The Best Of Wodehouse

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P.G. Wodehouse was, by common consent, the most brilliant writer of English comedy in the 20th century, equally celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. He achieved the unusual distinction of combining the widest possible popularity with the highest literary standards, attracting both the devotion of readers and the respect of his peers from Hilaire Belloc to Graham Greene. Several of his characters have already entered popular mythology. This anthology includes two novels, fourteen short stories and extracts from Wodehouse’s autobiography.nThe Codeof the Woosters was written in 1938 when Wodehouse was at the height of his powers. The vintage plot involves Bertie Wooster attempting to steal a cream jug from a country house at the behest of his aunt Dahlia – or, as Bertiehimself puts it, ‘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.’ The outcome is a dazzlingly intricate plot and a wonderfully satisfying farce.nUncle Fred in the Springtime, published in 1939, brings one of the author's favourite characters, Uncle Fred aka Lord Ickenham, to his most celebrated comic location, Blandings Castle, where the dastardly Duke of Dunstable is again attempting to steal Lord Emsworth's prize pig. Called in to thwart the duke, Uncle Fred poses as pompous 'looney-doctor' Sir Roderick Glossop, with complicated results. The short stories feature all Wodehouse’s most famous creations – Jeeves and Wooster, Ukridge, Bingo Little, Mr Mulliner, the Earls of Emsworth and Ickenham. Finally, extracts from Over Seventy, a memoir as amusing and beautifully written as the novels, offer an insight into the attitudes and working habits of a very private man.

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PG Wodehouse was born on the 15th October1881 in Guildford, Surrey, England nHe was educated at Dulwich College between 1894 & 1900, and in 1900 he entered the employ of the Hong Kong & Shanghai bank at £80 per year. He began writing articles for various newspapers & periodicals nIn 1902 he resigned from the bank, and in the same year his 1st novel The Pothunters was published. 'Plum' then wrote many highly successful novels as well as musicals, and in 1929 he signed a contract to work as a screenwriter in HollywoodnAfter several years in Britain, he moved back to to the USA permanently.nIn 1974 his last complete novel Aunts aren't Gentlemen was published, and in 1975 he was knighted by the Queen.nOn the 14th Feb 1975 Plum died in hospital "after a good morning's work on his latest novel"nnnINTRODUCER BIOGRAPHY:nJohn Mortimer is a playwright, bestselling novelist, screen-writer and former practising barrister. His plays for television include A Voyage Round My Father and the series Rumpole of the Bailey. His novels include the Leslie Titmuss trilogy and the acclaimed comic novel Quite Honestly. He has received a knighthood for services to the arts