This substantial collection of early stories displays a variety of tone, style and setting which may surprise readers familiar only with the author's later light comedies of aristocratic life.
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (always known as 'Plum') wrote about
seventy novels and some three hundred short stories over
seventy-three years. He is widely recognised as the greatest
20th-century writer of humour in the English language.
Perhaps best known for the escapades of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves,
Wodehouse also created the world of Blandings Castle, home to Lord
Emsworth and his cherished pig, the Empress of Blandings. His
stories include gems concerning the irrepressible and disreputable
Ukridge; Psmith, the elegant socialist; the
ever-so-slightly-unscrupulous Fifth Earl of Ickenham, better known
as Uncle Fred; and those related by Mr Mulliner, the charming
raconteur of The Angler's Rest, and the Oldest Member at the Golf
Club.
In 1936 he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'having made an
outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the
world'. He was made a Doctor of Letters by Oxford University in
1939 and in 1975, aged ninety-three, he was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II. He died shortly afterwards, on St Valentine's Day.
The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already
a cake without compare.
*Evening Standard*
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