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Whimsy & Soda
WHIMSY & SODA is a collection of twelve hilarious short stories featuring the best-known and best-liked characters of P.G. Wodehouse’s fiction—Bertie Wooster and his man, Jeeves.
• In the opening story, “By and By, Bertie,” Bertie Wooster wakes up one morning to find himself changed in his bed into... a parakeet? Shades of Kafka!
• Jeeves takes his annual vacation; the agency sends Bertie the only valet it has available, and that valet is a robot, in “G.E.V.E.”
• “Jeeves Your Own Adventure” allows the reader to play the role of Jeeves himself!
• In “Back to the Wooster,” Bertie, while in New York, is persuaded by a stranger to take a quick car ride... to the year 1967!
• And in “Jeeves and Wayne,” Jeeves helps the Batman begin.
Here’s what some literary agents had to
“I can't remember the last time I was so amused by the written word. This is impeccable writing that should give a sufficient number of people a steady distraction from the vicissitudes of contemporary life. Bloody brilliant.”
“These are really great; funny and creative.”
“I love what I’ve read. I love the concept and the writing.”
“I… enjoyed [WHIMSY & SODA] immensely.”
“[WHIMSY & SODA] is pretty funny. I’m a big fan of Wodehouse….”
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading [WODEHOUSEBROKEN]; I was impressed and entertained by the witty, distinctive voice and your creative twist on classic P.G. Wodehouse.”
“You’ve got something hilarious and well executed here with [WHIMSY & SODA].”
“You sound like the master himself.”
(The included stories are parodic and not authorized by the Wodehouse Estate.)
• In the opening story, “By and By, Bertie,” Bertie Wooster wakes up one morning to find himself changed in his bed into... a parakeet? Shades of Kafka!
• Jeeves takes his annual vacation; the agency sends Bertie the only valet it has available, and that valet is a robot, in “G.E.V.E.”
• “Jeeves Your Own Adventure” allows the reader to play the role of Jeeves himself!
• In “Back to the Wooster,” Bertie, while in New York, is persuaded by a stranger to take a quick car ride... to the year 1967!
• And in “Jeeves and Wayne,” Jeeves helps the Batman begin.
Here’s what some literary agents had to
“I can't remember the last time I was so amused by the written word. This is impeccable writing that should give a sufficient number of people a steady distraction from the vicissitudes of contemporary life. Bloody brilliant.”
“These are really great; funny and creative.”
“I love what I’ve read. I love the concept and the writing.”
“I… enjoyed [WHIMSY & SODA] immensely.”
“[WHIMSY & SODA] is pretty funny. I’m a big fan of Wodehouse….”
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading [WODEHOUSEBROKEN]; I was impressed and entertained by the witty, distinctive voice and your creative twist on classic P.G. Wodehouse.”
“You’ve got something hilarious and well executed here with [WHIMSY & SODA].”
“You sound like the master himself.”
(The included stories are parodic and not authorized by the Wodehouse Estate.)
138 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 12, 2012
61 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Matthew David Brozik
21 books14 followersMatthew David Brozik is a lawyer-turned-copywriter and the author of several quirky, humorous books, including:
• THREEINCARNATED
• TWIN FREAKS
• THE VOWELS OF THE EARTH
• ODDER SPACE
• SPELLED WRONG
• CHAMPION AT THE BIT
• DANGER ...WITH A HARD G (named one of the Best Comedy Books of 2017 by SPLITSIDER)
• WHIMSY & SODA
• TAKING IVY SERIOUSLY
He's also co-author (with Jacob Sager Weinstein) of THE GOVERNMENT MANUAL FOR NEW SUPERHEROES, THE GOVERNMENT MANUAL FOR NEW WIZARDS, and THE GOVERNMENT MANUAL FOR NEW PIRATES (Andrews McMeel) and (with Lauren Krueger) of GOOROO'S *PRO*-MAGNON KITCHEN.
He earned a Pushcart Prize nomination for short humor. His pieces have been featured by The New Yorker, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Grin & Tonic (Barnes & Noble), and AdultSwim. His short fiction has appeared in various publications in print and online.
• THREEINCARNATED
• TWIN FREAKS
• THE VOWELS OF THE EARTH
• ODDER SPACE
• SPELLED WRONG
• CHAMPION AT THE BIT
• DANGER ...WITH A HARD G (named one of the Best Comedy Books of 2017 by SPLITSIDER)
• WHIMSY & SODA
• TAKING IVY SERIOUSLY
He's also co-author (with Jacob Sager Weinstein) of THE GOVERNMENT MANUAL FOR NEW SUPERHEROES, THE GOVERNMENT MANUAL FOR NEW WIZARDS, and THE GOVERNMENT MANUAL FOR NEW PIRATES (Andrews McMeel) and (with Lauren Krueger) of GOOROO'S *PRO*-MAGNON KITCHEN.
He earned a Pushcart Prize nomination for short humor. His pieces have been featured by The New Yorker, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Grin & Tonic (Barnes & Noble), and AdultSwim. His short fiction has appeared in various publications in print and online.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 29, 2015
Whimsy & Soda is a collection of bizarre Jeeves and Wooster pastiches.
By and By, Bertie: Bertie wakes up from a bender at the Drones club to find he's a parrot. Can Jeeves return him to normal?
The opening tale sets the tone for the collection. Brozik does a great job of capturing Wooster's voice and Jeeves' mannerisms.
G.E.V.E.: Jeeves goes on vacation, leaving Bertie in the care of a robot butler. Will Bertie survive without Jeeves to get him out of the soup?
G.E.V.E. is a funny little tale. I loved that Rossum was his creator.
A Scandal in Bohemia: The King of Bohemia is being blackmailed by Irene Adler and comes to Bertie for assistance. Good thing Jeeves has been eating more fish than usual...
Jeeves cracks this case a lot quicker than Sherlock Holmes.
Bertie Wooster and the Offer of Admission: On his 11th birthday, Bertie Wooster gets invited to attend Frogparts academy.
Heh. Wooster could have been Harry Potter.
A Bertie of Very Little Brain: Fresh from a jaunt in Narnia, Wooster and Jeeves get saddled watching a familiar boy and his familiar teddy bear.
I knew where this was going when the author's name was A.A. Moon but it was still a fun little tale.
Bertie and Earnest: Bertie shares an apartment at 123 Sesame Street.
I never would have imagined a Wooster-Sesame Street crossover but it works.
Jeeves Your Own Adventure: A choose your own adventure starring you as Jeeves.
This one ended with me driving off without Wooster so I'm counting it as a win.
Back to the Wooster: Doctor Emmett Brown shows up at Wooster's door. Hilarity and time paradoxes ensue.
Great stuff. I love that Wodehouse himself is thrown into the mix.
Jeeves and the Immovable Object: Aunt Dahlia hires a scrivener to transcribe a manuscript and finds he won't leave the office once his job is done. Can Jeeves get rid of him?
Jeeves and Wooster go up against Bartleby, the Scrivener. Good stuff.
Ix-nay on the Roadway: Jeeves and Bertie pick up an odd pedestrian who was almost hit by a car.
Ford Prefect!
Jeeves and W--: Jeeves goes to Gotham City to attend to a certain millionaire playboy.
Yup. Jeeves and Batman.
The Painting of Bertram Wooster: The Jeeves and Wooster version of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
This review's gripping conclusion: I dug this collection as a hole. The stories captured the flavor of Jeeves and Wooster shorts while stirring in an extra dollop of weirdness. I'd like to see Brozik write another collection.
By and By, Bertie: Bertie wakes up from a bender at the Drones club to find he's a parrot. Can Jeeves return him to normal?
The opening tale sets the tone for the collection. Brozik does a great job of capturing Wooster's voice and Jeeves' mannerisms.
G.E.V.E.: Jeeves goes on vacation, leaving Bertie in the care of a robot butler. Will Bertie survive without Jeeves to get him out of the soup?
G.E.V.E. is a funny little tale. I loved that Rossum was his creator.
A Scandal in Bohemia: The King of Bohemia is being blackmailed by Irene Adler and comes to Bertie for assistance. Good thing Jeeves has been eating more fish than usual...
Jeeves cracks this case a lot quicker than Sherlock Holmes.
Bertie Wooster and the Offer of Admission: On his 11th birthday, Bertie Wooster gets invited to attend Frogparts academy.
Heh. Wooster could have been Harry Potter.
A Bertie of Very Little Brain: Fresh from a jaunt in Narnia, Wooster and Jeeves get saddled watching a familiar boy and his familiar teddy bear.
I knew where this was going when the author's name was A.A. Moon but it was still a fun little tale.
Bertie and Earnest: Bertie shares an apartment at 123 Sesame Street.
I never would have imagined a Wooster-Sesame Street crossover but it works.
Jeeves Your Own Adventure: A choose your own adventure starring you as Jeeves.
This one ended with me driving off without Wooster so I'm counting it as a win.
Back to the Wooster: Doctor Emmett Brown shows up at Wooster's door. Hilarity and time paradoxes ensue.
Great stuff. I love that Wodehouse himself is thrown into the mix.
Jeeves and the Immovable Object: Aunt Dahlia hires a scrivener to transcribe a manuscript and finds he won't leave the office once his job is done. Can Jeeves get rid of him?
Jeeves and Wooster go up against Bartleby, the Scrivener. Good stuff.
Ix-nay on the Roadway: Jeeves and Bertie pick up an odd pedestrian who was almost hit by a car.
Ford Prefect!
Jeeves and W--: Jeeves goes to Gotham City to attend to a certain millionaire playboy.
Yup. Jeeves and Batman.
The Painting of Bertram Wooster: The Jeeves and Wooster version of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
This review's gripping conclusion: I dug this collection as a hole. The stories captured the flavor of Jeeves and Wooster shorts while stirring in an extra dollop of weirdness. I'd like to see Brozik write another collection.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2012
P.G. Wodehouse’s writing is, in a way, a parody in itself. All that “What ho, Jeeves?” and “Very good, sir.” Wodehouse carefully controls his characters and language; the humor comes from us outside watching Bertie Wooster, a man who never really knows the joke is on him. Wodehouse’s humor never spills over the edge, it’s never campy.
So, how do you parody a parody ? How do you pay tribute to (and gently poke fun at) Wodehouse without taking it too far? The same way you brush an alligator’s teeth. Very, very carefully.
Matthew David Brozik’s Whimsy & Soda does just that. Brozik gingerly plucks up Wodehouse’s characters and pops them down into new, kind of surreal situations. What would happen if Wooster turned into a budgerigar overnight? How would Jeeves handle it? And that’s just the first story. Wait till you get to Bruce Wayne.
What makes Whimsy & Soda such a fantastic parody is that Brozik manages to stay completely true to the characters, no matter how bizarre the situation. He has a perfect handle on their voices and personalities that can only possibly come from a devotion to Wodehouse. The situations he comes up with for the characters can only come from a brilliant and probably somewhat disturbed mind.
Brozik’s humor is as tightly controlled as Wodehouse’s. He, too, never slips over the edge and never breaks from Wodehouse’s voice, except in the one twist of the situation he sticks the characters into.
It’s a great book for a Wodehouse fan. I had actually never read Wodehouse before this, but since I’m rapidly becoming a Brozik fan and I love a good parody, I invested the time in a Wodehouse book before coming to Whimsy & Soda. It was time well spent, because a good parody is hard to find.
So, how do you parody a parody ? How do you pay tribute to (and gently poke fun at) Wodehouse without taking it too far? The same way you brush an alligator’s teeth. Very, very carefully.
Matthew David Brozik’s Whimsy & Soda does just that. Brozik gingerly plucks up Wodehouse’s characters and pops them down into new, kind of surreal situations. What would happen if Wooster turned into a budgerigar overnight? How would Jeeves handle it? And that’s just the first story. Wait till you get to Bruce Wayne.
What makes Whimsy & Soda such a fantastic parody is that Brozik manages to stay completely true to the characters, no matter how bizarre the situation. He has a perfect handle on their voices and personalities that can only possibly come from a devotion to Wodehouse. The situations he comes up with for the characters can only come from a brilliant and probably somewhat disturbed mind.
Brozik’s humor is as tightly controlled as Wodehouse’s. He, too, never slips over the edge and never breaks from Wodehouse’s voice, except in the one twist of the situation he sticks the characters into.
It’s a great book for a Wodehouse fan. I had actually never read Wodehouse before this, but since I’m rapidly becoming a Brozik fan and I love a good parody, I invested the time in a Wodehouse book before coming to Whimsy & Soda. It was time well spent, because a good parody is hard to find.
May 28, 2018
Wonderfully ridiculous!
The tone of Jeeves and Wooster is perfectly preserved, while introducing elements from fantasy and science fiction. I highly recommend this!
The tone of Jeeves and Wooster is perfectly preserved, while introducing elements from fantasy and science fiction. I highly recommend this!
March 21, 2022
A houseman with virtually infinite understanding and discretion. A master with almost no abilities. In a lifestyle that would be almost impossible to understand. I can well see the value of of the greater to the lesser.
A fantastical world. A read that is absolutely amazing.
Thank you for a “can’t put it down” read.
A fantastical world. A read that is absolutely amazing.
Thank you for a “can’t put it down” read.
April 1, 2014
Just a delight!
Always a fan of Wodehouse's stories about Jeeves and his hapless employer Bertie Wooster, I was curious and a little apprehensive when WHIMSY AND SODA appeared in Amazon's free downloads list. Imitating an author's style, while still keeping the writing fresh, is hard, and a near miss would just be painful to read.
I'm glad to report that Brozik delivers everything I could have wished for. The prose sounds like Wodehouse, in word choice and in syntax. It sparkles and froths, just like Wodehouse. Jeeves and Wooster sound like themselves, and they behave like themselves. This is pastiche, but it's highly successful pastiche.
To describe the stories would deprive you of the fun of coming to them fresh, but I'll just say that most are crossovers with well-known characters from other authors or from popular culture. Hard as it is to imitate one author's style without sounding forced, it's harder still to put those characters in unaccustomed situations and still have them sound natural.
The editing would do credit to a printed book from a major publisher. in the entire book I found exactly one error, a "not" that didn't belong. There were none of the "their" for "there", greengrocer's apostrophes, and just plain typos that seem to plague many e-books.
Mostly I stick to the free books on my Kindle, but I will gladly pay for anything else of Brozik's that I can find. He's that good. If you like Wodehouse, or if you just like well-written funny short stories, get this book.
Always a fan of Wodehouse's stories about Jeeves and his hapless employer Bertie Wooster, I was curious and a little apprehensive when WHIMSY AND SODA appeared in Amazon's free downloads list. Imitating an author's style, while still keeping the writing fresh, is hard, and a near miss would just be painful to read.
I'm glad to report that Brozik delivers everything I could have wished for. The prose sounds like Wodehouse, in word choice and in syntax. It sparkles and froths, just like Wodehouse. Jeeves and Wooster sound like themselves, and they behave like themselves. This is pastiche, but it's highly successful pastiche.
To describe the stories would deprive you of the fun of coming to them fresh, but I'll just say that most are crossovers with well-known characters from other authors or from popular culture. Hard as it is to imitate one author's style without sounding forced, it's harder still to put those characters in unaccustomed situations and still have them sound natural.
The editing would do credit to a printed book from a major publisher. in the entire book I found exactly one error, a "not" that didn't belong. There were none of the "their" for "there", greengrocer's apostrophes, and just plain typos that seem to plague many e-books.
Mostly I stick to the free books on my Kindle, but I will gladly pay for anything else of Brozik's that I can find. He's that good. If you like Wodehouse, or if you just like well-written funny short stories, get this book.
November 4, 2014
“Whimsy & Soda” by Matthew David Brozik is a masterful blend of classic British humour and Classic literary greats such as Sherlock Holmes; Alice in Wonderland; The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; and quite a few other recognizable but thoroughly Wodehoused works which have stood the test of time. Brozik is careful to note on the front cover that this book is “99 and 44/100% Parody”, and not endorsed by the estate of the late P.G. Wodehouse, creator of the inimitable Jeeves, and his “master”, Bertie Wooster.
If you are a fan of Wooster and Jeeves; if you are a fan of the many literary Classics; if you are a fan of modern cult heroes like "Batman"; even if you’ve never heard of any of those, you will have to enjoy “Whimsy & Soda”. It’s just not physically possible to read this without enjoying it! For the record: If P.G. Wodehouse could comment, I am certain he would heartily endorse Brozik’s brilliant parody of his own masterful creations.
If you are a fan of Wooster and Jeeves; if you are a fan of the many literary Classics; if you are a fan of modern cult heroes like "Batman"; even if you’ve never heard of any of those, you will have to enjoy “Whimsy & Soda”. It’s just not physically possible to read this without enjoying it! For the record: If P.G. Wodehouse could comment, I am certain he would heartily endorse Brozik’s brilliant parody of his own masterful creations.
March 9, 2015
The literary word is truly a marvelous thing. While more of a science man myself, I always found it fascinating how a master wordsmith might be able to peddle his wares successfully through a book such as this. Again, not as fun as a visit to the science museum or even OzCorp (where incidentally they seem to have developed an insect problem for a spider seemed to take a liking to my palm while I was there a fortnight ago) but fun nonetheless.
Enjoy this book over a drink of cold pop and in lew of some mindless conversation with "friends". It will not disappoint. Now excuse me but I seem to be fixated at a spot on the ceiling that requires cleaning.
Good book!
Enjoy this book over a drink of cold pop and in lew of some mindless conversation with "friends". It will not disappoint. Now excuse me but I seem to be fixated at a spot on the ceiling that requires cleaning.
Good book!
November 7, 2014
Absolutely spot-on imitation of Wodehouse's "voice". This book should've been an official publication of the Wodehouse estate--they were idiots not to have hired this author to carry on his fine tradition! The stories are inventive, lovingly crafted, and perfectly voiced tributes to the original creation. Congratulations on doing Wodehouse proud! Too bad his Estate is such a stick in the mud about the whole thing. I would have loved to been able to gift all my friends and relatives with a paper copy!
November 8, 2014
This book was very entertaining. I have read several books recently that were of a very serious nature so it was refreshing to read Whimsy & Soda - and laugh. I found two or three errors in the book that should have been caught by the editor, but those errors were minor problems. I was glad once again to have access to an immediate dictionary on my Kindle since my vocabulary does not include some of the British meanings.
February 7, 2015
Time to Go Back and Read Me Wodehouse
It took me awhile to catch on to the device which drove this collection of tales but when I caught on I was intrigued...trying to guess who Bertie and Jeeves would encounter next. Many of them were favorites of my family when I was growing up.--including the guardian of G___ City. I hope younger readers will be inspired to read Wodehouse and his contemporaries. This book will have done a very good deed if they do.
It took me awhile to catch on to the device which drove this collection of tales but when I caught on I was intrigued...trying to guess who Bertie and Jeeves would encounter next. Many of them were favorites of my family when I was growing up.--including the guardian of G___ City. I hope younger readers will be inspired to read Wodehouse and his contemporaries. This book will have done a very good deed if they do.
April 7, 2019
I couldn't get through this, which is rare. I had to make it as *read* 60% through, because life is short and this book is too silly (in the bad sort of way) to deal with. It reads like childish fan fiction and worship of various pop culture. Which would be cool if the need to feel overtly clever with the Edwardian language wasn't in order. It got too obnoxious after a while. This is the first book I have a 1 star too
April 8, 2013
Great fun. As a hardcore Wodehouse fan, I was expecting to be annoyed by the book, but I was completely won over by Matthew David Brozik's loving -- and hilarious -- mash-ups of Jeeves & Wooster and a parade of modern pop culture references. I particularly enjoyed the Bruce Wayne story.
Read
July 18, 2013Fun parodies.
November 11, 2012
Having read all the original Jeeves & Wooster stories, I am delighted to find that Brozik's parodies are spot-on!
March 3, 2015
Let me say that I Love Jeeves and Wooster books so I was not sure if I would like this. But oh my this was wonderful. So fun the way the author wrote it. A must read if you are Jeeves fan like me.
January 10, 2016
Classic.
Read
January 27, 2016A light and competent collection of Bertie and Jeeves homages, some better executed than others.
June 6, 2016
Hilarious
Very clever, very funny, loved it!! Will recommend to all my friends and relatives and will look into more titles by this author.
Very clever, very funny, loved it!! Will recommend to all my friends and relatives and will look into more titles by this author.
Read
February 7, 2021Short stories about Bertie Wooster? Yes please! While not all of them hit the mark, the variety was delightful. I appreciated the homage to so many other tales.
Read
April 28, 2015PG Wodehouse meets the Fantastical. Very amusing and enjoyable.
June 25, 2018
Not for me.
Presumably this is one of those English books we Americans just don' t think are funny. Don't know if it was just my mood at the time, but I couldn't get past the first few pages. Don't consider this a review since I didn't read enough to judge it.
Presumably this is one of those English books we Americans just don' t think are funny. Don't know if it was just my mood at the time, but I couldn't get past the first few pages. Don't consider this a review since I didn't read enough to judge it.
August 27, 2018
What a surprise!
Had great fun reading the exploits of Jeeves and Wooster. A must read for the young at heart. Happy reading.
Had great fun reading the exploits of Jeeves and Wooster. A must read for the young at heart. Happy reading.
July 6, 2020
I love Bertie and Jeeves, and these were great short stories, until the last few. The alternate endings didn't add anything and made for a confusing read.
March 4, 2014
This is called "99% Parody", I assume in that it is a parody of Wodehouse's Bertie and Jeeves books, but the originals are already a parody of Edwardian life, so I guess this is a parody of a parody. Each story is a mashup of Bertie & Jeeves with something else (B&J meets Kafka: Bertie becomes a parakeet! B&J meet Winnie the Pooh: Jeeves helps get Christopher Robin out of a tree!), but the original was already so silly that the added elements can't make it much more so. The author tries to keep to Wodehouse's language and style, but whenever he slips up it becomes jarring and ruins the mood. By the time I was midway through the book the jokes had worn thin and I just wanted to read some original Wodehouse instead, so I gave up.
Read
June 27, 2022This is hilarious
David Brozik is a highly skilled wordsmith with a great sense of humor who draws upon such a broad range of cultural and literary references that the reader is kept constantly, and enjoyably, on his toes out of concern that he'll miss a good one. An dense it is, though hardly more than the upper class twit Bertie Wooster affectionately lovingly depicted in this fine work.
David Brozik is a highly skilled wordsmith with a great sense of humor who draws upon such a broad range of cultural and literary references that the reader is kept constantly, and enjoyably, on his toes out of concern that he'll miss a good one. An dense it is, though hardly more than the upper class twit Bertie Wooster affectionately lovingly depicted in this fine work.
November 27, 2013
Always nice to see Jeeves and Bertie again, but unfortunately it doesn't measure up to the original. A couple of the stories are quite clever, though.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews