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 stori...

Ian is rejoined by Tania Agnihotri to make a vain attempt to do justice to one of Wodehouse's greatest masterpieces, The Inimitable Jeeves (simply Jeeves in the USA) from 1923. Like Indiscretions of Archie it's a collection of short stories disguised as a novel . This is a two part episode. The first part covers the first ten chapters, or the first five stories: "Jeeves in the Springt...

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...

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 spoiler...

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 M...

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...

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 . Yo...

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. &nbs...

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, fea...

Gwen Sheldon has stayed on the line to help me look at The Coming of Bill (1919, but really 1914), Also known as Their Mutual Child or The White Hope , it's a rare serious novel (though featuring some choice quips) with a plot supplied for Wodehouse by a helpful magazine editor called Bob Davis. There will be spoilers.  Content note: discussion of eugenics, nazis, racism, death, and general b...

Ian is re-rejoined by Gwen Sheldon to look at THE FIRST JEEVES BOOK (if you think it counts): My Man Jeeves , a UK only collection of eight short stories, half of which are among the earliest Jeeves stories, all set in New York. The other half are Reggie Pepper stories, Reggie being an early prototype of Bertie Wooster. We also look at the three other Reggie Pepper stories that were published in m...

A solo episode this time, as I (Ian Cockburn) turn to 1917's The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories, P. G. Wodehouse's second collection of short stories for adults, which includes "Extricating Young Gussie", the story that first introduces the legendary characters Bertie Wooster (here apparently called Bertie Mannering-Phipps), Aunt Agatha and - in a cameo role - Jeeves. There are plot spoi...

Ian is joined by Nigel Townshend to enthuse over 1917's Piccadilly Jim , a breakthrough novel for Wodehouse. Nigel voices his displeasure at the 2004 film version. There are plot spoilers. You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com tip me at ko-fi.com/wodehousekeeping or follow the show on Bluesky or Facebook Other works by Wodehouse mentioned Leave it to Psmith The Little Nugget A Damsel in...

Drop the Dead Monkey! Ian is joined by writer and artist Tom Bailey to look at 1916's Uneasy Money, Wodehouse's second serial for the Saturday Evening Post, which had a personal significance for Plum and Ethel Wodehouse, as it is set in Long Island, setting of their courtship and early married life; and like them, the hero and heroine are married at the "Church 'Round the Corner" on Madison Square...

Host Ian Cockburn (of the Shropshire Cockburns) is rejoined by storyteller and writer Matthew Bellwood to discuss Psmith Journalist , the third Psmith novel, and one of the first of Wodehouse's novels to be set in America. The novel first appeared in The Captain from 1909-10 but didn't appear in book form till 1915, by which point it had already been repurposed in 1912 for the US version of The Pr...

Ian is joined by Tania Agnihotri to look at Something Fresh , AKA Something New , the first Blandings novel, published 1915. The book introduces the immortal Lord Emsworth, Freddie Threepwood, Beach the butler and the Efficient Baxter, though much of the focus is on this month's imposters at the castle. Content note: bad American accents. You can e-mail me at wodehousekeeping@gmail.com make a dona...

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...

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 (livi...

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....

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 mentioned Piccadilly Jim Full Moon Thank You, Jeeves The Luck Stone The Eigh...

Ian is joined by Alexander Rennie once more to look at the UK version of the novel The Prince and Betty (1912). The US version has a very different plot closely based on the earlier novel Psmith, Journalist (serialised 1909-1910, book version 1915). We touch lightly on the US version but the main discussion of it will follow in the episode on Psmith, Journalist. Alexander's own podcast is Forgotte...

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 book Madame Eulalie's Rare Plums links: List of Doyle/Holmes references in Wodehouse's early works Index to school stories vie...

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....

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...

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 here Content note: national stereotyping, imperialism, racism. Other Wodehouse works mentioned: Perfor...