The Man Upstairs and Other Stories

by P.G. Wodehouse

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

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

292 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

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

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early Wodehouse

This review is of the free Kindle edition:

Product details
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0082XHNRU
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 12, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 680 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ UnlimitedText-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ EnabledScreen Reader ‏ : ‎ SupportedEnhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ EnabledX-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not EnabledWord Wise ‏ : ‎ EnabledPrint length ‏ : ‎ 163 pagesPage numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1499586841Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Goodreads labels this collection as golf stories #0.5. However I remember but one story in which golf plays a prominent part. Most of the stories have nothing at all to do with golf.

First published in Great Britain in 1914 as a book, most of the stories had been previously published in various magazines. Not published in the United States but many of the stories became available in the 1970's in other collections.

None of Wodehouse's most popular characters appear in these stories but the Wodehouse touch is still there. Romance, love at first sight, misunderstandings, inheritances, writers struggling for success and other usual themes are at the heart of these adventures. As usual with Wodehouse, the fun isn't so much in the endings, which can be summed up with the old, "all's well that ends well", but in how he gets there.

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

These early stories by PG Wodehouse were a good antidote to the intense James Purdy novel I was reading at the same time (Narrow Rooms). Both books were fantastical, each in its own way.

Not sure why this collection is listed as being "Golf Stories." There are 19 stories in this volume; about 1.5 have anything to do with golf. There are no indications on the book itself that they are golf stories. This is not a collection of golf stories (thank the merciful heavens).

Wodehouse characters occupy a liminal realm, where little things like sexual harassment and money problems, are at most a minor inconvenience, or perhaps cause for embarrassment. Nothing is ever, really, a serious problem.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great writer doesn’t have to use many words to bring a story to life. P.G. Wodehouse was a great writer. It is maybe logical that he is best known for his novels but his novellas and short stories are qualitative their equals. This book contains fourteen uniquely different stories that will tantalize the reader’s pallet and leave the sweet aftertaste of laughter. Many of the tales have a parable or fable-like qualities that impart a little unrealized wisdom or lesson. Love is generally the central theme and it is approached in a platonic and wholly innocent way. What love may lead to (except for mundane dialogs) is never mentioned, making the whole both quaint and slightly outdated. This said, the humor remains timeless and I think it can still be appreciated by the multitudes. If somebody is looking for “light reading”, pick up The Man Upstairs and Other Stories and enjoy.

[Libbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will use this "review" for all the P. G. Wodehouse I have read. I read them all so long ago and enjoyed them so much that I have given them all 5 stars. As I re-read them I will adjust the stars accordingly, if necessary, and add a proper review.
When I first discovered P. G. Wodehouse I devoured every book I could find in the local library, throughout the eighties and early nineties. Alas, this means that I have read most of them and stumbling across one I have not read is a rare thing. I'm sure that through this great site I will joyfully find at least a few I have not read, and be able to track them down.
My records only began in 1982, so I do not have a note of any I read before then. I’m sure I will enjoy re-reading them.

[Mela · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first P.G. Wodehouse's book. The collection was more or less about love and romances.

It was funny, sometimes with a really wise message.

Most of them I give 3 or 3.5 stars, but I give even more for: 'Something to Worry About' (I liked it the best), 'When Doctors Disagree' and 'Ruth in Exile'.

Besides I must add to my rating Mike Harris as a reader (I listened it from LibriVox), who read it splendidly.

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans PG Wodehouse’s The Man upstairs and Other Stories is a prime chance to read early Wodehouse. For the non-fan these are very slight, light reads, humorous, occasionally laugh out loud short entertainments. Like all Wodehouse books these are fastidiously non-offensive, lacking anything impolite, irreligious or political. This is not to advocate them as bed time reading for the very young, the reader should have some knowledge of the world to grasp the humor. References can be dated.

These stories are from before World War I about 1910. My edition, a Penguin Paperback is originally dated 1914. The highly prolific, driven Wodehouse began publishing his short stories around as the 1900s began and continued up into the mid-1970s. In terms of content they come as he was leaving his earlier stories for boy’s magazines, mostly about being in school and playing sports and before he created his more famous series, Psmith, Blandings Castle and my favorites, the Jeeves cycle.
Mostly these short stories are about romances, based on kindly intentioned interventions and HEA coincidences. Wodehouse may have been reaching for O Henry like surprise turn-arounds but even the least experienced Wodehouse reader will be able to guesstimate most of the plot outcomes after a few exposures to the formula.

So why the four stars. Wodehouse is fun. He is not preachy he is not demanding. Beach reads for everyone. Boy meets girl, some one needs money. She may be ditsy, he may be a fop. Third parties are mostly going to be helpful. What is your reward for such thin plotting? The language. The craftsmanship is rarely obvious. What is on the page is sprightly, and unexpected. Savor the wordsmith who is only interested in the tickle and the fun of words. Wodehouse not going to impress you with vocabulary. He is going to let you drift along in trivial luxury; where you are so smoothly catered to, to ever think about the work that makes the read so effortless.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romances sidetracked. Snappy silly banter, last century, wealthy high-society British, witty Albert Campion style. Objective observations on human behavior, especially in-love youngsters detoured by interfering outsiders or their own foolishness, in situations impossible today, expansive master vocabulary. Even a Dickensian name, "Blatherwick", can trigger giggles.

in progress -- up to #14
Kobo saves front cover, author photo here, uses no energy

1 The Man Upstairs 31 pg
Striving artist Beverley knocks on ceiling, and striving composer Annette answers. Her music students have "solid ivory skulls ... about a teaspoonful of grey matter distributed among the entire squad", with Annette's latest "at the tail-end of the division". Neighbor Reginald patronizes, annoys with "a habit of addressing her as 'Ah, little one!'" p 10, a manner "intolerable in an emperor to a black-beetle" p 18. When he comes "curveting [prancing] in here with his chest out and started to slate my [Beverley's] masterpiece" p13 - I take that as slang and invention. Who but PG creates publishers called "Grusczinsky and Buchterkirch" p20? (das Buch= book, die Kirche= church) Scene thus set for yet another whimsical smiling whiling-away time.

The happy-ever-after ending is an alternative version of O. Henry's Gift of the Magi http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..., where loving newlyweds buy Christmas presents for one another by each selling their most valuable possessions, the wife her hair and husband his watch.

2 Something to Worry About 31 pg
Sally Preston is sent to rusticate in Millbourne by father angry she snuck to movie. On her first day at Aunt Jane's, she throws mud on the boy next door. Being second gardener at the Hall and autumn past flowers, Tom bestows vegetables in return. Naturally, other village boys fall in line. Hijinks ensue.

She accepts four proposals to coerce her return city-ward, but Tom fights them all.

3 Deep Waters 34 pg
Playwright and expert swimmer George Barnert Callender falls in Marvis Bay, and infatuated with his rescuer Mary, accepts her offer to teach him swimming. But actor Mifflin wants George to rescue Mifflin, for publicity.

4 When Doctors Disagree 29 pg
At Hotel Belvoir, hair-cutter Arthur is silent and unhappy, jealous of bucks who chat up manicurist Maud. When he suddenly reforms, she despairs of his love and writes a newspaper advice column.

After she has to repulse another admirer, Arthur admits he wrote to a different counselor, and the couple reconcile.

5 By Advice of Counsel 28 pg ??
Waiter Jack regales a silent customer with tale about affable deaf Joe Moore who subsidized himself and similarly-minded Bailey or Roach until Jane beckoned.

Joe misunderstood "consult her folks" for insult, but Jane fell for manly display. After meal, customer says "I'm stone deaf."

6 Rough-Hew Them How We Will 32 pg ??
As waiter in Parisian restaurant, Paul moons for placid Jeanne. Off duty as artist, he strives to sell his masterpiece.

Paul saved from suicide by a suspender salesman who offers him long term contract to alter the painting to an advert. His ensuing wealth both convinces an English cop to eject the cafe owner as a nuisance, and flaunts success to the avaricious waitress who denounced his previous failure.

7 The Man Who Disliked Cats
A fellow cafe diner narrates to the narrator how his hatred began when his uncle hired him as a Paris hotel cashier and killed his dream of art. Guests bring camels, champagne-swilling giraffe, lion, alligator, and worst, cat Alexander. But he finds a lost parrot for pretty guest Marion, and falls in love.

Uncle funds wooing of London heiress Marion but Alexander foils pursuit. For next ten years he is employed to research Cats in Ancient Egypt.

8 Ruth in Exile
The girl who records loans for a Monte Carlo area pawnbroker is encouraged by her profligate gambling father to accept apparently rich George.

Hearing him pawn possessions, Ruth thinks George is poor, but he was sketching the ugly proprietor for his father's toy company.

9 Archibald's Benefit
Striving golfer finally wins championship, because his equally incompetent friends want to reward his generous nature in front of his girl, newly arrived on vacation. But stopping hardball Gossett delays Archibald's date with beloved Margaret.

Archie's confession causes Marg to confess she also prefers golf to poetry.

10 The Man, the Maid, and the Miasma 26 pg
Trying to avoid just fired Punctual Plodder office-boy Roland Bean, boss Ferguson gets locked in the office with him after closing time. Running upstairs, he bumps into ex-girlfriend.

The miasma, Roland, spouts trivia, drives them back together.

11 The Good Angel 29 pg
Martin woos Elsa Keith while staying with the family, helped by butler Keggs, who has drawn his name in the servants' betting pool, hindered by house-party competitor poetic Barstowe.

12 Pots o'Money 30 pg
Owen dramatizes a novel by Edith Butler, who makes no reply to the submission. ("Botts" are fly maggot infestations of livestock, close to Kobo definition.) On a farm holiday, the resident granny sees "pots o' money" in Owen's cards, and a string of unlikely chances fulfill the prediction. Writer Prosser is fellow guest, meet again in London.

Prosser aka Butler could not reply because cover letter blew away and manuscript was unsigned, now generously donates all proceeds from successful run, still ongoing in America, despite London flop.

13 Out of School 23 pg
Narrator, a distracting sidetracking commentator, explains "extenuating circumstances" around case of James Datchett 22, aspiring writer. Uncle Frederick has "just about enough brains to make a jay-bird fly crooked" p2, but prospered in Western Australian sheep, so his advice is heeded, and the nephew must succeed at teaching in Harrow, or be deported Colony-ward. School doorman German Adolf sees new teacher innocently kiss maid Violet in a happy moment, threatens to tell headmaster Blatherwick, monopolizes James' free writing time for English lessons, until, caught on a bad day, the blackmail victim refuses and kicks back.

James catches Blatherwick in a similar happy moment innocent kiss but says nought, so Adolf gets fired when he tries to report.

14 Three from Dunsterville 28 pg
.. in progress ..

Typos:
confusing to use underscores for italics, quotation marks, and French
13 p2 emph but tit has proper quotes, p3 tit but emphasis dislocated "_having Colonies._" should be "having Colonies.", 8 tit 9 "Universal" magazine title not underscored as in p8,
14 p1 title 'Our City' properly not underscored

[James Lark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much to enjoy - the titular opening story in particular has an efficiency and focus that is quite removed from the self-indulgence one might expect from the author in his later years, however enjoyable that always turns out to be. I was reminded of Saki by the craftsmanship and understatement, which may not be a surprising comparison but is certainly a flattering one.

These stories are not all so tightly conceived, though, and whilst the parade of jilted or insecure lovers, butlers, maidservants, unlikely millionaires and young unpaid writers is entirely what one would expect, Wodehouse's sentimentality doesn't have Saki's bite and often these yarns are whimsical to a point that pushes irrelevance.

Absolutely lovely to dip into at a loose end, but repetitive and inconsequential if you're not in the mood.

[Sarah TheAromaofBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: If I hadn't known that these books were written by Wodehouse, I wouldn't have guessed it. They really lacked his classic sparkle and wit. While a decent collection of short stories, they didn't have the magic that Wodehouse's writing generally has - many of the stories felt rather flat. Later short story collections of his have that fantastic zing at the end that pulls everything together, but these tended to be rather bland on the whole. Fine for a one-time read, but not a collection I intend to return to later.

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe it was the critic, Harry Bud, who relegated this collection from the 6 Wodehouse books in the canon to the 9.4 candidates for the canon.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely delightful collection of short stories, most focused on love and/or romance, and most with a typically (and welcome) happy ending.

[Ian Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Man Upstairs is Wodehouse’s first collection of short stories after graduating from the school stories which with the benefit of hindsight were a blot on the old escutcheon. The Quality does vary from story to story but the good far outweighs the poor and the Wodehouse genius is definitely making it’s presence felt although still not as pronounced as in his middle period work.

In the Title story the man upstairs is not a reference to the God generally found in heaven accompanying the Larch on the Thorn in P G Wodehouse’s idyllic but an Artist attempting to court the composer downstairs by banging on the ceiling.

Also worthy of mention is ‘The Good Angel’ which first introduces us to Keggs whose buttling career ran through the subsequent Wodehouse novels. Here Keggs’ scheme is to clean up on the engagement sweepstake by cunning use of insider dealing and taking a hand in the wooing as required. As you can imagine although true love doesn’t run smoothly it runs predictably and Keggs wouldn’t need money to pay off his bookie if he only bet on such bankers.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few weeks ago, whilst reading a memoir by Susan Hill, it was brought home to me that I had never read any PG Wodehouse. I thought the easiest way to put this right was to read a book of his short stories. This collection, originally written in, I think 1914, are very funny with some fantastic turns of phrases adn descriptions. Inevitably the language can seem slightly dated and the circles in which his characters move elegantly around are generally wealthy or at least hankering after wealth through a good marriage or clever alliance though not always. I can't say I warmed to many of his characters; they often appeared rather mercenary or irresponsible but they were easy to read and, as I mentioned, a good many of his turns of phrase made me smile.I shall read more of him and thank Susan Hill's memoir for having given me the impetus by convicting me of my ignorance of his imagination

[kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't expect to like this collection of short stories so much. I just got it because it was one of a few of the free Kindle editions of work by P. G. Wodehouse, who I only know of through the Jeeves series, but there are some real gems in here. The stories aren't all his typical upperclass-playboy-and-wise-butler-escapades; the scenes do vary (knights of the round table, new york artist commune) but all with the same rich, tight plots and signature wit of Wodehouse, so light-hearted and accessible.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are mostly (possibly all?) stories about courtin' and young men trying to start their careers. I have to say I wasn't particularly drawn into any of them, with the exception of the last story. It had a very different tone and poignancy. It was about courtin' and a young man starting his career. That said, I've rarely flagged as many witty turns of phrase in a book. PG had a gift. There's also a candour about the heros' (and writer's) observations about the world that confirms that people 100 years ago weren't all that different from today.

[Marina the Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the short stories were very good, some so-so. I liked particularly “Something to worry about,” “The man, the maid and the miasma,” “The good angel” and “The tupenny millionaire.”

[Spiros · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly anomalous collection of Plum's short stories: most of the stories have a samey quality, wherein a hapless suitor doesn't get the girl until he throws his weight around. Towards the end, we get a story with a soccer-playing protagonist: prior to reading it, I would have cheerfully taken a bet that Plum had never even heard of soccer. In the event, he doesn't seem entirely comfortable with the game. The final story is a weird effort, centered on Broadway, in which Plum seems to be trying to write serious literature: the hero doesn't get the girl, who is *gasp* a "kept woman".

[Jeff Crompton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is early Wodehouse, from 1914, and the master of English humor was still developing his mature style. There are some good stories here, as well as some mediocre ones - and one that is truly awful, in my opinion. Most of them are far more sentimental than Plum's later work, but a few give hints of the inspired comedy to come. It's perhaps telling that two of the best stories here involve golf ("Archibald's Benefit") and butlers ("The Good Angel") - subjects which provided Wodehouse with much inspiration in the years to come.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Wodehouse, otherwise great stuff. These stories don't include some of his more famous characters, but follow the general Wodehouse plot device. Boy meets girl, problem presents itself, problem resolved. No matter how many times Wodehouse follows this his stories don't get old. How he gets from a to b to c is always fun.

[Daniel Bratell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories written very early in P. G. Wodehouse's career, and as a collection it's hard to give a fair overall judgment. Some are good, some are less good. None is as good as the later Jeeves and Wooster stories.

I would not recommend this unless you are interested in consuming all of the authors produces literary works.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wodehouse before he really found his feet/forte. However in among the soppy love stories there are some interesting dry runs - there's even a story with Bertie and Jeeves clones

[Wide Eyes, Big Ears! · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disposable love stories with a glimmer of the wit and humour that appears in the Jeeves & Blandings series.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun short stories.

[Anjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://superfluousreading.wordpress....

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of Wodehouse's early stories, including these, are written to a basic romance formula, which has several variations.

After the meet-cute, the proposal (sometimes even the marriage) usually follows rapidly, but then ensues one of several complications:

- An obstacle, almost always lack of money, often combined with family opposition, until (usually) good fortune more than the protagonists' actions resolves the situation.
- A deception, intended to win over the other person, but it backfires and makes (usually) her furious, until (usually) he finally gets a chance to explain, and all is forgiven.
- Behaving in a particular way, which causes problems in the relationship, but a change of behaviour may or may not be an improvement.

A lack of suitability of one or both of the people for human relationships in general is not always considered a barrier to happiness ('Something to Worry About' definitely has something to worry about in the young woman, who is trouble waiting to happen, and I don't envy her ill-advised lover in the least; the man in the title story also comes off as a bit of a stalker), though there is one story in which the protagonist wins wealth and then spurns his former inamorata, having seen through her grasping ways, and in another story one of the men who is a fortune-hunter gets revealed for the louse he is. In both cases, the men are French; maybe there was some British cultural reason why Wodehouse felt that French men could be left without a HEA and it would be fine.

Sometimes someone else with an interest one way or the other involves themselves in encouraging or discouraging the match, with or without success, and this becomes a source of plot tension and comedy. Often, in the interests of an expedient plot, the couple don't spend much time together before deciding to spend the rest of their lives together, but sometimes spending more time together draws people closer, and sometimes it pushes them apart.

Massive coincidence sometimes plays a role, though less so than in most of his novels of the same period. In one story, though, the hero happens to encounter a man twice by complete coincidence, confides his troubles to him, and by a third and much larger coincidence discovers that he's the one person who can help him with his problem (which his own incompetence has partly created).

The author's trying a few different things, in other words, ringing changes on a very basic romance plot. His later and better-known works often incorporate some kind of romantic complications, though many of them are what I think of as "anti-romances," where the challenge is to break off an unwanted attachment. No doubt what he learned from these early stories, where romance is the focus, helped him in the later ones where it was more of a background element.

Only one of the stories involves golf, so marking it as "Golf Stories, #0.5" is almost as misleading as calling The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories "Jeeves, #0.5" (though not quite, since Jeeves barely appears in that one).

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to listen to PG Wodehouse, once in a while — in fact I don’t think I’ve ever read him in text form. In this one, Frederick Davidson narrates. I liked his Brit voices of course, and his American accents were very funny. Not sure I liked his French and German accents but there were just a few of those. Didn’t especially like his voice for women - not terrible but lacking something.

These were a pretty varied collection of short stories. No Jeeves, but there were a few crafty butlers helping (or manipulating) hapless rich bachelors. But a lot of stories were about people with little money.

What I like about Wodehouse: screamingly funny descriptions of people and their ridiculous motivations and their bizarre behavior. Also, lots of brilliantly composed sentences. What I don’t like: the actual stories are pretty dumb. Ah well, worth it sometimes!

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an early collection of stories from Wodehouse, before he'd really come into his own and developed his style. There's still humour here, but not so much the laugh out loud that I know him for. The stories are often romantic as well, with a sweeter, maybe less cynical take on romance than his later work.

One of the stories does feature a valet, but Jeeves he isn't, and there are very few of the bumbling toffs he's famous for. These heroes are often middle class, working for a living, even if they don't want to be. The last story, in particular, In Alcala, showed a poignancy and bittersweet side that he doesn't show very often later.

Maybe not what I think of as classic Wodehouse, but they're enjoyable stories and show a different side to his writing, and show that he's more versatile than he's sometimes given credit for.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of nearly twenty stories from the pre-WWI pen of P.G. Wodehouse. All humorous and pleasing without too many belly laughs, they are mostly concerned with a young man attempting to woo the object of his dreams and being outwitted by fate, chance or said object herself. All is happily resolved, however: the young man can sell his paintings, inherit the family fortune, reveal that he is actually a swimming champion or avoid being forced to Australia as a sheep farmer.

[Leeya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review is for the LibriVox audiobook by Mike Harris. The recording was very well done. I enjoyed listening to Harris and the stories are light-hearted and enjoyable. But they did not manage to captivate me and the endings were sometimes predictable.

[Jessica-sim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange struggling artist and stalking millionaire love story.