Wodehousekeeping

Part two of the "The Inimitable Jeeves" bonanza. This covers the remaining eight chapters, or six stories: "Comrade Bingo", "The Great Sermon Handicap", "The Purity of the Turf", "The Metropolitan Touch", "The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace" and "Bingo and the Little Woman". It also contains our attempt to rank all the stories in the book.There will be plot spoilers, so take heed.Next month: Leave it to Psmith with Ujjwal Deb.You can telegraph me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com.Tip me with considerable lavishness at ko-fi Find me at Speakers' Corner, AKA Bluesky and FacebookReference works consultedN. T. Murphy: A Wodehouse HandbookSophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeRichard Usborne, Wodehouse at Work to the EndDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff: Who's Who in Wodehouse, third editionLee Davis, Bolton and Wodehouse and KernBarry Day, The Complete Lyrics of P. G. WodehouseMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums website (specific page of annotations for this book, mostly by Mark Hodson)WikipediaOther Wodehouse works mentionedUkridgePsmith in the City"The Rough Stuff""Jeeves and the Kid Clementina""Bertie Changes His Mind"Right Ho, Jeeves"The Good Angel"A Damsel in DistressSomething Fresh "Sundered Hearts"Over SeventyThe Berlin wartime broadcastsAlso mentionedThe Empire Music HallDavid Lloyd GeorgeCharlotte CordayJean-Paul MaratLyons' Tea HouseClaud CockburnThelma Cazalet-Keir (ed.), Homage to WodehouseThomas Paine, The American CrisisArthur MarshallThe Edinburgh CastleRecommended playlist"The Red Flag"Noel Coward, "Imagine the Duchess's Feelings" and "The Stately Homes of England"Pet shop boys, "Opportunities"Bourvil, "C'était bien (le petit bal perdu)"The Ink Spots, "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall"Ambrose and his Orchestra, "Limehouse Blues" and "B'wanga"Ian Carmichael, "What Would I Do Without You, Jeeves" and "Bertie's Lucky Day"

Ian is joined by his old friend Sarah Humphrey to talk about The Adventures of Sally AKA Mostly Sally from 1922. A sort of sister novel to Jill the Reckless, again based on Wodehouse's experience in the world of Broadway musical comedies. The novel reflects its time with talk of financial speculation, prohibition, Spanish flu and boxing. Most notably perhaps, the independent spirit and good sense of not just the heroine but other female characters arguably reflects a spirit of feminism.  There will be plot spoilers. Next month: The Inimitable Jeeves with Tania AgnihotriYou can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com. Remunerate me at ko-fi (thanks awfully). You can get the stuff if they know you at our Bluesky and FacebookReference works consultedN. T. Murphy: A Wodehouse HandbookSophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff: Who's Who in Wodehouse, third editionLee Davis, Bolton and Wodehouse and KernBarry Day, The Complete Lyrics of P. G. WodehouseMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteWikipediaOther Wodehouse works mentionedThe Cabaret Girl (musical, with George Grossmith and Jerome Kern)Jill the RecklessBring on the Girls (with Guy Bolton)"At Geisenheimer's"Piccadilly JimThe Luck of the BodkinsAlso mentioned Jeeves and Wooster (TV show)Naomi Wolf, The Beauty MythJerome KernGuy BoltonGeorge Grossmith JrGeorge Grossmith SrGilbert and SullivanG & W Grossmith, The Diary of a NobodyCharles Dickens, Little DorrittMartha Finley, The Elsie booksLee, Sam and Jacob ShubertAbraham ErlangerHenry James, Portrait of a LadySally (Bolton/Kern musical)Marcus AureliusSong snippetsNoel Coward, "The Stately Homes of England" and "Dear Little Café"Wodehouse/Jerome Kern, "Napoleon"Grey/Kern, "Sally"David Devant and his Spirit Wife, "Ginger" (and "Sally")

A special episode consisting of excerpts from the first ten episodes of Wodehousekeeping, introduced by host Ian Cockburn with a little background on how the show came about. This is designed for the listener who has skipped these episodes because the haven't read (or actively dislike) the books that the episodes discuss. The selections therefore have been chosen to steer clear of plot spoilers, and plot recapping generally. The emphasis is on my guests' history with Wodehouse and their general thoughts on him, plus other stuff that I think is intrinsically interesting or amusing, outside the wider context of the full podcasts.The ten episodesThe Pothunters A Prefect’s Uncle Tales of St Austin’sThe Gold Bat William Tell Told AgainThe Head of Kay’sLove Among the Chickens The White Feather Not George WashingtonThe Globe By The Way Book and the guests featuredJulia EdigerAlexander RennieJosh CockburnThom RobinsonUjjwal DebMoraGwen SheldonYou can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com. Help bolster the show's tottering finances at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeeping. Jolly decent of you.Drop in at the digital clubhouse at Bluesky or FacebookMain reference works consultedN T Murphy: A Wodehouse HandbookSophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersRobert McCrum: Wodehouse: A LifeMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteWikipediaOther Wodehouse works mentionedVery Good JeevesSummer MoonshinePsmith in the CityThe Inimitable Jeeves"Ukridge Starts a Bank Account"A Few Quick Ones"Jeeves Takes Charge""Goodbye to All Cats""The Amazing Hat Mystery"Also mentionedArthur RansomeEnid BlytonWinker Watson in the DandyJeeves and Wooster TV showHerbert WestbrookBaldwin King-HallElla King-HallSebastian Faulks, Jeeves and the Wedding BellsFrasierAnthony Buckeridge, The Jennings booksEdward GoreyRichard AyoadeSt Stephen's College, DelhiShashi TharoorLewis CarrollSNLJonathan SwiftAlexander PopeWinston ChurchillPeter Motteaux's English translation of Miguel Cervantes's Don QuixoteRené Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, the Asterix books

Ian is joined by author Ansley Ashe to discuss The Girl on the Boat (1922), AKA Three Men and A Maid. Ansley Ashe is making a transition from wrestling/soccer mom, soccer coach, and library trustee to full fledged novelist. She has loved mysteries since she was a little girl, so when it came time to choose a genre, mystery was a natural fit. She loves everything between Sherlock Holmes and Mickey Haller aka the Lincoln Lawyer. She is reading her way through Agatha Christie and Anne Perry and read her first Wodehouse just for this podcast, now she will have to add him to her TBR list. Last year she published a series of holiday themed novelettes based on a young, female detective Charlotte "Charlie" Snow, with several novels still to come in the series. You can keep up with her on her SubstackThere will be plot spoilers. Next month: The Adventures of Sally with Sarah Humphrey.You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com. Help keep the Good Ship Wodehousekeeping afloat ko-fi.com/wodehousekeeping. Our Bluesky and FacebookReference works consultedN. T. Murphy: A Wodehouse HandbookSophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff: Who's Who in Wodehouse, third editionMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websitehttps://www.madameulalie.orgWikipediaOther Wodehouse works mentionedFrozen AssetsJill the Reckless (The Little Warrior)Something FreshHeavy Weather"Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest""Church Round the Corner"A Damsel in Distress"Sir Agravaine""The Mixer"A Gentleman of Leisure"Strychnine in the Soup"Also mentioned Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Sherlock Holmes storiesAgatha ChristieAnne Perry Michael Connolly, the Mickey Haller/Lincoln Lawyer books Jeeves and WoosterHugh LaurieStephen Fry, Moab is My WashpotSaturday Night LiveThe Girl on the Boat film, archived hereNorman WisdomMillicent MartinBernard CribbinsSheila HancockRichard BriersAthene SeylerPhilip LockWildeAnnie BesantF Scott Fitzgerald, The Great GatsbyThe LusitaniaAlice "Billie" DoveyThomas Otway, The OrphanAlfred, Lord TennysonConstance Markievicz - first female member of UK parliamentNancy AstorFrank TinneyThe Black and White Minstrel ShowBert WilliamsSouthwick PrioryLaurence Sterne, Tristram ShandyWilliam Shakespeare, OthelloScooby DooEdgar Allen PoeSir Walter Scott, "Young Lochinvar"Mary Mestmacott, Giant's BreadMary Roberts RheinhartDorothy L SayersG K ChestertonGeorgette HeyerRaymond Chandler"Carolyn Keene", the Nancy Drew seriesAmelia EarhartMarilyn MonroeSong snippetsJonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, "(She's Gonna) Respect Me"Flanders and Swann, "Sea Fever"The Seven Inches, "Stop Pestering Me" (lyrics/vocals: me)Tindersticks, "Pinky in the Daylight"Special thanks to Radio Guest List.

Ian is joined by extra special honoured guest Elin Woodger Murphy, A legend of the Wodehouse Society (and the Wodehouse Society UK), former editor/"oldest member" of Plum Lines and Wooster Sauce and one of the organisers of this year's Wodehouse Society Convention in Garden City, NY.The book we are discussing this month is The Clicking of Cuthbert (1922), Wodehouse's first collection of golf stories, AKA Golf Without Tears. Elin also talks of her childhood spent in Port Chester and Long Island where they lived very near the Wodehouses, and of her history in Wodehouse fan circles. We also enthuse over the work of Elin's late husband, Norman Murphy.There will be plot spoilers and stymies. Next month: The Girl on the Boat with Ansley Ashe.Special thanks to Maria Jette.The Wodehouse Society website, with details of the 2026 convention in Garden City, NYMy band The Seven Inches are playing a show this month! Tickets hereYou can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com. Help bolster the show's tottering finances at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeeping. Jolly decent of you.Drop in at the digital clubhouse at Bluesky or Facebook Reference works consultedN T Murphy: A Wodehouse HandbookSophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff: Who's Who in Wodehouse, third editionMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteWikipediaOther Wodehouse works alluded toCarry On JeevesThe Man UpstairsThe Man With Two Left FeetLeave it to PsmithUncle Fred in the Springtime"Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend"The Heart of a GoofLove Among the Chickens"Archibald's Benefit""Parted Ways""the Eighteenth Hole""The Man Who Disliked Cats""By Advice of Counsel"Jill the Reckless"Bongo in the Congo" (lyric)The Mating Season"Tom, Dick and Harry""The Idle King"William Tell Told Again"Sir Agravaine"Also mentioned Maria JetteWodehouse Society (US)Marilyn MacGregorEd RatcliffePlum LinesBill BloodNorman MurphyThe Wodehouse Society (UK)Wooster SauceEdward CazaletThe Wodehouse Collection at Vanderbilt UniversityThe Shaw Festival Theatre NiagaraJeeves and Wooster in Perfect NonsenseNorman Murphy: - A Guide to P G Wodehouse's New York City and Long Island- A Wodehouse Handbook- In Search of Blandings- A Wodehouse MiscellanyWeston ParkSudeley CastleSir Arthur Conan DoyleBobby JonesAbe MitchellHarry VardonTerry MordueAlfred, Lord TennysonRudyard KiplingSamuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"Marcus AureliusE. M. Hull, The SheikHal CazaletSong snippetsPet shop boys, "You know where you went wrong"Goffin and King, "He Hit Me (And it Felt Like a Kiss)Cole Porter, "Find Me A Primitive Man"Gallagher and Shean, "Mr Gallagher and Mr Shean"There is more in this pastime than the casual observer would suppose.

Ian is rejoined by composer, writer, musician, voice artist, and parafictionalist Peter Falconer to look at Indiscretions of Archie (1921), a series of short stories adapted into the form of a novel. Topics arising include the First World War, Prohibition, 'the Irish question' and Labour Relations.There will be plot spoilers. Next month: The Clicking of Cuthbert, or Golf Without Tears.You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com. Replenish the show's doubloons at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeeping. One-off or recurring payments gratefully received.Hob nob and so forth at Bluesky or FacebookReference works consultedRobert McCrum: Wodehouse: A LifeSophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersNorman Murphy: A Wodehouse HandbookDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff: Who's Who in Wodehouse, third editionLee Davis: Bolton and Wodehouse and KernMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteWikipediaOther Wodehouse works alluded toThe SwoopA Gentleman of LeisurePiccadilly JimThe Inimitable JeevesThe Code of the WoostersThe Prince and Betty"Extricating Young Gussie""Leave it to Jeeves" AKA "The Artistic Career of Corky"A Damsel in Distress"Jeeves and the Chump Cyril"Bring on the Girls (with Guy Bolton)"We're Crooks" (song)Uneasy Money"Napoleon" (song)"In Alcala""Doing Clarence a Bit of Good""Jeeves Makes an Omelette"Also mentioned Baldwin King-HallHerbert WestbrookElla King-HallBiblia WodehousianaT. D. Skidmore (US illustrator)Fred AstaireA. Wallis Mills (UK illustrator)Ian HayC H BovillJames Bond"Fatty" ArbuckleAbe ErlangerAbgail's PartySong snippetsThe Archies, "Sugar Sugar"Sananda Maitreya, "If You Let Me Stay"The Beach Boys, "It's Trying to Say"The Divine Comedy, "Don't Mention the War"Shonen Knife, "Fruits and Vegetables"Little Richard, "Lucille"Kenny Carter, "Showdown"Sterling Trio "It's A Long Way Back To Mother's Knee" Cole Porter, "You're the Top"Noel Coward, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen"The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, "Annie's Cousin Fannie"Flanders and Swann, "Strike"Magnetic Fields, "Goin' Back to the Country"Cocteau Twins, "Tishbite"Georges Brassens, "La chanson pour l'Auvergnat"Sting, "An Englishman in New York"

Ian is joined for a fifth time by Alexander Rennie of the now concluded Forgotten Towns podcast and blog. They discuss Jill the Reckless, AKA The Little Warrior, from 1920. A standalone Anglo-American novel centred around the New York stage, it includes the first mention of the Drones Club. Ian and Alex both consider this one of the stronger Wodehouse books so far covered in the podcast.  There will be plot spoilers. Next month: Indiscretions of Archie.You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com. Help finance the show, Otis Pilkington style, at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeeping. One-off or recurring payments gratefully received.Monitor my feeble attempts at self-promotion at Bluesky or FacebookReference works consultedRobert McCrum: Wodehouse: A LifeSophie Ratcliffe, ed: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersNorman Murphy: A Wodehouse HandbookDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff: Who's Who in Wodehouse, third editionLee Davis: Bolton and Wodehouse and KernFrances Donaldson, ed: Yours, PlumMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteWikipediaOther Wodehouse works alluded toSomething FreshThe Prince and BettyUneasy MoneyThe Adventures of SallyLeave it to PsmithBill the ConquerorBig Money"The Man Upstairs"Indiscretions of ArchieThe Inimitable JeevesA Damsel in Distress"The Mixer"The Luck of the BodkinsThe Rose of China"Napoleon" in Have A HeartThe Small Bachelor"Bill" in Show BoatAnything GoesPsmith JournalistCompany For HenryAlso mentionedAlfred, Lord TennysonJohn GrantWilly MasonWalt MasonFlanders and Swann, "The Safety Curtain", "Strike" and "In the D'Oyly Cart"Richard D'Oyly CarteBook of Daniel, The BibleBeastie Boys, "Shadrach"David Devant and His Spirit Wife, "Pimlico"The Bowes-Lyons familyDickens, David Copperfield and Bleak HouseBeachcomber (J.B. Morton), the Captain Foulenough storiesCount Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyIan SproatJulian MitchellThe Ziegfeld FolliesAbraham Lincoln ErlangerNapoleon BonaparteCockburn's PortRennie Heartburn and Indigestion ReliefDiet CokeEtta James, "I Just Want to Make Love To You"AutomatOmar KhayaamAlexander WoollcottWilliam J Halley, "Pullman Porters on Parade"Robert S. Bader, Four of the Three MusketeersApocrypals podcastRichard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals The Orange Tree, RichmondPatricia HodgeThank you for reading the notes! Typing them sometimes feels a little futile, but you make it all worthwhile.

Ian is joined again by his brother Josh to talk about P. G. Wodehouse's A Damsel in Distress, the 1919 standalone novel that has a lot of similiarites to a Blandings Novel. It also features the return of Keggs (The Man Upstairs, The Coming of Bill) and the themes of medieval-style chivalry, class snobbery and musical theatre. We also talk about the 1937 film version, starring Fred Astaire, featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin, and a screenplay co-written by Wodehouse.There will be spoilers.You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com, anonymously or otherwiseFurnish me with the needful at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeepingJoin in the feast of reason and flow of soul on Bluesky or FacebookReference works consultedRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeSophie Ratcliffe, P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersNorman Murphy, A Wodehouse HandbookRichard Usborne, Wodehouse At Work to the EndDaniel Garrison and Neil Midkiff, Who's Who in WodehouseLee Davis, Bolton and Wodehouse and KernBarry Day, The Complete Lyrics of P. G. WodehouseMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteWikipedia and IMDbOther works by Wodehouse mentioned: A Gentleman of LeisureSomething FreshA Damsel in Distress (play and film adaptations)The Girl Behind the Gun (show)"The Good Angel""Love Me, Love My Dog"Something FishySummer LightningBachelors Anonymous"Sir Agravaine"The Prince and Betty"Avenged!""Extricating Young Gussie"Piccadilly JimUneasy MoneySpring FeverThe Code of the WoostersJill the RecklessMiss 1917 (show)Oh Kay (show)Rosalie (show)Also mentioned: Ian HayBasil FosterW.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, 1066 and All ThatGeorge GershwinEk Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (Bollywood adaptation)Maud and Ivan CaryllEuros Childs, "Thrips"Jerome KernTaskmasterReece ShearsmithMary DeaneThe Regal TheatreAlice DoveyAnton ChekhovRoscoe "Fatty" ArbuckleEnid BlytonRichard Harris Barham, The Ingoldsby LegendsLewis Carroll, "The Walrus and the Carpenter"Alfred, Lord TennysonMachiavelliDavid and Jonathan (Book of Samuel)Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de BergeracRiot WomenGuy BoltonIra GershwinPandro S BermanGeorge StevensAllan ScottFred AstaireGinger RogersJoan FontaineGeorge BurnsGracie AllenReginald GardinerRay NobleIt's A Wonderful Life