Books by P G Wodehouse

Book Synopsis'Wodehouse would have made an excellent sports writer' Sunday TimesAs Wodehouse’s biographer Frances Donaldson observed, it was vitally important to the boy Plum that he was ‘above average at games’. Luckily, he was known at school as ‘a noted athlete, a fine footballer and cricketer [and] a boxer’, and sport inspired much of his earliest writings, as well as some of his very finest and laugh-out-loud funniest. Wodehouse wrote with trademark wit on a rich range of games – and on cricket and golf, in particular – as well as anyone ever has, bringing a knowledge and a passion born of practice. English cricket inspired in Wodehouse what he himself long considered to be his favourite work; and yet America (which he first visited keenly and then came to call home) led him to the love of baseball, and golf – enthusiasms that drew him to new tales for new audiences, including the celebrated golf stories which John Updike described as ‘the best fiction ever done about the sport.’This rollicking anthology, selected, edited and introduced by the novelist Richard T. Kelly, offers a vivid picture of Wodehouse at play – in the ring, at the crease, on the tee – which is guaranteed to please any sporting crowd. Beginning with early journalism, taking in extracts from novels and short stories in their entirety, it all adds up to a medal-winning collection.Trade ReviewAbove Average at Games is the sort of book that should be tackled from the comfort of a deep leather armchair in front of the fire at the Drone Club […] If Wodehouse hadn’t found success with Jeeves and Wooster and Lord Emsworth and all that crowd, he would have made an excellent sports writer […] He writes with great affection about the sporting world. * Sunday Times *There are several authors whose work should be required reading for every youngster in the land . . . PG Wodehouse, widely regarded as the greatest comic author of the twentieth century, is [one] . . . Novelist Richard T. Kelly has selected, edited and introduced a rip-roaring anthology . . . we’re treated to extremely funny observations on cricket, golf, boxing, rugby and even baseball. * Wales Evening Post: Sports Book of the Month *[H]ilarious and incisive; Wodehouse brilliantly sends up his own ineptitude (he was an 18 handicap), while managing to write of the sport with keenness of insight. * Irish Times *[E]ven if you aren’t [interested in the technical aspects], bits make you laugh out loud. * Tablet *

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Book Synopsis'Wodehouse is a tonic' - New Yorker. A Wodehouse pick-me-up that'll lift your spirits, whatever your mood.Cheaper and more effective than Valium’.*Offers ‘relief from anxiety, raginess or an afternoon-long tendency towards the sour’.*‘Read when you’re well and when you’re poorly; when you’re travelling, and when you’re not; when you’re feeling clever, and when you’re feeling utterly dim.’*Whatever your mood, P. G. Wodehouse, widely acknowledged to be ‘the best English comic novelist of the century’*, is guaranteed to lift your spirits. Why? Because ‘Mr Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.’*How? ‘You don’t analyse such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour.’**Olivia Williams *Caitlin Moran *Lynne Truss *Sebastian Faulks *Evelyn Waugh *Stephen FryMeet the Young Men in Spats – all members of the Drones Club, all crossed in love and all busy betting their sometimes non-existent 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. Here, you'll encounter some of Wodehouse's favourite characters – and, in 'The Amazing Hat Mystery', one of his favourite stories.Contents:- The Amazing Hat Mystery - Uncle Fred Flits By - Trouble Down at Tudsleigh

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Book Synopsis'Wodehouse is a tonic' - New Yorker. A Wodehouse pick-me-up that'll lift your spirits, whatever your mood.Cheaper and more effective than Valium’.*Offers ‘relief from anxiety, raginess or an afternoon-long tendency towards the sour’.*‘Read when you’re well and when you’re poorly; when you’re travelling, and when you’re not; when you’re feeling clever, and when you’re feeling utterly dim.’*Whatever your mood, P. G. Wodehouse, widely acknowledged to be ‘the best English comic novelist of the century’*, is guaranteed to lift your spirits. Why? Because ‘Mr Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.’*How? ‘You don’t analyse such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour.’**Olivia Williams *Caitlin Moran *Lynne Truss *Sebastian Faulks *Evelyn Waugh *Stephen FryEver on the lookout for a quick buck, a solid gold fortune, or at least a plausible little scrounge, the irrepressible Ukridge gives con men a bad name. Looking like an animated blob of mustard in his bright yellow raincoat, he invests time, passion and energy (but seldom actual cash) in a series of increasingly bizarre money-making schemes. Shares in an accident syndicate? Easily arranged. Finance for a dog college? It's yours. And if you throw in some cats, flying unexpectedly from windows, and a young man trying ever-more-desperately to impress the family of his latest love, you get a medley of Wodehouse delights in which lunacy and comic exuberance reign supreme.Contents:- Goodbye to All Cats- Ukridge's Dog College- Ukridge's Accident Syndicate

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Book Synopsis‘P.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply, or with quite as much wit and affection’ Julian Fellowes‘Jeeves, of course, is a gentleman’s gentleman, not a butler, but if the call comes, he can buttle with the best of them.’Bertie’s friend ‘Stinker Pinker’ needs his help. But helping his friend means venturing back into the dreaded Totleigh Towers and facing Sir Watkyn Bassett, his ghastly daughter Madeline and would-be dictator Roderick Spode once more. Despite having sworn never to set foot in there again, Bertie, true to form, answers the call of friendship.But even the best laid plans can go awry and, as usual, the only one who can set this frightful adventure straight is Jeeves.‘A comic master’ David Walliams

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Book Synopsis'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.Trade ReviewPure pleasure -- The TimesThe ultimate in comfort reading -- Marian KeyesA grown-up book - but not that grown-up -- Katy GuestI am a huge fan -- Jennifer SaundersIf we're talking about culture that makes people happy, we have to start with the works of P.G. Wodehouse -- BBC CultureTo have one of his books in your hand is to possess by way of a pill that can relieve anxiety, rageiness, or an afternoon-long tendency towards the sour. Paper has rarely been put to better use than printing Wodehouse.Not only the funniest English novelist who ever wrote but one of our finest stylists. His world is perfect, his writing is perfect. What more is there to be said?P. G. Wodehouse is the gold standard of English wit.An incomparable and timeless genius.P. G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression. Cheaper, more effective than valium and far, far more addictive.P.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply or with quite so much wit and affection.Wodehouse is a comic master.For as long as I'm immersed in a P. G. Wodehouse book, it's possible to keep the real world at bay and live in a far, far nicer, funnier one where happy endings are the order of the day.I'm a huge fan. Wodehouse writes proper jokes.To dive into a Wodehouse novel is to swim in some of the most elegantly turned phrases in the English language.

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Book Synopsis'A splendid anthology' The TimesNo writer knew better than PG Wodehouse how a drink can lift the spirits – and he was a master at the high comic effects of having a few too many. Highballs for Breakfast is a handpicked selection of wit, wisdom and comic moments from Wodehouse’s work that involve getting pickled or plastered, or lathered or sozzled, and getting in and out of all manner of scrapes.If some great writers dwelled on the darker side of drinking, Wodehouse was concerned with the pure pleasure to be had from ‘the magic bottle’ and getting outside of the contents of a tall glass. His imperishable writing displays a well-turned appreciation for all kinds of booze – cocktails, champagne, port, whiskey and brandy (with soda, of course); but also the humble pint, and even the infamous poteen.This sparkling collection captures Wodehouse at his best on being terribly thirsty, or drowning one’s sorrows, or knocking one back for Dutch courage. It finds him celebrating the special atmospheres of the English country pub and the Manhattan barroom. And it shows him to be exceptionally good on hangovers, but equally so on hangover cures, such as the legendary pick-me-ups prepared for Bertie Wooster by the dependable Jeeves.For all lovers of a laugh and a drink, Highballs for Breakfast is a tonic, a bracer, and a tissue-restorer.Trade ReviewA splendid anthology . . . It is vintage Wodehouse in more ways than one. Beware, though, one sip can leave you addicted for life. * The Times *A sparkling read. * The Commonwealth Lawyer Journal *

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Book SynopsisWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW HUNTER MURRAY''For as long as I''m immersed in a P.G. Wodehouse book, it''s possible to keep the real world at bay and live in a far, far nicer, funnier one'' MARIAN KEYES''Sunlit perfection'' STEPHEN FRY''Wodehouse is as loved as ever, and his vivid prose style and unique comic invention are major contributions to English fiction'' GUARDIANA summertime collection of stories at delight and to entertain, fit for Wodehouse fans and anyone who wants an uplifting, amusing read.''Paper has rarely been put to better use'' CAITLIN MORAN''Ingenious. Worth reading again and again'' SPECTATOR''Incomparable and timeless genius'' KATE MOSSE''The funniest writer ever to put words to paper'' HUGH LAURIE

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Book SynopsisNothing 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.

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Book SynopsisWhen Bertie Wooster goes to stay with his Aunt Dahlia at Brinkley Court and find himself engaged to the imperious Lady Florence Craye, disaster treatens from all sides. While Florence tries to cultivate his mind, her former fiance, hefty policeman Stilton Cheesewright, threatens to beat his body to a pulp, and her new admirer, the bleating poet percy Gorringe, tries to borrow a thousand pounds. To cap it all, Bertie has incurred the disapproval of Jeeves by growing a moustach, thus alienating the only man who can save him from his trip to the altar. Throw in a disappearing pearl necklace, Aunt Dahlia's magazine Milady's Boudir, her cook Anatole, the Drones' dart match, and Mr and Mrs L. G. Trotter from Liverpool, and you have all the ingredients for a classic Wodehouse farce.

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Book SynopsisIf Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge had a fiver for every dodgy scheme he has ever floated, he would be a rich man indeed. In these ten stories he tries every way of making money, from writing political slogans to opening a college for dogs. In his own eyes, Ukridge is a Great Man and a Visionary. In ours, he is English literature's most delightful chancer and one of Wodehouse's greatest comic creations: charming, ambitious, persuasive, optimistic and almost always disastrous. Sometimes supported by his rich Aunt Julia - but more often expelled from her house for his sins - he moves through the landscape in his eternal yellow mackintosh, dreaming of riches and borrowing shillings, an innocent abroad in a hostile world.

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Book SynopsisIt is pig stealing time in Shropshire. After winning the Fat Pig competition for two years in a row with Empress of Blandings, Lord Emsworth's ascendancy at the Agricultural Show is threathened by Sir Gregory Parsloe's new sow, Queen of Matchingham. Always keen to help, Lord Emsworth's brother Galahad plots the theft of the Parsloe pig. In retaliation, Sir Gregory's pigman, George Cyril Wellbeloved, snaffles the Empress. While these momentous events are under way, a romantic comedy unfolds at Blandings Castle whither Jerry Vail her pursued Penny Donaldson. But Penny is engaged to Orlo Vosper who pines for Gloria Salt who is engaged to Sir Gregory who rediscovers Maudje Stubbs who has charmed Lord Emsworth, who is Jerry's employer.

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Book SynopsisAt 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.Trade ReviewIt's dangerous to use the word genius to describe a writer, but I'll risk it with him -- John HumphrysWodehouse always lifts your spirits, no matter how high they happen to be already -- Lynne Truss

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Book SynopsisWhen 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.

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Book SynopsisThe Honourable Galahad Threepwood has decided to write his memoirs and England's aristocrats are all diving for cover, not least Galahad's formidable sister Lady Constance Keeble who fears that her brother will ruin the family reputation with saucy stories of the 1890s. But Galahad's memoirs are not the only cause for concern. Yet again Lord Emsworth's prize pig has been stolen and, as usual, the castle seems to be buzzing with imposters all pretending to be one another. Love and natural justice triumph in the end, but not before Wodehouse has tangled and unangled a plot of Shakespearean complexity in a novel which might as well be subtitled 'The Price of the Papers'.

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Book SynopsisA Hollywood star and an English aristocrat exchange souls while under ether at the dentist and the result is mayhem. Though his golden curls and sweet expression make him the idol of mothers throughout America, Joey Cooley is a tough nut who wants nothing more than to revenge himself on the agents, directors and producers who make his life a misery, before escaping back to Ohio. When his soul is transplanted into the body of an English earl with a boxing Blue he has the chance to 'poke them all in the snoot'. Lord Havershot, meanwhile, finds himself under the thumb of the fierce Miss Brinkmeyer and terrorized by the boy stars Joey has supplanted. The result is Anglo-American farce with the lightest of touches.

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Book SynopsisA humorous novel in which an Earl and his aristocratic family are divided by what is seen as a socially unsuitable marriage.

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Book SynopsisA collection of stories in which familiar characters and places are reintroduced in unfamiliar circumstances, reminding us – if we need reminding – of their author's limitless powers of comic invention. In the title story – one of Wodehouse's longest and best shorter fictions – Lord Emsworth takes his revenge on his ghastly secretary, the Efficient Baxter, setting off a wave of similar reprisals at Blandings Castle with amazing results. In other tales we meet several members of the Drones Club, while the final three reunite us with the ineffable Ukridge, more of whose ever-optimistic schemes for making easy money come to grief. A delightful meeting with old friends for some readers, a superb introduction to the world of Wodehouse for others.

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Book SynopsisTrapped in the rural hell-hole of Steeple Bumpleigh with his bossy ex-fiancée, Florence Craye, her fire-breathing father, Lord Worplesdon, her frightful Boy-Scout brother, Edwin, and her beefy new betrothed, 'Stilton' Cheesewright, Bertie Wooster finds himself walking a diplomatic tightrope. With Florence threatening to ditch Stilton for Bertie, and Stilton threatening to trample on Bertie's insides if she does, things look black until Jeeves arrives to save the day. One of Wodehouse's most sparkling comedies, replete with an attendant cast of tyrannical aunts, demon children and literary fatheads.

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Book SynopsisAnyone who involves himself with Roberta Wickham is asking for trouble, so naturally Bertie Wooster finds himself in just that situation when he goes to stay with his Aunt Dahlia at Brinkley Court. So much is obvious. Why celebrated loony-doctor Sir Roderick Glossop should be there too, masquerading as a butler, is less clear. As for Bertie’s former headmaster, the ghastly Aubrey Upjohn, the dreadful novelist, Mrs Homer Cream and her eccentric son Wilbert, their presence is entirely perplexing. Without Jeeves to help him solve these mysteries, Bertie nearly comes unstuck. It is only when that peerless manservant returns from his holiday that the resulting tangle of problems is sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction – except Bertie’s.

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Book SynopsisMonty Bodkin's pursuit of Gertude Butterwick is temporarily interrupted by his encounter with silver-screen siren Miss Lotus Blossom, who sees in him a means of restoring relations with her idol, the novelist Ambrose Tennyson. But Monty is not the only one with problems. Ambrose's brother Reggie has money troubles and Ikey Llewellyn is struggling with difficulties which would tax anyone's ingenuity, let alone his limited brain power. When the paths of these men collide, the ensuing plot complications produce a vintage Wodehouse farce involving London, New York, Hollywood and translatlantic liners. A delicious period piece from 1935.

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Book SynopsisTake a pig, a fat-headed earl, a country house, several pairs of frustrated lovers, some scheming outsiders, and all sorts of people who aren’t who they say they are. Mix thoroughly and apply the Wodehouse magic. The result is the lightest of literary soufflées, another instalment in the long-running saga of the Threepwood family, including the head of the clan, Lord Emsworth, his virago sister, Lady Constance, and his debonair brother, the Honourable Galahad Threepwood, ex-boulevardier and solver of romantic problems.

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Book SynopsisJ. Wellington Gedge seems to have everything a man could desire: a rich wife, a chateau, a life of ease in the south of France. But all he really wants is to return to California, not least because Mrs Gedge, who holds the purse-strings, is scheming to have him appointed as American ambassador in Paris, which means he will have to wear a sissy uniform. Fortunately, her plans are thwarted by a complicated series of events which involves French aristocrats, American crooks, an English novelist and the appalling Senator Opal, whose daughter, Jane, has a mind of her own.

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Book SynopsisSir Buckstone Abbot owns what is possibly the ugliest stately home in England, and he is naturally eager to dispose of it to an American heiress, Princess Dwornitzchek. But the sale is complicated by the Princess's engagement to Adrian Peake, who is being pursued by Sir Buckstone's daughter, Jane, who is loved by Joe Vanringham. In the end, almost everyone gets what they want, even Prudence Whittaker, Sir Buckstone's awfully well-spoken secretary.

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Book SynopsisIn this comic novel - dedicated to Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in the stage version - Jimmy Pitt, man-about-town and former newspaper hound, takes a bet that he cannot commit burglary. He finds breaking and entering easy enough, but then discovers that he has forced his way into the home of a tough New York policeman. Naturally, Captain McEachern has a beautiful daughter and problems of his own. The complications which ensue from their meeting, involving a rich cast of Wodehousean characters from both sides of the Atlantic, create one of his most amusing and light-hearted early novels.

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Book SynopsisA 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.Trade ReviewThis is one of the most entertaining and utterly delightful books that you are ever likely to read. Set in the 1920s, it reads like a musical, only without the music. Wonderfully appealing characters, from the singleminded Earl of Marshmoreton, pompous Lord Belpher, lovely Maud (aka Lady Patricia) and all round nice guy George Bevan, a light and natural romance, hilarious scenes which will stay vividly in your imagination for a long, long time... a book that you will not be able to put down, who could ask for more?

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Book SynopsisIt all starts with an umbrella, the best to be found in the Drones Club. From such an innocent beginning Wodehouse weaves a comic tale of suspense and romance involving one of his most distinctive early heroes, Ronald Eustace Psmith, monocled wit and devil-may-care boulevardier. Unusually for Wodehouse, this is not only a light comedy but also an adventure story in which crime and even gun-play drive the plot.

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Book SynopsisAlways to be found in the bar-parlour of the Angler's Rest where he is a favourite with the accomplished barmaid, Miss Postlethwaite, Mr Mulliner, the narrator of Meet Mr Mulliner, returns for another series of stories about his extraordinary relations, including Lancelot, Adrian, Cyril, Sacheverell, Eustace, Egbert and Augustine Mulliner. In a text teeming with tipsy bishops, angry baronets, lady novelists and haughty dowagers, the Mulliner boys always manage to come out on top.

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Book SynopsisWhile pursuing the love of his life, American heiress Pauline Stoker, Lord 'Chuffy' Chuffnell borrows the services of Jeeves, the perfect gentleman's gentleman. But when Chuffy finds out that Jeeves's employer, Bertie Wooster, was once engaged to Pauline himself – until the engagement was broken by her tough-egg father, abetted by loony-doctor Sir Roderick Glossop – such fearsome complications ensue that even Jeeves has difficulty securing a happy ending.

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Book SynopsisWhen 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.Trade Review"Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in." Evelyn Waugh; "He exhausts superlatives" Stephen Fry; "Pure word music" Douglas Adams; "The Everyman edition promises to be a splendid celebration of the divine Plum" The Independent; "The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare" Evening Standard; "A handsome, collectable hardback edition" Lynne Truss, The Times"

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Book SynopsisPongo Twistleton is in a state of financial embarrassment, again. Uncle Fred, meanwhile, has been asked by Lord Emsworth to foil a plot to steal the Empress, his prize pig. Along with Polly Pott (daughter of old Mustard), they form a deputation to Blandings Castle, bent on doing a "bit of good".Trade Review"Sublime comic genius" Ben Elton"The finest and funniest writer the past century ever knew" Stephen Fry"Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever" Douglas Adams

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Book SynopsisThe only Jeeves story in which Bertie Wooster makes no appearance, involves Jeeves on secondment as butler and general factotum to William Belfry, ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced Roaster). Despite his impressive title, Bill Belfry is broke, which may explain why he and Jeeves have been working as Silver Ring bookies, disguised in false moustaches and loud check suits. All goes well until the terrifying Captain Brabazon-Biggar, big-game hunter, two-fisted he-man and saloon-bar bore, lays successful bets on two outsiders, leaving the would-be bookies three thousand pounds down and on the run from their creditor. Ring For Jeeves is the story of their misadventures as they attempt to evade the incandescent Captain, combined with Bill's attempt to sell his crumbling mansion to rich American widow, Rosalinda Spottsworth - who just happens to be Brabazon-Biggar's former flame...Trade Review"Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in." Evelyn Waugh; "He exhausts superlatives" Stephen Fry; "Pure word music" Douglas Adams; "The Everyman edition promises to be a splendid celebration of the divine Plum" The Independent; "The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare" Evening Standard; "A handsome, collectable hardback edition" Lynne Truss, The Times"

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Book SynopsisThese 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.

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Book SynopsisWhen a man needs only two hundred pounds to marry his cook and buy a public house, one would expect his life to be trouble free, but the fifth Earl of Shortlands has to reckon with his haughty daughter, Lady Adela, and Mervyn Spink, his butler, who also happens to be his rival in love. Mike Cardinal offers to sort out the problem by pretending to be Stanwood Cobbold but his way is blocked by Spink and reformed burglar, Augustus Robb. Confused? Let P.G.Wodehouse untangle the complications in this light-hearted comedy which ends happily – for almost everyone.

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Book SynopsisFrederick, 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...

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Book SynopsisThis 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.

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Book SynopsisWhen George, Viscount Uffenham turns the entire family fortune into diamonds and squirrels them away, naturally he forgets where he has hidden the loot and finds himself compelled to let the family seat to stay afloat. So it is that Mrs Cork's health colony comes into being, providing the perfect setting for crime and young love to flower.

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Book SynopsisThis 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.

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Book SynopsisThis book features more stories about the incredible Mulliner clan, following on from Meet Mr Mulliner. This volume includes such classic Wodehouse tales as 'The Man Who Gave Up Smoking', 'The Awful Gladness of the Mater', 'Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court' and 'The Passing of Ambrose'.

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Book SynopsisWhen 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.

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Book SynopsisThe 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.Trade Review"Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in." -- EVELYN WAUGH"He exhausts superlatives" -- STEPHEN FRY"Pure word music" -- DOUGLAS ADAMS"The Everyman edition promises to be a splendid celebration of the divine Plum" * THE INDEPENDENT *"The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare" * EVENING STANDARD *

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Book SynopsisThe 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.Trade Review"Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in." -- EVELYN WAUGH"He exhausts superlatives" -- STEPHEN FRY"Pure word music" -- DOUGLAS ADAMS"The Everyman edition promises to be a splendid celebration of the divine Plum" * THE INDEPENDENT *"The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare" * EVENING STANDARD *

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Book SynopsisVery Good Jeeves! (1930) is a collection of eleven short stories starring Bertie Wooster in eleven alarming predicaments from which he has to be rescued by his peerless gentleman's gentleman. Whether Bertie is tangling with a red-headed ball of fire such as Roberta Wickham, dealing with an irate headmistress, placating a rampaging aunt, puncturing the wrong hot water bottle, singing 'Sonny Boy', or simply trying to concentrate on his golf handicap, Jeeves is always there to help - though rarely in ways which his employer expects. These brilliantly plotted stories give the essence of Wodehousian comedy.Trade Review"Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in." -- EVELYN WAUGHHe exhausts superlatives -- STEPHEN FRY"Pure word music" -- DOUGLAS ADAMSThe Everyman edition promises to be a splendid celebration of the divine Plum -- THE INDEPENDENT"The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare" * EVENING STANDARD *

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