The Inimitable Jeeves - Softcover

Wodehouse, P. G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1987817842 ISBN 13: 9781987817843

Publisher: Stellar Classics, 2016

Synopsis

The 11 stories prepared in this collection are the original stories which were all first published between 1918 and 1922 in the magazines Strand and Cosmopolitan, now in the public domain. They were then revised and re-published together as 18 stories in 1923 but these are the original magazine versions. The Inimitable Jeeves was the second collection of Jeeves stories, after My Man Jeeves (1919); the next collection would be Carry on, Jeeves in 1925. All of the stories in The Inimitable Jeeves are connected and most of them involve Bertie's friend Bingo Little, who is always falling in love. It's Wodehouse at his best.

About this title

Review:

With a cast of characters that includes bearded revolutionaries, practical-joking twins, incognito authors, and a pair of confidence tricksters, The Inimitable Jeeves finds our upper-class hero Bertie Wooster in all kinds of hot water. Of particular concern in this collection of short stories--sensitively abridged by Penguin and read by Simon Callow--is Bertie's friend Bingo Little, who falls in love so often that it is impossible to keep track of his romantic entanglements, and who always falls for the most unsuitable women.

Unable to refuse to help a friend, Bertie is placed in one difficult situation after another, always under the watchful eye of his butler. Jeeves constantly works in the background, undermining Bertie's autonomy and moving the narrative in unexpected directions. He often fails to let his employer in on his plots, and a large proportion of his schemes turn out to expose Bertie to ridicule.

Yet Jeeves also ensures that Bertie's life runs smoothly, steering him through the pitfalls which face a rich young man with too much time on his hands. When in one story Bertie overhears Jeeves describing his employer as "not intelligent", he sets out to disprove the butler's assessment. If it is predictable that things do not go according to plan, then it is Wodehouse's brilliant grasp of comedy which makes the manner in which things go wrong so constantly surprising. And, of course, by the end of the tale Jeeves has proved himself both inimitable and indispensable. --John Oates

Review:

"It's dangerous to use the word genius to describe a writer, but I'll risk it with him" (John Humphrys)

"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" (Marian Keyes)

"Wodehouse always lifts your spirits, no matter how high they happen to be already" (Lynne Truss)

"The incomparable and timeless genius - perfect for readers of all ages, shapes and sizes!" (Kate Mosse)

"Not only the funniest English novelist who ever wrote but one of our finest stylists" (Susan Hill)

About this edition

• Publisher: Stellar Classics
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1987817842
• ISBN 13: 9781987817843
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160