Wodehousekeeping

I am rejoined by Gwen Sheldon to peruse the first collection of Wodehouse short stories for a general audience, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories (1914), a bumper crop of nineteen stories and a favourite of both of us. Because there is so much to discuss, we have split it into two parts. In the second part we look at the remaining eleven stories, including the two stories whose success persuaded Wodehouse to move to America, "Archibald's Benefit" (his first golf short story) and "The Good Angel" (the first Keggs story, and first mention of a Lord Emsworth). Also in this batch we have a rare football-themed story, a Knights of the Round Table parody, and a highly autobiographical love story. We also each list our ten favourite stories. There will be spoilers.You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.commake a donation at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeepingor follow me on Bluesky or FacebookStories covered in this instalment, with start times:"Archibald's Benefit" / "Reginald's Record Knock" 2m 09s"The Man, The Maid, and the Miasma" 10m 44s"The Good Angel" 17m 12s"Pots o' Money" 30m 08s"Out of School" 38m 46s"Three from Dunsterville" 43m 53s"The Tuppenny Millionaire" 51m 26s"Ahead of Schedule" 55m 22s"Sir Agravaine" ih 05m 50s"The Goal-Keeper and the Plutocrat" 1h 06m 40s"In Alcala" 1h 16m 16sOther works by Wodehouse mentionedLove Among the Chickens"The Truth about Webster"A Damsel in Distress"Mr Punch's Spectral Analyses. IV - An Official Muddle""Love Me, Love My Dog"The Coming of BillOver SeventySomething Fishy"The Crime Wave at Blandings""Creatures of Impulse""Jeeves in the Springtime"William Tell Told Again"The Idle King""At Geisenheimers"Reference works consultedRichard Usborne, Wodehouse at Work to the End, notes to Sunset at Blandings Sophie Ratcliffe, P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeNorman Murphy, A Wodehouse HandbookMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteAlso mentionedElla Wheeler WilcoxRobert BrowningAlfred, Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the KingGene (band)Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and JulietFlanders and Swann, At The Drop of Another Hat (stage patter)"Purity" Statue, Times Square, New York City, 1909Thomas Mallory, Le Morte D'ArthurShrekJames Thurber, The 13 Clocks and The White DeerMark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King ArthurJ B Priestley, The 31st of JuneTed LassoAndré Messager, MiretteAlice DoveyLeslie BradshawWilliam Townend

I am rejoined by Gwen Sheldon to peruse the first collection of Wodehouse short stories for a general audience, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories (1914), a bumper crop of nineteen stories and a favourite of both of us. Because there is so much to discuss, we have split the episode into two parts. In the first part we look at the background of the book and Wodehouse's life when he wrote them (living cheaply in New York), and discuss the first eight stories. There will be spoilers.Content note: mention in "Rough-Hew Them How We Will" of attempted suicide and of animal cruelty in "The Man Who Disliked Cats".You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.comMake a donation at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeepingor follow me on Bluesky or FacebookStories covered in this instalment, with start times:"The Man Upstairs" 12m 33s"Something to Worry About" 23m 52s"Deep Waters" 32m 10s"When Doctors Disagree" 41m 47s"By Advice of Counsel" 49m 13s"Rough-Hew Them How We Will" 57m 03s"The Man Who Disliked Cats" 1h 02m 57s"The Fatal Kink In Algernon" (later rewrite of the above) 1h 11m 50s"Ruth in Exile" 1h 17m 40sOther works by Wodehouse mentionedThe Man With Two Left Feet and Other StoriesOver SeventyUneasy Money (preface)"When Papa Swore in Hindustani"The Code of the WoostersJoy in the MorningA Gentleman of Leisure"Jeeves and the Chump Cyril" The SwoopThe Luck Stone"Sir Roderick Comes To Lunch"Right Ho, Jeeves"The Fatal Kink In Algernon""Aunt Agatha Takes the Count" (AKA "Aunt Agatha Makes a Bloomer")The Adventures of SallyReference works consultedRichard Usborne, Wodehouse at Work to the EndSophie Ratcliffe, P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeNorman Murphy; A Wodehouse HandbookMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums websiteAlso mentionedThe Ainu people of JapanO. Henry, "The Gift of the Magi"F. Opper, Alphonse and Gaston (comic strip)Alfred, Lord TennysonWilliam Shakespeare, Othello and HamletLord RobertsAgatha Christie's character Hercule PoirotGeorge Herriman, Alexander and Krazy Kat (comic strips)Michael Tisserand, George Herriman: A Life in Black and WhiteThe Book of Ruth (The Bible)Herbert WestbrookThe Billiken

A solo episode. Ian delves into two short story cycles, The Kid Brady stories (1905-7) and A Man Of Means (1914, with C. H. Bovill) which posthumously were collected into a single volume. The Kid Brady stories are boxing tales set in New York, while A Man of Means is a quasi-novella wherein a hapless clerk from Bury St Edmonds inadvertently keeps getting richer and richer. There will be spoilers.CN: brief discussion of racismOther Wodehouse works mentionedOver SeventyPsmith JournalistThe Prince and Betty The Gold BatThe White FeatherThe Coming of Bill AKA The White HopeThe Reggie Pepper StoriesThe Inimitable JeevesThe Indiscretions of ArchieSomething FreshNot George Washington (with H W Westbrook)Nuts and Wine (Revue) (with C H Bovill)The Globe By The Way Book (with H W Westbrook)Big MoneyBachelors AnonymousBring on the Girls (with Guy Bolton)Reference works consulted or mentionedmadameeulalie.orgNorman Murphy, A Wodehouse HandbookGarrison and Midkiff, Who's Who in Wodehouse (third edition)David Jasen P. G. Wodehouse: Portrait of a Master Also mentionedKid McCoyToo many other real life boxers to mentionJack Johnson vs James J JeffriesDamon RunyanRandy Newman, Short People (song)Harold Begbie, The Curious and Diverting Adventures of Sir John Sparrow, Bart. Charles Dickens, David CopperfieldSeymour Hicks, The Gay Gordons (musical comedy)Phyllis BedellsC H Bovill, Honi Soit (revue)Miguel de Cervantes, Don QuixoteTobias Smollett, Roderick RandomCharles Dickens, The Pickwick PapersGeorge Barr McCutcheon, Brewster's Millions The Bumpkin Billionaires, comic strip originally in Whoopee comicGuglielmo MarconiWodehousekeeping Podcast linksWodehousekeeping on BlueskyWodehousekeeping on FacebookBuy me a coffee on Ko-fiemail: wodehousekeeping@gmail.com

Ian Cockburn is joined by his old friend Nigel Townshend to dissect Agatha Christie's favourite Wodehouse novel The Little Nugget (1913). A tale of kipnapping at an English private preparatory school, presumably inspired by Wodehouse's time as a guest at Emsworth House school. There will be spoilers.Other Wodehouse works mentionedPiccadilly JimFull MoonThank You, JeevesThe Luck StoneThe Eighteen-Carat Kid (variant version of The Little Nugget)The Indiscretions of ArchieMuch Obliged, JeevesPsmith JournalistAlso mentionedThe Beano and Dandy comicsThe BBC radio Jeeves adaptations with Richard Briers and Michael HordernAgatha Christie, Hallowe'en PartyBaldwin King-HallHerbert WestbrookKing Cophetua Harry Hershfield, Desperate Desmond (comic strip)Napoleon BonaparteReference works consultedmadameeulalie.orgRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeGarrison and Midkiff, Who's Who in Wodehouse volume 3Sophie Ratcliffe (ed.), P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersNorman Murphy, A Wodehouse HandbookWodehousekeeping Podcast linksWodehousekeeping on BlueskyWodehousekeeping on FacebookBuy me a coffee on Ko-fiemail: wodehousekeeping@gmail.com

Ian looks at the 1997 posthumous collection of Wodehouse short school stories, Tales of Wrykyn and Elsewhere, featuring stories that first appeared in magazines from 1901-1911. No plot spoilers for once, except one that comes with an advance warning.WIkipedia page for the bookMadame Eulalie's Rare Plums links:List of Doyle/Holmes references in Wodehouse's early worksIndex to school stories viewable at Madame EulalieGuide to early series characters, and an attempted explanation of which Jackson is whichOther Wodehouse works mentionedAll of the school novelsTales of St Austin'sPsmith in the CityThe Prince and Betty The Luck of the BodkinsNot George WashingtonJeeves and the Feudal Spirit"Treating of Cribs""The Fifteenth Man""From a Detective's Notebook" (The World of Mr Mulliner)"The Great Sermon Handicap"The Joan Romney storiesAlso mentionedDaniel H. Garrison and Neil Midkiff, Who's Who in Wodehouse (Third Expanded Edition)Tony Ring and Geoffrey Jaggard, Millennium Wodehouse ConcordanceHenry Bohn's Classic Library (used as "cribs" by Edwardian schoolboys)Barry PainThe works of Sir Arthur Conan DoyleOtto Penzler (ed.) SherlockPeter Cannon, "The Adventure of the Noble Husband"Without A ClueCharles Hamilton, the Greyfriars StoriesF C Burnand, "Happy Thoughts"Sir Walter Scott, "Marmion"Lewis Carroll, "Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter Writing"Punch Wodehousekeeping Podcast linksWodehousekeeping on BlueskyWodehousekeeping on Facebookemail: wodehousekeeping@gmail.com

Ian is rejoined by his brother Josh to scrutinise "Psmith in the City" AKA "The New Fold", the second Psmith novel, serialised in 1908-9 and collected in book form in 1910. It is a highly autobiographical account of reluctantly working in a London bank. Mike and Psmith's schooldays are behind them, but Mike is still fixated on cricket and Psmith is still out to cause disruption wherever possible. There will be spoilers and a soupçon of politics. Special thanks to the website Madam Eulalie's Rare Plums.Article mentioned in the show that helped explain the reference to the Unionist partyBradshaw's interview with Wodehouse, quoted in the episodeMark Hodson's annotations of the novel Other Wodehouse books and stories mentionedThe Gold BatMike at Wrykyn (Jackson Junior)Mike and Psmith (The Lost Lambs)Psmith JournalistLeave it to PsmithBig MoneyNot George WashingtonOver Seventy (Autobiography)The Luck StoneThe SwoopMoney in the Bank"The Goalkeeper and the Plutocrat""L'affaire Uncle John""Comrade Bingo"Wodehouse reference books mentioned and/or consultedRichard Usborne, Wodehouse at Work to the EndRobert McCrum, Wodehouse: A LifeNorman Murphy, A Wodehouse HandbookSophie Ratcliffe, P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersAlso mentionedThe Fosters of WorcestershireSir Arthur Conan DoyleLeslie Havergal BradshawHall CaineManchester UnitedJimmy and Tom TurnbullJerome K Jerome, Three Men in a BoatGeorge AdeJack HobbsThe Marx Brothers

Ian is joined by former teenage Wodehouse obsessive Gavin Bradbury to look at Plum's first country house novel, A Gentleman of Leisure AKA The Intrusion of Jimmy from 1910. The book is at once a light romantic story, an exposé of the corruption in the New York police force, a satire of "gentleman criminal" style stories, and a precurser to the Blandings novels. Ian is unable to be impartial about one of the first Wodehouse novels he ever read, whereas Gavin is more critical.We discuss the differences between the novel and the related novella "The Gem Collector", why this book was such a hit on stage and screen, changing mores in acceptable morality in early twentieth century entertainment, how Jimmy Pitt differs from our ideal Wodehouse leading man, and what's still missing from the later classic formula.Other Wodehouse books mentioned:The World of Mr MullinerThe Coming of BillSomething FreshThe Man UpstairsThe Heart of a GoofPsmith in the CityPsmith, JournalistThe Luck of the BodkinsAlso mentioned:Fawlty TowersThe Young OnesThe Kenny Everett ShowCoronation StreetA Sharp Intake of BreathThe Lennie and Jerry ShowTony HancockJames CagneyPhiladelphia StoryBringing Up BabyCary GrantWodehouse TV adaptationsJohn StapletonDouglas FairbanksJohn BarrymoreTim KeyE.W. Hornung, Raffles(The real) Spike MullinsTrading PlacesAlan BennettSteve CooganMiguel de Cervantes, Don QuixoteCharles Dickens, Pickwick PapersSir Walter Scott, "Marmion"The Seven Inches, "Stop Pestering Me"

Ian looks at the final public school novel by Wodehouse, a lurid adventure story called The Luck Stone, first published in Chums magazine from 1908 to 1909 under the pseudonym "Basil Windham". It was first published in book form posthumously in 1997. There will be spoilers.The story can be read hereContent note: national stereotyping, imperialism, racism.Other Wodehouse works mentioned:Performing FleaMike at WrykynMike and PsmithThe Head of KaysLittle NuggetPsmith Journalist"The Man Who Disliked Cats""Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch""The Metropolitan Touch"The Mating SeasonNot George WashingtonOther books mentionedSophie Ratcliffe, ed., P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in LettersRichard Usbourne, Wodehouse at Work to the endWilkie Collins, The MoonstoneSir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the FourRudyard Kipling, KimF. Anstey, Baboo JabberjeeFrank Richards, The Greyfriars storiesAlso mentioned:Dennis the Menace/The Bash Street Kids (The Beano)William TownendHerbert WestbrookAnthony HomeLord Roberts