Most of P.G. Wodehouse, Story Collection

by P.G. Wodehouse

The most lavish P. G. Wodehouse collection ever published. In addition to Wodehouse's best known and beloved Jeeves and Bertie stories, The Most of P. G. Wodehouse features delightful stories about The Drones Club and its affable, vacuous Mr. Mulliner, whose considered judgment on any and all topics is drawn from the experiences of his innumerable relatives; Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, the man of gilt-edged schemes; and Lord Emsworth, ruler of all he surveys at Blanding's Castle. Rounding out the collection are Wodehouses's witty golf stories and a complete and completely hilarious novel, Quick Service. As Jeeves would say, "The mind boggles, sir."

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, Short Stories, Comedy, Literature, British Literature

Unknown Binding

First published June 1, 1960

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.

An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.

Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).

Reviews

[Ambrosia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a good ten months to finish this, but that's not the book's fault - it simply sat by my bedside for long stretches in between readings. I will attest, however, that keeping this book by the bedside is one of the best ways to enjoy it. Wodehouse's short fiction is similar enough as to be potentially tedious when read all in a chunk; however, spacing it out over individual nights allows for one to enjoy the familiarity while appreciating the language and wit that makes each story unique. Perfect for enjoying as a before-bed tidbit, especially with a nightcap.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is classic Wodehouse. I particularly enjoyed The Drones Club stories, written, I assume, before his comedic brain gave birth to Bertie Wooster; the Empress of Blandings story; the Oldest Member stories (especially The Coming of Gowf); and the novel at the end, Quick Service. The latter would make a terrific period comedy; if we can have 10 iterations of every Jane Austen novel (and I say this as a devout Austen fan), why can’t “they” — the BBC or other filmmakers — give us something a bit different. Wodehouse, Heyer, and other writers from that era could quite successful, I think.

Anyway, when life has me down, a bit of Wodehouse is always the cure for what ails!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its Wodehouse. Nobody needs me to tell them why this is a five star read.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I learned from this book was that I should never get rid of it no matter how badly it's falling apart. I like that the book presents a sampling of short stories from each of the Wodehouse's various series of short stories. I first read these stories in the 1970's and still laugh as I reread them. My favorite series of stories is the golfing stories, but my favorite individual story is that all-time classic 'A Bit of Luck for Mable.'

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.abebooks.com/docs/RareBook...

PG says the Wooster world was real, upper-class Britain between the wars; his dialogue is like a TV show, fast repartee; his silly names put faces on eccentrics bursting with life and fun.

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Mos...

I may never find the rest of this book, but I can treasure this glimpse.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

This chunky volume contains a wide range of Wodehouse stories and situations, conveniently grouped, including Jeeves (of course), Mulliner, Ukridge, Drones Club, and more. The variety is interesting, although it proved that my interest in Wodehouse stories falls off rapidly once the Jeeves canon has been fired, so to speak. There are only five Jeeves stories here, a mere 100 pages of more than 600, so if you're seeking only his company it's probably best to look elsewhere for your entertainment. That said, this does provide a convenient sampler if you want to see what else Wodehouse has to offer.

[Eliot DeLorme · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pu pu platter of PG Wodehouse. There is a delightful variety of Wodehouse’ writings in this book. My favorite were the golf stories, Jeeves stories, and the small novel at the end called “Quick Service”.

[Peter Krol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's an example of why people read for fun:

"How long Archibald slept he could not have said. He woke some hours later with a vague feeling that a thunderstorm of unusual violence had broken out in his immediate neighborhood. But this, he realized as the mists of slumber cleared away, was an error. The noise which had disturbed him was not thunder but the sound of someone snoring. Snoring like the dickens. The walls seemed to be vibrating like the deck of an ocean liner....

"His spirit was not so completely broken as to make him lie supinely down beneath that snoring. The sound filled him, as snoring fills every right-thinking man, with a seething resentment and a passionate yearning for justice, and he climbed out of bed with the intention of taking the proper steps through the recognized channels. It is the custom nowadays to disparage the educational methods of the English public school and to maintain that they are not practical and of a kind to fit the growing boy for the problems of afterlife. But you do learn one thing at a public school, and that is how to act when somebody starts snoring.

"You jolly well grab a cake of soap and pop in and stuff it down the blighter's throat. And this is what Archibald proposed - God willing - to do" (p.186).

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

P.G. Wodehouse is one of those authors I have always meant to read as his name seems to always come up in strange places (Trivial Pursuit, Gilmore Girls), and I seem to always have known who Jeeves and Wooster were, without knowing the full context.

This collection includes a large selection of his most-known characters, not excluding, of course, the upstanding Jeeves. Wodehouse had a way of mixing subtle humor with extraordinary circumstances that made it difficult to turn down - the first group of stories involving Freddie Widgeon are perhaps the best in the whole book.

The last of the book is a short novel, Quick Service, which is probably mostly lost on me. Going from a collection of short stories to a novella in the same book was hard for me to wrap my mind around, and I seemed to have zoned out for a good portion of the beginning of the story. It was not completely worthless - it was written in the same Wodehouse manner - but it's possible I was done with Wodehouse before I realized it, and I took it too far by insisting on reading the whole book. I will eventually read the Jeeves novels, but for now I'm happy to take a break from Wodehouse's worlds.

[Andrew Gillsmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who uses English , whether as a blunt instrument or a scalpel, must love Wodehouse. I am convinced he is the greatest writer in the history of the language. Keep your Shakespeare, your Joseph Conrad, your Jane Austin and give me the lilting champagne of Wodehouse instead.

Jeeves and Bertie Wooster are among the greatest literary creations of all time. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this (or literally anything else by Wodehouse) to see you through these troubled times.

[John Mchugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was on my Christmas Wish List several years ago, and I got my wish. On the cover of my paperback copy, it claims to be "the most lavish collection" of Wodehouse stories "ever published." Likely true. There are 31 amusingly sculpted short stories and a delightful novel, Quick Service. As one who majored in English Literature, I must say that Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE and the man who brought Jeeves into the world, continues to deserve the attention he so rightly earned as one of the most widely read British humorists of the 20th century. If you adored John Cleese in Faulty Towers, as I did and do, I'm quite sure you would enjoy the stories of P.G. Wodehouse. Try a short story. Consider this sentence, "Mr. Duff had halted and was swaying gently, as if he had been poleaxed and could not make up his mind which way to fall." Now that is a dandy descriptive sentence if there ever was one. Enjoy

[Collin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an anthology of short stories, with 1 novel tossed on at the end, so pretty much you can pick it up, flip to anywhere at random, read for 20 minutes, and set it back down having finished a story. A pleasant diversion, if trifling.

I've read all of Jeeves and the first 2 short stories in each of the other collections, but I'm probably done. What can I say? I just don't love them as much as Tamra does.

--update: Most or all of the Jeeves' stories here are from The Inimitable Jeeves, which is already an inferior Jeeves collection in itself. I recommend skipping this collection altogether and heading straight for a Jeeves-only book. I'm not super versed in the full canon, but I can suggest both Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves and Carry On, Jeeves as worthy alternatives.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go-to book in times of distress.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to dip into whenever the world is too much with us. Wodehouse never fails to make me laugh. One warning, for those looking for Jeeves and Wooster stories, this collection has only a few of these.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 5 out of 5]

700 pages of great British fun. Characters you’d never dream up, coincidences that could never happen, grand English country homes galore. After a while the comedy, unrelieved by any logic, becomes a bit much and one must take a break. But returning to these pages is like seeing your loving pup after a rough day, and all is well again. Highly recommended for whatever ails you, and especially if nothing ails you.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun. All his best short stories, and a classic, delightful Wodehouse novel, Quick Service, that I had not read before.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

So incredibly readable. I prefer these to Agatha Christie because of the wit and use of language.

[Chet Makoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

See the Goodreads book description. It perfectly captures the contents and brilliance of this book.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're weighed down by the economy, politics, or just your own life and are desperate for a laugh, pick up any of P.G. Wodehouse's books. I think he started publishing around 1918 or 19 and carried on through the 50s. This book has been on my to-read shelf for a long time, and I'm sorry I didn't pull it down before.
There are many collections of his works, as well as individual stories. This one includes about 5 stories each from "The Drone's Club," "Mr. Mulliner," stories about golf (gowf), Jeeves the best butler in the world, and Wodehouse's novel, "Quick Service." I thought the stories about the members of The Drone's Club were the funniest, with "Uncle Fred Flits By" as the best of those. If you recall the bits Monty Python did about twits,(twits being stupid, homely, awkward, worthless members of the wealthy class in England, I think), this is the same group Wodehouse was making fun of years before.
They are forever falling in "love at first sight" with some ravishing vicar's daughter, with limpid blue eyes, and curly blond hair, who refuses to give them the time of day until they
a)dress better b)do volunteer work c)take up golf, or some other remote challenge that will keep them out of her sight for a while.
Mr. Mulliner is a permanent fixture at the bar at The Angler's Rest, which I imagine to be something like Fawlty Towers. No matter what anyone else says (and everyone else is identified by what they're drinking such as ginger-and-a-splash), Mr. Mulliner has a nephew who knows all about it, had an even worse case of it, or was even braver in the face of it.
I don't have the book in front of me, but there's a section about Ukridge, a man who's always scheming to get some money out of his wealthy aunt or any friend foolish enough to be talked into investing. I think his name is Stanley Featherington Ukridge.
Wodehouse's names that he gives these men and the quaint places in the country which they retire to when London gets to be too much for them are hilarious.
The first chapter of the golf stories is about how golf came to the country from far away Scotland in olden times. The locals decided it must be some heathen religion, worshipping the god Gowf. Everyone ended up throwing over their old religious gods, and taking up the mysterious practice.
Well, I didn't mean to ramble on so long, but if you like laughing at the upper-class British, you'll find this or any of Wodehouse's books a hoot.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The back of The Most of P. G. Wodehouse declares this to be the "most lavish P. G. Wodehouse collection ever published," and when one considers the breadth of selection crammed into just over 700 pages, it's hard to argue with the publisher's assertion. Wodehouse's writing career spanned over forty years, and while I am far from being able to claim that I've read even a third of his output, in my opinion his genius and comic timing rarely faltered. Probably Wodehouse's best known creations are Bertie Wooster and his indefatigable valet, Jeeves (memorably portrayed by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, respectively). The pair is represented here by five short stories. As I recently acquired Jeeves & Wooster - The Complete Series, I have to say that Laurie and Fry captured the characters so perfectly that I now hear their voices in my head when I read the J&W tales. Wooster's cronies at The Drones Club are represented by seven stories - "Tried in the Furnace" and "Goodbye to All Cats" are particularly hilarious. There are seven Mr. Mulliner stories, where he sagely dispenses his life wisdom based on the experiences of various and sundry members of his incredibly large family - I especially liked the story "Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo." In five stories one can read five of Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge's wildly whacky money-making schemes, and there's a brief stop at Blandings Castle, home of Lord Emsworth and his prized pig the Empress of Blandings. There are five of the Golf Stories, and they were an absolutely revelation - so hilarious, and I am not a fan of golf in the least. The one complete novel, Quick Service, is a solid representation of Wodehouse's full-length fiction, full of romantic entanglements and comic misunderstandings. Wodehouse's sense of humor and command of the English language make his stories and novels an absolute joy to read, and this anthology is probably one of the best introductions out there. Read, enjoy, and laugh till you cry.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best: the Jeeves stories, the short novel "Quick Service", and a short story called "The Reverent Wooing of Archibald" which I highly recommend. The hero of "Quick Service," Joss Weatherby, almost combines some more famous Wodehouse tropes: young man a-wooing, and Jeeves-like "shining with the light of intelligence." "Reverent Wooing" contains a priceless imitation of a hen laying an egg, and the line (quoted from memory), "If brains were silk, Archibald would not have had enough to make a canary a pair of cami-knickers."

The Ukridge stories are a bit annoying, but Wodehouse at his least is still amusing.

A quote from Joseph Bottum, who wrote an article arguing that Wodehouse's perfection raised his work to a religious experience:

"Words were all that P.G. Wodehouse had, and in one sense he squandered them on nothing more than light comedy. In another sense, he found with all his writing something worth more than words can say: a small, happy spot kept bright in a world that seemed only to be darkening around it. Surely that’s enough for one man."

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't know who Wodehouse is, then dear God, man, get to a library. I only wish I could berate you for living under a rock. Unfortunately, P.G. Wodehouse is mostly ignored these days, even though he wrote some of the best and funniest prose of the past century. This almost 700 page anthology provides a wonderful introduction to the various Wodehouse universes; for those unfamiliar to Wodehouse, or for those wanting to move past the Jeeves and Wooster stories (but why would you, unless you've read them all?) this is a must have collection that fits nicely into a satchel, purse, briefcase or backpack, and provides more and varied entertainment than basic cable. The standouts here are the Drones Club stories, as well as the complete novel, Quick Service. Of course, there is the requisite Jeeves and Wooster, as well.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among the several anthologies of the Master one can't go wrong, but this is the one I've known for fifty-four years. It was pub 1960 by Simon and Schuster in hardback. That one fell apart from overuse. I now have a pb. Got a used hardback on ABE for my niece a few years ago.

Thirty-one short stories and the novel Quick Service, which has no characters known from other novels or stories. It is vintage, a perfect selection as a stand-alone novel. The stories are divided into Drones Club (7) Mr Mulliner (8), Ukridge (5), one with Lord Emsworth, five Golf, and five Jeeves.

Many will be familiar to aficionados but it's so handy to have them between two covers. Only in this book did I discover Ukridge and the Golf stories.

[Dean Mermell · Rating 5 out of 5]

P.G. Wodehouse is the master of what only he can do, which, though simple, is difficult to describe. I can read his books at any point of my life, as many times as I like, and they give the same satisfaction every time. If you see me reading a book and laughing out loud, it's probably Wodehouse. "The Most" is probably the finest collection of his stories, mostly Jeeves and Wooster. For me, it's a 'desert island" book.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightfully wonderful! I had heard (somewhere) that Wodehouse wrote AS "musical comedies without the music". I had JUST begun reading Wodehouse this year, two Jeeves stories before this, and I have to admit loving it...okay "lol-ing". I was told my great grandmother collected and enjoyed this author, so I decided to give it a go. I'm so glad I did!

[Schmerica · Rating 4 out of 5]

As genius as Wodehouse is, it's possible man just wasn't designed to read him 700 pages at a time. I feel as though I will go around the next few days saying "I say, old bean! What ho!" at everyone I meet.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge
How Wodehouse can write about a lazy, thieving, good-for-nothing fellow and make him amusing is amazing.

Lord Emsworth
Another of Wodehouse's amusing characters - drawn so clearly one feels that one knows him.

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know who PG Wodehouse was until I picked the omnibus up at Strand. I skipped a few stories but I fell in love with Jeeves and Bertie so I found the trade off fair. British humor at its best.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Anshuman Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, the best English prose writer that ever was, sadly comedy is viewed as levity and thus highly undermined...should be rated among the greatest.