A Brief Guide to Jeeves and Wooster

by Nigel Cawthorne

This Brief Guide is a comprehensive guide to P.G.Wodehouse’s two best-loved comic characters, Bertram (“Bertie”)Wooster and his valet Reggie “Jeeves,” Bertie’s many friends and relatives, and their life of country houses and champagne. Cawthorne offers fascinating insights into Wodehouse’s world, his Jeeves and Wooster stories, and the many adaptations for stage and screen.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[John Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Q

[J Grimsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A list of Wodehouses Jeeves and Wooster books and characters with descriptions. A useful check list but perhaps better to read the Wodehouse books.

[Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is just Wikipedia content in paperback form. The author does not attempt even novice literary criticism; no insights are to be found on any page. At the very most, this would be useful for a lazy student tasked with an essay on Wodehouse but disinclined to actually read the Jeeves and Wooster novels.

NB. I looked up Nigel Cawthorne - a ‘freelance’ writer who claims to have written something in the order of 150 books. Well, if you go to such little creative or intellectual effort, I suppose you could manage to toss out such a voluminous amount of rubbish.