My Man Jeeves is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the UK in May 1919. Of the eight stories in the collection, half feature the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, while the others concern Reggie Pepper, an early prototype for Wooster.
My Man Jeeves
By pgwodehouse
This year, 2019, marks the Jeeves and Wooster Centennial! “My Man Jeeves” is the first published appearance of Reginald Jeeves as a full-blown character. Jeeves is the overly-competent valet to a well-meaning but “mentally negligent” gentleman, Bertie Wooster.
This collection of stories is now referred to as Jeeves #1, but that is not completely accurate. I say this only to stir up the hardcore Wodehouse fans. I am sure they are winding up with the old half-brick at this very moment. Within these covers, the reader will find four stories of Jeeves saving Bertie Wooster from himself. The collection then veers off into the world of Reggie Pepper, who was a prototype for Bertie Wooster, sans Jeeves. We return for one last Jeeves story at the end of the collection
Why, oh why, should one seek out a moldy (mouldy) century-old book? Because these stories are still laugh-out-loud funny. It is hard to be droll while writing slapstick, but Mr. Wodehouse pulls it off with aplomb. Even after having read these stories multiple times, one of Wodehouse’s phrases will catch me off guard. There I sit, chuckling away like Bertie Wooster at the Drone’s club.
This is not my favorite Jeeves and Wooster collection, but it is a fine starting place. There will be a much more in-depth review of Wodehouse’s work in the very near future. For now, happy reading!
P.G. Wodehouse captures the 1920’s British high society in roaring humor.
His characters of playboy Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves are legendary. The choice of words and phrases, the twisted plots, and the wonderful caricatures lift the crazy stories to hilarious heights. Such a delight to read and always brings a smile.
“Memories are like mulligatawny soup in a cheap restaurant. It is best not to stir them.”
“It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them”
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this but I’m so glad I did. This is a collection of short stories from the early 20th century, most based on the main character and his valet. Those stories were my favorites. The main character is a rich, ne’er do well Englishman, living in the states. His valet Jeeves often comes up with a plan that helps the man out of a scrape. Or helps his friends out of a scrape. Jeeves original plan often causes other issues, which the stoic valet then fixes in turn.
A few did not include the valet, and though they were still excellent stories, they didn’t tickle my funny bone as well as those with Jeeves. The narrator was perfection! I would read more from this duo!
So clever! Easy to read and very funny.
P.G. Wodehouse’s work has been on my reading list for some time now, and all the more since learning of Faith Sullivan’s Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse. I am rather fond of Sullivan’s work, and took her endorsement of Wodehouse as further evidence that I should move him up my list. And so.
My Man Jeeves is a collection of Wodehouse’s short stories, the vast majority of which feature – you guessed it – Jeeves. (Jeeves, of course, is the smarter-than-the-master butler who is forever getting his idling employer and said employer’s kith and kin out of various jams.) I have mixed feelings on this collection. At a minimum I will say it took time for me to warm up to Wodehouse’s style; title character Jeeves; and, not least, Jeeves’s emplyer Bertie Wooster.
Originally published in early 1919, the life and times described in these pages are a world apart from anything most (all?) modern readers know. The language, too, causes the reader to sit up and take notice – British, yes, but also terribly old-fashioned. And unlike a historian, Wodehouse wasn’t writing for today’s audience, providing context as he worked. Coupled with the fact that Wodehouse’s work is in many ways a parody, the overall affect can be a bit jarring.
Make no mistake, I’m glad I read all of the stories in My Man Jeeves. I’m simply not sure I need to follow his adventures any further.
(This review was originally published at http://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2016/09/my-man-jeeves.html)