stern sister Lady Constance Keeble is once more in residence. The Duke of Dunstable is also infesting the place again, along with the standard quota of American millionaires, romantic youths, con artists, imposters and so on. With a painting of reclining nude at the centre of numerous intrigues, Gally's genius is once again required to sort things out.

Containing drafts of stories later rewritten for other collections (including Carry On, Jeeves), My Man Jeeves offers a fascinating insight into the genesis of comic literature's most celebrated double-act. All the stories are set in New York, four of them featuring Jeeves and Wooster themselves; the rest concerning Reggie Pepper, an earlier version of Bertie. Plots involve the usual cast of amiable young clots, choleric millionaires, chorus-girls and vulpine aunts, but towering over them all is the inscrutable figure of Jeeves, manipulating the action from behind the scenes.Early or not, these stories are masterly examples of Wodehouse's art,turning the most ordinary incidents into golden farce.

When Jill Mariner is arrested for fighting over a parrot and then loses all her money on the same day, she is abandoned by her pompous fiancé and goes to stay with her rich relations on Long Island. Uncle Elmer is delighted to see her – until he finds out that Jill is penniless. Heading for New York, she ends up in the chorus of a musical comedy on Broadway where she eventually finds the man of her dreams. A light romantic comedy in Wodehouse’s most charming manner.

The Coming of Bill (1920) is the nearest Wodehouse ever came to a serious novel, although the influence of the musical comedies he was writing at the time is never far away. Bill is the child of Ruth, a spoilt heiress, and Kirk, an impecunious artist of perfect physique. Their marriage has been arranged by Ruth's aunt, a believer in eugenics who then takes charge of the baby. The story, set entirely in New York and Connecticut, concerns the young couple's campaign to retrieve their child from the overbearing Mrs Porter and establish a normal family life. They are eventually successful, but only after a series of comic mishaps in a story which features a galaxyof vintage Wodehouse characters, including the bossy aunt, a tetchy millionaire, a good-natured ex-boxer and an orotund English butler.

It wasn't Archie's fault, really. It's true he went to America and fell in love with Lucille, the daughter of a millionaire hotel proprietor . . . and if he did marry her -- well, what else was there to do? From his point of view, the whole thing was a thoroughly good egg; but Mr. Brewster, his father-in-law, thought differently, Archie had neither money nor occupation, which was distasteful in the eyes of the industrious Mr. Brewster; but the real bar was the fact that he had once adversely criticized one of his hotels. Archie did his best to heal the breach; but, being something of an ass, genus priceless, he found it almost beyond his powers to placate the "man-eating fish" whom Providence had given him as a father-in-law. . . .

This sparkling story of transatlantic manners follows the fortunes of playboy Jimmy Crocker in England and America. When Jimmy falls for a girl in London and vows to reform himself as a result, the quest for love leads him to his Aunt Nesta’s house in New York, where his escapades involve impersonating himself and attempting to kidnap Nesta’s odious son Ogden – with the boy demanding a cut of the ransom money. A full flush of minor characters – pretentious poets, butlers, boxers, put-upon husbands and Wall Street businessmen – make the comedy crackle as only Wodehouse knew how.

When rich and imperious American widow Beatrice Chavender eats a forkful of inferior ham at her sister's country house near London, it affects the lives of everyone around her - her sister, her brother-in-law, her sister's butler, her sister's poor relation Sally, Sally's fiance Lord Holberton, and, most of all, Mrs Chavender's own one-time fiance, 'Ham King' J. B. Duff, whose rotten product spoils her breakfast.

Frederick, Earl of Ickenham, is not the man to run away from other people’s romantic problems, not even when faced with the tangled relationships of his godson, Johnny, Johnny’s girlfriend, Belinda, butler Albert Peasemarch and Peasemarch’s beloved, Phoebe, who happens to be the sister of his employer, bad-tempered Sir Raymond ‘Beefy’ Bastable. Sir Raymond is himself in pursuit of Barbara Crowe. Everything turns on the fate of the script for a film called Cocktail-Time by Bastable’s nephew, Cosmo Wisdom – but just to stir the mixture a little further, Wodehouse throws in American con-artist Oily Carlisle. Now read on...

A damsell in distress - an Almost Blandings novel set in Belphi Castle, Hampshire and a two week house party for the son-and-heir's 21st.

Psmith helps acting editor Billy Windsor change the image of Cosy Moments magazine and they are stalked by gangsters when their expose of slum tenements angers an unscrupulous landlord.

Lord Emsworth's prized pig, the Empress of Blandings, is at the centre of Wodehouse's hilarious tale of mistaken identity, the triumph of young love, and general mayhem among the twits at Blandings Castle.

Wodehouse's well-known gift for satisfying plots and comic surprises is evident on every page, but there are also signs of his debt to earlier writers in the realistic tradition. Set mainly in London or New York, many of the stories concern ordinary people - shopassistants, schoolmasters, secretaries, servants, unsuccessful writers - living the life of rented rooms and cheap cafés Wodehouse knew well from his own experience. Yet there is nothing sad or gloomy about these tales. Far from it: they are brimming with life and energy, beautifully written and invariably delightful. And for Wodehouse addicts there is also a goodly sprinkling of goofy young men about town and their valets to satisfy the strongest appetites

It is an intriguing collection, where most of the stories concern relationships, sports and household pets, and interestingly does not feature any of Wodehouse's regular characters; one however, "Extricating Young Gussie", is remarkable as the first appearance of some of Wodehouse's most well-known and beloved characters, Jeeves and his master Bertie Wooster (although here Bertie's surname appears to be Mannering-Phipps, and Jeeves' role is very small), along with Bertie's fearsome Aunt Agatha.

This is the first of the Blandings Castle novels, introducing Lord Emsworth, his family, his secretary - the Efficient Baxter - and the mandatory Wodehouse cast of butlers, aunts, younger sons, detectives, lovers and imposters. Take the 4.15 from Paddington Station to Shropshire and arrive in heaven.

At Deverill Hall, an idyllic Tudor manor in the picture-perfect village of King's Deverill, impostors are in the air. The prime example is man-about-town Bertie Wooster, doing a good turn to Gussie Fink-Nottle by impersonating him while he enjoys fourteen days away from society after being caught taking an unscheduled dip in the fountains of Trafalgar Square. Bertie is of course one of nature's gentlemen, but the stakes are high: if all is revealed, there's a danger that Gussie's simpering fiancée Madeline may turn her wide eyes on Bertie instead. It's a brilliant plan - until Gussie himself turns up, imitating Bertram Wooster. After that, only the massive brain of Jeeves (himself in disguise) can set things right.

The Little Nugget (1913) is one of the novels in which Wodehouse found his feet, a light comic thriller set in an English prep school for the children of the nobility and gentry. Into their midst comes eleven-year-old Ogden Ford, the mouthy, overweight, chain-smoking son of an American millionaire. Ogden (whom we meet again in Piccadilly Jim) is the object of a kidnap attempt which forms the basis of the plot. The comedy arises from Wodehouse's favourite topics of Anglo-American misunderstanding and the absurdities of school life.

These are strange times for the English aristocracy. When hard-up William FitzWilliam Delamere Chalmers, Lord Dawlish – otherwise known as Bill – sets off for America to make a fortune, he does not expect to be left one by an American millionaire with whom he strikes up a passing acquaintance. Honour demands that Bill Dawlish should restore this unexpected windfall to the rightful heirs, but this involves him in complicated adventures with greedy relations, haughty dowagers, dogs, chickens and an angry monkey. Calm is eventually restored but not before Bill has met the woman of his dreams and married her in the church on Fifth Avenue.

A classic musical comedy plot turned into a novel, The Prince and Betty is the story of a man who gives up everything for his girl. Fortunately, she chances to be the step-daughter of a millionaire. John Maude and Betty Silver are in love, but when John turns out to be heir to the principality of Mervo, a small Mediterranean island not a thousand miles from Monte Carlo, he finds himself ensnared in the establishment of a new casino on the island, much to his beloved’s high-minded disgust. She leaves him and takes a job with an American family in London; he abandons his post to follow her. Eventually their misunderstandings are disentangled: the pair are reunited, betrothed and bound for a new life in the United States. And so it is that, in the process of telling their story, published early in his career, Wodehouse constructs the critique of Europe versus America, privilege versus enterprise, decadence versus adventure, which was to underpin many of his later tales.

When Psmith finds himself working in the City for the pompous Mr Bickersdyke, he makes it his mission to bring a little sweetness and light into the bank manager's life. The monocled wit with the suave manner and the chivalrous but devil-may-care attitude to life is determined not to let honest toil depress him. The consequence is a series of battles in which Bickersdyke comes off worst and Wodehouse's readers best.

Meet the Young Men in Spats - all members of the Drones Club, all crossed in love and all busy betting their sometimes nonexistent fortunes on unlikely outcomes - that's when they're not recovering from driving their sports cars through rather than round Marble Arch.These wonderful comic short stories are the essence of innocent fun. In them you'll encounter some of Wodehouse's favourite characters - including, for the first time, his future hero Uncle Fred. The collection is widely regarded as one of Wodehouse's best and includes one of his own favourites, 'The Amazing Hat Mystery'.

_________________________________________'If comedy is your thing, it's hard to match PG Wodehouse and his classic characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster for hilarious farce.' Irish Daily Mail'P.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century' Sebastian Faulks'Heaven is Right Ho, Jeeves' Hugh Johnson'Jeeves, I'm engaged.''I hope you will be very happy, sir.''Don't be an ass. I'm engaged to Miss Bassett.'Bertie is feeling most put out when he finds that his friend Gussie is seeking relationship advice from Jeeves. Meanwhile Aunt Dahlia has asked Bertie to present awards at a school prize-giving ceremony. In a stroke of genius, Bertie realises he can kill two birds with one stone, palming off his prize-giving duties to Gussie by assuring him that the object of his affections will be there.Several terrible misunderstandings later and facing chaos, Bertie turns, yet again, to Jeeves who swiftly and ingeniously saves the day._________________________________________'Sublime comic genius' Ben Elton'A cavalcade of perfect joy' Caitlin Moran'Sunlit perfection... Bask in its warmth and splendour' Stephen Fry'The greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness' Julian Fellowes

'The ultimate in comfort reading' Marian Keyes 'A grown-up book - but not that grown-up' Katy Guest_____________________________________'I expect I shall feel better after tea.'From the moment Jeeves cures Bertie Wooster of a raging hangover with his own concoction of Worcestershire sauce and tomato juice, they become steadfast partners.Whether it is fixing a plan-gone-wrong, or solving his friends' love lives, Jeeves is Bertie's unfaltering aide through a series of entirely self-imposed misadventures.

A Golf collectionFrom his favourite chair on the terrace above the ninth hole, The Oldest Member tells a series of hilarious golfing stories. From Evangeline, Bradbury Fisher's fifth wife and a notorious 'golfing giggler', to poor Rollo Podmarsh whose game was so unquestionably inept that 'he began to lose his appetite and would moan feebly at the sight of a poached egg', the game of golf, its players and their friends and enemies are here shown in all their comic glory. One of Wodehouse's funniest books, The Heart of Goof is a collection of peerlessly comic short stories.

A Mulliner collectionA private detective who can make the guilty confess simply by smiling at them. An artist so intimidated by his morally impeccable cat that he feels compelled to wear formal attire at dinner. A devotee of Proust whose life is turned upside down when he inadvertently subscribes to a correspondence course on How to Acquire Complete Self-Confidence and an Iron Will. These are just a few of the many members of the eccentric Mulliner clan whose lives and exploits are laid before the regulars of the Angler's Rest by that doyen of raconteurs, Mr Mulliner, in a series of hilarious and beautifully turned short stories where lunacy and comic exuberance reign supreme.

A P.G. Wodehouse novelIt's America during Prohibition and shy young George Finch is setting out as an artist - without the encumbrance of a shred of talent. George falls in love with Molly, whose imperious stepmother Mrs Waddington insists he's not the man to marry the stepdaughter of one of New York's most fashionable hostesses. Poor George - he doesn't seem to stand a chance.How George eventually triumphs over the bossy Mrs Waddington makes for a dizzying plot featuring some of Wodehouse's most appealing minor characters - Mullett the butler and his light-fingered girlfriend Fanny, J. Hamilton Beamish, author of the dynamic Beamish Booklets, Officer Garroway the poetic policeman, and Sigsbee H. Waddington, the hen-pecked husband who longs for the wide open spaces of the West.Oh, and does Prohibition mean there's no booze? In a Wodehouse novel? You'll have to wait and see...