My Man Jeeves - The Original Classic Edition

This edition features
• two complete books
• a linked Table of Contents

CONTENTS
MY MAN JEEVES
RIGHT HO, JEEVES

Full of the trademark wit that can only be found in a Wodehouse story. I didnt have any of the laugh out loud moments I did when reading the Jeeves books though that fact didnt detract from each storys lighthearted look at lifes most serious love issues.

Contents: The Man Upstairs, Something To Worry About, Deep Waters, When Doctors Disagree, By Advice Of Counsel, Rough-Hew Them How We Will, The Man Who Disliked Cats, Ruth In Exile, Archibalds Benefit, The Man, The Maid, And The Miasma, The Good Angel, Pots O Money, Out Of School, Three From Dunsterville, The Tuppenny Millionaire, Ahead Of Schedule, Sir Agravaine, The Goal-Keeper And The Plutocrat, In Alcala

I enjoyed diving deeper into the Wodehouse repertoire through this collection of short stories.

There is also an element of the autobiographical in this work, for Wodehouse spent his post school days in much the same position as Mike finds himself - working in a city job for which he had little aptitude and did not like. Dulwich College, Wodehouses school, also makes a cameo appearance.

The character of Psmith (based on a real person, unusually for Wodehouse) lends himself well to Wodehouses skill at dialogue. Psmiths unique character traits are generally revealed in his conversation, and Wodehouse makes the most of this - certainly more than he was able to in the earlier school settings for Mike and Psmith. The dialogue does not, perhaps, soar to the heights it achieves in Leave it to Psmith, but this is a distinctly earlier piece of writing. Indeed, the reader is occasionally brought up with a jolt to just how early in the twentieth century this is, with some of the settings and phrasings.

You can almost feel the Great Depression looming ominously beyond the horizon, as the Sallys tale begins with dreamy plans for financial gains and burdens of familial financial loss. Almost immediately, Sally is whisked away to a less widely known vacation spot in Roville, France, where she meets love interests Mr. Two and Mr. Three (already engaged to Mr. One). Sallys sparked interest in Mr. Two, lets call him Ginger, begins the basic premise for the plot. The rest of the book involves rejection from Mr. One in favor of Miss Two, and offering scorn to Mr. Three in reponse to his offers of love, predictably because he was immediately and always disliked. This is all sandwiched between the financial adventures of Sallys brother Fillmore as he competes for financial independance by taking up multiple ludicrous failing schemes.

Now, while unpredictable, the plot offers little in intrigue directly itself, but it does offer us something that few plots do: a feeling of reality. The repeated financial failures of friends and family members do happen, and seeing it portrayed here does a lot for the emotional involvment in the story. A nagging depression is the offshoot of this approach; always knowing that things are not going well, cannot go well, and will not go well does that to you.

During these traumatic events, we see Sally, as she is portrayed as a real flesh and blood human being. Still trapped in the mannerisms of the day, the etiquette that covers up much of her true feelings, but also alone and dismal. One scene stands out to me more than anything. Sally receiving that Dear Jane letter from Mr. One, knowing what it must contain, sitting on the floor in the bathroom and burning it. But not just burning it, but throwing a lit match at it and letting it burn on top of it, and repeating that process until it was nothing more than a dirty spot on the floor. Very memorable.

While the basic plot, as Ive outlined it seems simple, it is actually more complicated. There are reasons why each of the three love interests are considered and of interest, at least for a short time, and this is an example of the plots creativity. Also, spicing up the plot, is the basic itinerary, which includes London, NYC, Chicago, Detroit, and the already mentioned Roville, France and these diverse locations add much to the flavor. Combine that with including three main characters of British descent, and you have a recipe for intrigue.

Other story elements of interest include thetrical productions, boxers, and dance instructors (think Tina Turners Private Dancer and you get the picture better). These so fit the persona of urban America at the time, and if you like any of these bits of Americana, this book would be considered a must read. As with most of the classics there are bits of historical flavor which make them real gems.

Overall, a very good book from a very good author who has a very unique style of writing you are sure to find refreshing.

First published in 1922 as Three Men and a Maid, this relatively early work isnt as fully developed as some of the authors later masterpieces.

As one would expect from a Wodehouse story, there is a cast of eccentric characters. Theres also some rather clever wordplay. Wodehouse peppers the narrative with several asides to his readers. The tone is effervescent, tempered with a gentle tongue-in-cheek mockery of both the upper class and the foolishness of young lovers.

Man with two left feet is a delightful book. People have been raving about Wodehouse for a long time and if you have enjoyed watching Jeeves and Wooster this could well be your first venture beyond Jeeves.

This book is a compilation of fourteen short, amusing and sometime poignant stories. It is very easy reading BUT cleverly written.

Michael "Mike" Jackson is the youngest son of a renowned cricketing family. Mike's eldest brother Joe is a successful first-class player, while another brother, Bob, is on the verge of his school team. When Mike arrives at Wrykyn himself, his cricketing talent and love of adventure bring him success and trouble in equal measure. In the second part, also known as Enter Psmith or Mike and Psmith, takes place two years later. Mike, due to take over as cricket captain at Wrykyn, is withdrawn from the school by his father and sent to a lesser school, called Sedleigh. On arrival at Sedleigh, he meets the eccentric Rupert Psmith, another new arrival from the superior school of Eton. Becoming fast friends, the two eschew cricket and indulge in all manner of high-jinks and adventures. (source: Wikipedia)

This is a new and freshly published edition of this culturally important work by P. G. Wodehouse, which is now, at last, again available to you.

Enjoy this classic work today. These selected paragraphs distill the contents and give you a quick look inside The Gem Collector:

The years fell away from Jimmy, and he was back in New York, standing at the corner of Forty-second Street with half an hour to wait because the fear of missing her had sent him there too early; sitting in Central Park with her while the squirrels came down and begged for nuts; walking-Damn Spike!

...He speedily made friends, among them Lady Jane Blunt, the still youthful widow of a man about town, who, after trying for several years to live at the rate of ten thousand per annum with an income of two and a half, had finally given up the struggle and drank himself peacefully into the tomb, leaving her in sole charge of their one son, Spencer Archbald.

...Lady Jane, who had fallen in love with the abbey some years before, during a visit to the neighborhood, had prevailed upon her square-shouldered lord to turn his twinkling gray eye in that direction, and the captain of industry, with the remark that here, at last, was a real bully old sure-fire English stately home, had sent down builders and their like, not in single spies, but in battalions, with instructions to get busy.

...Im afraid, said Spennie in an abject manner, as they left the station, that it will be rather a bit of a frightful squash-what I mean to say is, I hardly think we shall all find room in the auto.