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Indiscretions of Archie
It wasn't Archie's fault really. It's true he went to America and fell in love with Lucille, the daughter of a millionaire hotel proprietor and if he did marry her--well, what else was there to do? From his point of view, the whole thing was a thoroughly good egg; but Mr. Brewster, his father-in-law, thought differently, Archie had neither money nor occupation, which was distasteful in the eyes of the industrious Mr. Brewster; but the real bar was the fact that he had once adversely criticised one of his hotels. Archie does his best to heal the breach; but, being something of an ass, genus priceless, he finds it almost beyond his powers to placate "the man-eating fish" whom Providence has given him as a father-in-law.
215 pages, Library Binding
First published February 14, 1921
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About the author
P.G. Wodehouse
1,680 books6,929 followersSir 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).
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).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
May 31, 2009
This is my favorite non-Jeeves Wodehouse book. It is literary champagne like all Wodehouse books, but it's happier than most (which is really saying something).
The story deals with Archie, a young man who finds out after a hasty wedding to a beautiful girl that his new bride comes complete with a huge pile of money and a terrifying father who hates him.
What sets this apart for me is the basic sweetness of the underlying love story. Jeeves stories take a very cynical view of marriage, with Bertie Wooster constantly getting accidentally engaged to a variety of overbearing and emmasculating women. Archie's marriage is the healthiest and most affectionate sort of partnership, portrayed with the rare earnestness at which Wodehouse excels.
The story deals with Archie, a young man who finds out after a hasty wedding to a beautiful girl that his new bride comes complete with a huge pile of money and a terrifying father who hates him.
What sets this apart for me is the basic sweetness of the underlying love story. Jeeves stories take a very cynical view of marriage, with Bertie Wooster constantly getting accidentally engaged to a variety of overbearing and emmasculating women. Archie's marriage is the healthiest and most affectionate sort of partnership, portrayed with the rare earnestness at which Wodehouse excels.
October 23, 2016
Well done old boy, simply marvellous.
April 11, 2013
Positively delightful! I was hooked on this very amusing spoof of a struggle for acceptance. Archie, a well educated but rather feather-brain Englishman, comes to New York to seek his fortune (as, after looking he failed to find it in England). He marries a New York socialite, Lucille Brewster and she brings her new husband home to meet her father. He sees Archie as an unscrupulous, gold digging foreigner but doesn’t want to disappoint or alienated his daughter so he agrees to give him a suite in his hotel and keeps a good eye on him. Archie’s even temper, good cheer and innocence can’t help but endear him to the reader. I just loved the never-ending supply of non-words Archie uses to describe things, people or places he has either forgotten or doesn’t understand. Archie……The good egg…… I wish him well! I laughed out loud so that should count for something.
March 11, 2025
4+
When times are... interesting and life feels hard, there's nothing better than a Wodehouse novel. And I somehow hadn't read this one before. The right book at the right time for me.
Wodehouse sentences are like expensive chocolates: well made, very enjoyable and I always want more.
When times are... interesting and life feels hard, there's nothing better than a Wodehouse novel. And I somehow hadn't read this one before. The right book at the right time for me.
Wodehouse sentences are like expensive chocolates: well made, very enjoyable and I always want more.
January 29, 2015
3½ stars. Archie isn't as fun as Bertie but in the same vein. Instead of Jeeves, Archie has his wife Lucille to look out for him. Fun fast read but if you haven't read any Wodehouse before, I'd suggest starting with either a Jeeves book (I particularly like "The Code of the Woosters") or a Blandings book ("Something Fresh" is v. good and is the first in the series).
March 6, 2022
Archie Moffam (pronounced "moom") is a brainless English chappie bunged out of the family home after being demobbed. They want him to get a job or something! While looking for work in New York, he stays at the Cosmopolis Hotel, owned and managed by one Mr. Daniel Brewster. Archie's stay is marred by a drain that goes "drip-drip-drip" and the lack of service in regards to his dirty shoes. Mr. Brewster prides himself on a top-notch hotel and has never- NEVER- in all his days heard a complaint! The hotel detective is pleased to pitch Artie out and the antagonists are pleased never to see one another again. Or so they think. Mr. Brewster's other pride and joy besides the hotel is his daughter Lucille. While on a trip to Miami, Lucille meets dearest Archie and marries him! ARCHIE? It can't possibly be the same chap can it? Unfortunately for Mr. Brewster, his nemesis returns as his son-in-law, to sponge off him probably forever. Egads! Archie wants to spread sweetness and light wherever he goes so he agrees to let bygones be bygones for the sake of his beloved Lucille but Mr. Brewster is not pleased to have a moocher in the family. What can Archie do to please his father-in-law?
This story is a series of episodes not so much about indescretions but about miscommunication, misadventures and mishaps. Archie is a brainless upper class gent in the vein of Bertie Wooster and the Drones Club. Like Uncle Fred his goal is to spread "sweetness and light" but he just can't seem to get the hang of it. At first I found Archie annoying-another useless, brainless, artistocrat, I thought. Then I got used to him. He means well, he really, really does. His heart is in the right place but his methods often leave a lot to be desired. Unlike Bertie, he doesn't have a Jeeves to get him out of trouble. Unlike some of the Drones Club fellows, he WANTS to work but doesn't really have the get up and go. He's not cut out for anything much. Archie is brave, loyal and when he wants to be, clever. There's no denying he adores Lucille and truly is perplexed why her father can't bring himself to love Archie. Lucille is a bit simple. Her character doesn't have a lot of depth. Lucille is loving and loyal like Archie and when she wants to put her brain to it, she comes up with some clever solutions. They're a well-matched pair because they're so much alike. Neither expects the other to change or be something they're not.
Daniel Brewster is your typical Wodehousian choleric older businessman. He's more shrewd than Bingo Little's boss and more forgiving, in spite of his blustering. He wants his daughter to be happy AND independent. He sees Archie as a loafer and a moocher, which is rather unfair. Their opposite personalities grate on each other. Mr. Brewster should thank Archie because Archie is more likable than Lucille's brother Bill who falls in and out of love with unsuitable women and doesn't seem to have a job.
Archie's adventures are amusing and I felt like I was getting whiplash trying to keep up with the rapid fire dialogue. There's also a lot of 1920s slang to try to figure out. I love that! Some of the episodes end without being concluded and I felt like I was missing something but the plot threads pick up again later. I was glad those plots were concluded. It doesn't read as much like a book of short stories that way.
There's not much more I can say about this book because it's very typically Wodehousian. If you like Bertie Wooster, Freddie Threepwood, Bingo Little, Monty Bodkin and the rest of the Drones Club, you will probably enjoy this book too. It's a nice, easy read and so funny too. It will take your mind of the news. This book is not taxing and can be put down and picked up again when the mood strikes. I'm glad I picked this one up at the library.
This story is a series of episodes not so much about indescretions but about miscommunication, misadventures and mishaps. Archie is a brainless upper class gent in the vein of Bertie Wooster and the Drones Club. Like Uncle Fred his goal is to spread "sweetness and light" but he just can't seem to get the hang of it. At first I found Archie annoying-another useless, brainless, artistocrat, I thought. Then I got used to him. He means well, he really, really does. His heart is in the right place but his methods often leave a lot to be desired. Unlike Bertie, he doesn't have a Jeeves to get him out of trouble. Unlike some of the Drones Club fellows, he WANTS to work but doesn't really have the get up and go. He's not cut out for anything much. Archie is brave, loyal and when he wants to be, clever. There's no denying he adores Lucille and truly is perplexed why her father can't bring himself to love Archie. Lucille is a bit simple. Her character doesn't have a lot of depth. Lucille is loving and loyal like Archie and when she wants to put her brain to it, she comes up with some clever solutions. They're a well-matched pair because they're so much alike. Neither expects the other to change or be something they're not.
Daniel Brewster is your typical Wodehousian choleric older businessman. He's more shrewd than Bingo Little's boss and more forgiving, in spite of his blustering. He wants his daughter to be happy AND independent. He sees Archie as a loafer and a moocher, which is rather unfair. Their opposite personalities grate on each other. Mr. Brewster should thank Archie because Archie is more likable than Lucille's brother Bill who falls in and out of love with unsuitable women and doesn't seem to have a job.
Archie's adventures are amusing and I felt like I was getting whiplash trying to keep up with the rapid fire dialogue. There's also a lot of 1920s slang to try to figure out. I love that! Some of the episodes end without being concluded and I felt like I was missing something but the plot threads pick up again later. I was glad those plots were concluded. It doesn't read as much like a book of short stories that way.
There's not much more I can say about this book because it's very typically Wodehousian. If you like Bertie Wooster, Freddie Threepwood, Bingo Little, Monty Bodkin and the rest of the Drones Club, you will probably enjoy this book too. It's a nice, easy read and so funny too. It will take your mind of the news. This book is not taxing and can be put down and picked up again when the mood strikes. I'm glad I picked this one up at the library.
June 4, 2010
At first this one seemed slightly tedious and indeed it is fairly episodic. But in the end I really warmed up to Archie Moffam (pronounced "moom") & co. The ending is cliche but so unexpected that it's a charming way to wrap up the story.
It wasn't until this novel that I realized part of why Waugh must have loved Wodehouse so well (other than his impeccable prose style). The part of Waugh that "liked things to go wrong" must of course have delighted in the cycle of peril, scheme, frustration, and peril anew.
It wasn't until this novel that I realized part of why Waugh must have loved Wodehouse so well (other than his impeccable prose style). The part of Waugh that "liked things to go wrong" must of course have delighted in the cycle of peril, scheme, frustration, and peril anew.
September 17, 2019
A bit of silliness and froth. Episodic. Not as good as his best, but a pleasant way to pass the time
July 30, 2023
ENGLISH: A typical Wodehouse collection of sketches about an English protagonist who marries in the US with an American girl, and manages to get into all kinds of troubles, many of them with his father-in-law, whose belief that Archie does not deserve his daughter is his only point of agreement with Archie.
In his first adventure, he is "pinched" by the New York police when he was getting dressed in the clothes of the master mind of a swindle, just because he had been locked out of another flat while dressed in a yellow bathing suit.
In the second adventure he is seen by a famous actress while he is sneaking her pet snake into his room. This is just a sample of the string of absurd adventures Archie must go through.
Not one of the best novels by Wodehouse, but good for a nice reading.
ESPAÑOL: Una típica colección de bocetos de Wodehouse con un protagonista inglés que se traslada a vivir en los Estados Unidos, se casa con una estadounidense, y se mete en todo tipo de líos, muchos de ellos con su suegro, cuya convicción de que Archie no merece a su hija es lo único en lo que está totalmente de acuerdo con Archie.
En su primera aventura, la policía de Nueva York lo pilla vistiéndose con la ropa del perpetrador de una estafa, porque se había quedado encerrado fuera de un piso vecino, vestido con un traje de baño amarillo.
En la segunda aventura, lo pilla una actriz famosa mientras esconde en su habitación a su serpiente mascota. Esta es solo una muestra de la serie de aventuras absurdas que Archie debe sufrir.
No es de las mejores novelas de Wodehouse, pero está bien para pasar un rato agradable.
In his first adventure, he is "pinched" by the New York police when he was getting dressed in the clothes of the master mind of a swindle, just because he had been locked out of another flat while dressed in a yellow bathing suit.
In the second adventure he is seen by a famous actress while he is sneaking her pet snake into his room. This is just a sample of the string of absurd adventures Archie must go through.
Not one of the best novels by Wodehouse, but good for a nice reading.
ESPAÑOL: Una típica colección de bocetos de Wodehouse con un protagonista inglés que se traslada a vivir en los Estados Unidos, se casa con una estadounidense, y se mete en todo tipo de líos, muchos de ellos con su suegro, cuya convicción de que Archie no merece a su hija es lo único en lo que está totalmente de acuerdo con Archie.
En su primera aventura, la policía de Nueva York lo pilla vistiéndose con la ropa del perpetrador de una estafa, porque se había quedado encerrado fuera de un piso vecino, vestido con un traje de baño amarillo.
En la segunda aventura, lo pilla una actriz famosa mientras esconde en su habitación a su serpiente mascota. Esta es solo una muestra de la serie de aventuras absurdas que Archie debe sufrir.
No es de las mejores novelas de Wodehouse, pero está bien para pasar un rato agradable.
July 30, 2023
A very pleasant Wodehouse book. Archie’s character is a bit like Bertie Wooster, and he has to contend with an unsympathetic father in law, but has all of his wife’s support. The situations that Archie gets into are not as convoluted as Bertie’s, and are always happily resolved without much trouble.
February 14, 2020
Finished 2 Jan 2012.
This is a perfect book for reading one chapter at a time, perhaps before bedtime. It was originally bunches of short stories that were combined into a book.
Archie seems to get out of scraps and make everyone like him...everyone but his dear old fatherinlaw. And all his attempts to change this only make things worse.
PS Lucille, his wifey, though playing a smaller part, is quite wonderful.
This is a perfect book for reading one chapter at a time, perhaps before bedtime. It was originally bunches of short stories that were combined into a book.
Archie seems to get out of scraps and make everyone like him...everyone but his dear old fatherinlaw. And all his attempts to change this only make things worse.
PS Lucille, his wifey, though playing a smaller part, is quite wonderful.
January 3, 2022
4.5 stars. An engaging, very humorous, entertaining novel about Archibald Moffam and his ability to get himself into embarrassing situations. His good intentions generally lead to upsetting his millionaire father in law, Daniel Brewster. Archibald is an Englishman in New York. He is kind hearted, but generally dim witted. There are many delightful scenes including hiding a snake in a hotel room, Archie’s first experience at an auction, betting on a baseball game, the pie eating contest, and the purchase of a painting.
This book is not part of a P. G. Wodehouse series. It is one of the best stand alone P. G. Wodehouse novels. As good as the best novels in the ‘Jeeves’ or ‘Blandings Castle’ series.
This book was first published in 1921.
This book is not part of a P. G. Wodehouse series. It is one of the best stand alone P. G. Wodehouse novels. As good as the best novels in the ‘Jeeves’ or ‘Blandings Castle’ series.
This book was first published in 1921.
October 9, 2018
[1921] Classic P.G. Wodehouse. Kept wanting to call it the Misadventures of Archie, which would have been a more apt, but also a more predictable title, I guess. Really funny, endearing characters, fun, light read. Was adapted from a series of short stories for magazine publications and you could tell - only barely hung together as a novel - but it didn't matter.
March 25, 2010
Every genre of fiction has it's great forebear. Epic fantasy has Tolkien, heroic fantasy has Robert E. Howard, science fiction has H. G. Wells, for plays there is Shakespeare. For situational comedy, there is P. G. Wodehouse. Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchet, both admittedly, owe their success to Wodehouse's creations and the genre that he established.
Wodehouse wrote a great deal of comedy about a wide range of characters, all of it situational. “The Indiscretions of Archie” is another one of his novels.
Archie is a young Englishman, moving to America after fighting in France during World War I. He meets and marries Lucille Brewster, daughter of Daniel Brewster, owner of the Cosmopolis hotel in New York City. After they are married Archie and Lucille return to New York to meet her father, and ask a favor of him. Archie has no money, and he has no job, so they need room and board until he can find something that will support them.
Mr. Brewster is not happy with this arrangement but he sees no way to turn them down. He can't turn his own daughter out on the street can he? Things are complicated by the fact that, previous to meeting Lucille, Archie stayed one night in the Cosmopolis and upon leaving insulted the hotel for not polishing his boots while he slept. Insulting the Cosmopolis is an unforgivable crime in Mr. Brewster's eyes.
What follows is a series of comedic situations caused by Archie's search for employment, to please his Father-in-law, or to help his unfortunate friends.
P. G. Wodehouse is all comedy. There is no deeper message of political import or social commentary such as Mark Twain's comedic books. The sole purpose of his writing is to make you laugh.
Quite frequently he is very good at it. Even though he wrote in the early part of the last century his writing seems fresh and the situations translate surprisingly well to our current time (without ever being inappropriate, sexual, or using foul language). I actually laughed out loud at several passages in this book, something I rarely do when reading. It isn't as funny as “Right Ho Jeeves!”, also by Wodehouse, but it is well done.
Wodehouse tends to have certain themes that run throughout his work. There are always artists of some sort (musicians, painters, singers, actors, etc.) who fancy themselves the world's next great prize... if they can just find somebody to recognize how good they are. The upper-class main characters are usually lacking in intelligence while their servants are frequently quite smart. There are always rich aunts and uncles who have greater than usual influence when it comes to allowing or disapproving marriages, jobs, etc. The protagonist always knows a large number of people who happen to be able to help other friends with their specific problems (one friend can't get his song published but another friend is a music producer).
Perhaps because I have only read a few of Wodehouse's books it still feels new and original to me. I am already starting to see characters recycled with different names and situations replayed with different characters, however. So far this hasn't been a big deal because the situations, while starting out the same always ended differently.
Several scenes in “The Indiscretions of Archie” started out looking like they would follow comedy cliché right through, then things changed. Specifically there is the time Archie goes to an auction looking to buy a piece of art for his Father-in-law. Not understanding how auctions work he ends up buying a broken chair for two hundred dollars because he twitched at the wrong time. This is where I started to make excuses in my head about, this cliché is probably cliché because he used it first – I thought I knew where it was going – Archie would spend all his money unwittingly bidding on things he didn't want. To my surprise it quickly changed into something much funnier.
This book was originally published as a series of short stories in magazines and you start to see that format throughout the book. Each story takes two or three chapters and rarely references previous chapters. This feels more like a collection of short stories than an actual novel, which is what it is.
Wodehouse is somewhat controversial in England as his portrayal of the British people as less intelligent aristocracy held together by the much smarter lower classes is not popular amongst said aristocracy. However, his genius shows in his ability to continually make people laugh at the antics of his protagonists and the 'clever' ways in which their servants solve their problems. Quite frequently the 'clever' ideas are insanely silly or just plain weird, but they always work. Perhaps that is part of the comedy.
“Indiscretions of Archie” was an enjoyable book to read. It was very funny on occasion and mildly humorous the rest of the time.
(4/5)
Wodehouse wrote a great deal of comedy about a wide range of characters, all of it situational. “The Indiscretions of Archie” is another one of his novels.
Archie is a young Englishman, moving to America after fighting in France during World War I. He meets and marries Lucille Brewster, daughter of Daniel Brewster, owner of the Cosmopolis hotel in New York City. After they are married Archie and Lucille return to New York to meet her father, and ask a favor of him. Archie has no money, and he has no job, so they need room and board until he can find something that will support them.
Mr. Brewster is not happy with this arrangement but he sees no way to turn them down. He can't turn his own daughter out on the street can he? Things are complicated by the fact that, previous to meeting Lucille, Archie stayed one night in the Cosmopolis and upon leaving insulted the hotel for not polishing his boots while he slept. Insulting the Cosmopolis is an unforgivable crime in Mr. Brewster's eyes.
What follows is a series of comedic situations caused by Archie's search for employment, to please his Father-in-law, or to help his unfortunate friends.
P. G. Wodehouse is all comedy. There is no deeper message of political import or social commentary such as Mark Twain's comedic books. The sole purpose of his writing is to make you laugh.
Quite frequently he is very good at it. Even though he wrote in the early part of the last century his writing seems fresh and the situations translate surprisingly well to our current time (without ever being inappropriate, sexual, or using foul language). I actually laughed out loud at several passages in this book, something I rarely do when reading. It isn't as funny as “Right Ho Jeeves!”, also by Wodehouse, but it is well done.
Wodehouse tends to have certain themes that run throughout his work. There are always artists of some sort (musicians, painters, singers, actors, etc.) who fancy themselves the world's next great prize... if they can just find somebody to recognize how good they are. The upper-class main characters are usually lacking in intelligence while their servants are frequently quite smart. There are always rich aunts and uncles who have greater than usual influence when it comes to allowing or disapproving marriages, jobs, etc. The protagonist always knows a large number of people who happen to be able to help other friends with their specific problems (one friend can't get his song published but another friend is a music producer).
Perhaps because I have only read a few of Wodehouse's books it still feels new and original to me. I am already starting to see characters recycled with different names and situations replayed with different characters, however. So far this hasn't been a big deal because the situations, while starting out the same always ended differently.
Several scenes in “The Indiscretions of Archie” started out looking like they would follow comedy cliché right through, then things changed. Specifically there is the time Archie goes to an auction looking to buy a piece of art for his Father-in-law. Not understanding how auctions work he ends up buying a broken chair for two hundred dollars because he twitched at the wrong time. This is where I started to make excuses in my head about, this cliché is probably cliché because he used it first – I thought I knew where it was going – Archie would spend all his money unwittingly bidding on things he didn't want. To my surprise it quickly changed into something much funnier.
This book was originally published as a series of short stories in magazines and you start to see that format throughout the book. Each story takes two or three chapters and rarely references previous chapters. This feels more like a collection of short stories than an actual novel, which is what it is.
Wodehouse is somewhat controversial in England as his portrayal of the British people as less intelligent aristocracy held together by the much smarter lower classes is not popular amongst said aristocracy. However, his genius shows in his ability to continually make people laugh at the antics of his protagonists and the 'clever' ways in which their servants solve their problems. Quite frequently the 'clever' ideas are insanely silly or just plain weird, but they always work. Perhaps that is part of the comedy.
“Indiscretions of Archie” was an enjoyable book to read. It was very funny on occasion and mildly humorous the rest of the time.
(4/5)
August 19, 2018
In which Wodehouse’s plot occurs after the boy is happily married to the gal.
January 20, 2012
I want to start by saying that the librivox reading was fantastic, Mark Nelson always does a superb job.
That said, this was easily my least favorite Wodehouse work so far. I truly loved "Love Among the Chickens" etc., but this one didn't hook me at all. I found the main character too obtuse to even be enjoyable, I mean, he didn't seem to have a redeeming quality like Wooster who is hapless, but still witty. It was like watching the first season of the Office, it was just too awkward to even be funny. This being an earlier work, I dont think Wodehouse had found the balance yet between useless and funny. He hadnt hit his stride. Plus it just kind of went on and on and on without a lot of coherency (probably because it was serialized, but so were his other works and they were more enjoyable). I would only recommend this to Wodehousians who've already read everything else there is. As for me, I'll be moving on to another book by him, this one just didn't satisfy my craving.
That said, this was easily my least favorite Wodehouse work so far. I truly loved "Love Among the Chickens" etc., but this one didn't hook me at all. I found the main character too obtuse to even be enjoyable, I mean, he didn't seem to have a redeeming quality like Wooster who is hapless, but still witty. It was like watching the first season of the Office, it was just too awkward to even be funny. This being an earlier work, I dont think Wodehouse had found the balance yet between useless and funny. He hadnt hit his stride. Plus it just kind of went on and on and on without a lot of coherency (probably because it was serialized, but so were his other works and they were more enjoyable). I would only recommend this to Wodehousians who've already read everything else there is. As for me, I'll be moving on to another book by him, this one just didn't satisfy my craving.
January 23, 2018
I read this only for a challenge. Wodehouse without Jeeves or Blandings isn't exactly high on my list of to be reads. However, Archie is a good egg. His father in law doesn't think so, but Archie is married to his beloved daughter and he has to put up with this person who doesn't seem to have a bean to his name and no particular interest to actually work either. He does get caught up in all sorts of situations, and his generally helpful nature and hopeful demeanor helps him get through a whole lot of things.
It's funny, and it made me laugh several times. It's not my favorite Wodehouse, but it'll do.
It's funny, and it made me laugh several times. It's not my favorite Wodehouse, but it'll do.
August 5, 2016
It somehow feels that the book is a mix of a lot of short, funny stories, strung together. I certainly liked the author's other books much better than this one. I hope the next Wodehouse book I pick up does better justice to the storyline.
November 6, 2019
Early Wodehouse fare. Archie is Bertie sans Jeeves and living in New York. Married to Lucille and, more importantly to his Millionaire hotel owner father. Still funny as heck, a collection of short stories loosely held together by the main characters.
February 25, 2016
Such fresh fruity brilliance!
November 28, 2016
Either it was not one of Wodehouse's finest hours when he wrote this or I am finally beginning to become unenamored with his brand of humour. I do hope it's the former!
June 18, 2017
As with all of Wodehouse's books, I laughed out loud continuously
July 14, 2019
Englishman Archie Moffam (that surname’s pronounced ‘Moom’, by the way) comes to America, and soon insults a ‘captain of industry’, hotelier Mr Brewster, by letting him know how poorly Archie rates Mr Brewster’s pride and joy, the Hotel Cosmopolis. Archie, having let off steam, happily goes his way, while Mr Brewster, furious and fuming, takes many days to put the incident behind him. But this isn’t the last he’s seen of Archie, because a short while later, Mr Brewster’s daughter Lucille, who’s been away holidaying in Florida, returns to the paternal home with a son-in-law for her father to dote on… only the son-in-law happens to be Archie. Mr Brewster, far from being happy, is furious—and the only way forward is for Archie to somehow ingratiate himself with his father-in-law. Start working, start earning, start showing he’s worth something.
Indiscretions of Archie is a somewhat unusual novel for Wodehouse, because it reads more like a series of episodes rather than a single novel. Each chapter (or couple of chapters) consists of an escapade in the life of Archie, as he:
(a) tries to butter up Daddy, or
(b) helps a friend in trouble—Archie’s magnanimous attitude towards all of suffering mankind meaning that there are many such people around
(c) generally gets into all sorts of scrapes, even without meaning to
It is a funny book, and Archie’s escapades (not always indiscretions) are hilarious. Archie himself is an endearing character—his ability to lend a shoulder to cry to just about anybody with a tear in their eye is very sweet—and some of the secondary characters, especially Lucille’s brother Bill, who reminded me somewhat of Bingo Little, are delightful. Lucille, I thought, was given too little ‘screen time’, so to say—what little of her is there in the book is fun, and I would have liked to have seen a lot more of her here.
One of the most interesting aspects of Indiscretions of Archie is, I think, the fact that this is one of those rare Wodehouses in which there’s more than one mention of a world outside the almost idyllic, escapist one he usually conjures up. Archie is a veteran from The Great War, and besides some of his own memories of the war, there’s even a veteran who’s suffering from PTSD.
No, it’s not grim (could Wodehouse ever be really grim? Some of his early novels tend to be sentimental and not very funny, but I have never read anything Plummy that’s downright grim). But it’s a little different.
Indiscretions of Archie is a somewhat unusual novel for Wodehouse, because it reads more like a series of episodes rather than a single novel. Each chapter (or couple of chapters) consists of an escapade in the life of Archie, as he:
(a) tries to butter up Daddy, or
(b) helps a friend in trouble—Archie’s magnanimous attitude towards all of suffering mankind meaning that there are many such people around
(c) generally gets into all sorts of scrapes, even without meaning to
It is a funny book, and Archie’s escapades (not always indiscretions) are hilarious. Archie himself is an endearing character—his ability to lend a shoulder to cry to just about anybody with a tear in their eye is very sweet—and some of the secondary characters, especially Lucille’s brother Bill, who reminded me somewhat of Bingo Little, are delightful. Lucille, I thought, was given too little ‘screen time’, so to say—what little of her is there in the book is fun, and I would have liked to have seen a lot more of her here.
One of the most interesting aspects of Indiscretions of Archie is, I think, the fact that this is one of those rare Wodehouses in which there’s more than one mention of a world outside the almost idyllic, escapist one he usually conjures up. Archie is a veteran from The Great War, and besides some of his own memories of the war, there’s even a veteran who’s suffering from PTSD.
No, it’s not grim (could Wodehouse ever be really grim? Some of his early novels tend to be sentimental and not very funny, but I have never read anything Plummy that’s downright grim). But it’s a little different.
July 13, 2023
1921’s Indiscretions of Archie is P.G. Wodehouse’s loosely connected series of his adapted short stories featuring the blunders of Archie Moffam, an Englishman in New York who comes off like a poor man’s Bertie Wooster, albeit happily married and Jeevesless. The prose is pure Wodehouse, but Indiscretions is set in New York City, and it’s difficult to hear Wodehouse’s New Yorkers as anything but out of London high society in the Jazz Age. Although this is substandard Wodehouse, substandard Wodehouse is still pretty okay.
April 15, 2018
Jolly good, I’d say! The subtle humour was absolutely refreshing.
June 21, 2025
It’s Wodehouse. Which means it’s laugh out loud prose with classic wonderful characters. Read by BJ Harrison on the Classic Tales podcast it was heart warmingly delicious. I loved the ending.
August 7, 2012
This is my favorite Wodehouse title. Not favorite book, not by a long shot, but certainly my favorite title. (Isn't there something so evocative about that word 'Indiscretions'? It has the air of Jeeves tactfully sweeping Wooster's latest idiocy under the rug.)
This book is one of many proofs that Wodehouse's true genius lay, not in merely creating a comic idiot--which he certainly could do, for no one is more deft when it comes to daft--but in creating a noble comic idiot, an idiot that the reader loves and roots for and sympathizes with. The tragedy of this idiot--and thence the comedy--is not the fact that he's an idiot. It's the fact that no one bothers to look past his idiocy and see his pure heart and his ready humor and a hundred other qualities that your average highbrow lacks.
I recall a brief image in a Peanuts special that sums this character type up nicely. Charlie Brown gallantly throws his jacket over a puddle for a passing girl. The girl, though by no means adverse to this gesture, reacts, not with thanks, but with prim indifference--and as Charlie makes ready to go on his merry way, he slips on the jacket and falls flat on his face. Such is the fate of the Wodehouse hero, but unlike Charlie, he hasn't time to be depressed as long as there are people around that want helping.
So here's Archie Moffam (pronounced "Moom", I'm told, though that never figures into the story). He's pretty much just Bertie Wooster in a different suit, but I love Bertie too much to be overly critical. And the premise allows Wodehouse to try something that falls strictly outside Bertie's formula--Archie, bless him, is a married man, with all the trials and tribulations that come with the job description. He's head-over-heels in love with his Lucille and can't think why she condescended to wed him. Unfortunately for him, neither can her father the American hotel manager. Still more unfortunately, Archie differs further from Bertie in having barely a cent to his name. He must find a way to earn some money.
...Or just deal with whatever random crisis the author feels like dishing up in any given chapter. It was originally published as a sketch series, after all.
Therefore, we have an escaped snake. We have a bet on a ball game. We have a sausage-selling amnesiac. Anything goes.
While the pacing and format isn't close to what Wodehouse is capable of, it's always fun to read about, and towards the end moments of genuine genius begin to shoot up like so many crocuses in the spring. They don't exactly make up for the format, but at times they appear to transcend it. (I call particular attention to a poem about a pie-eating contest that would arguably have been funnier out of context. Who knew Wodehouse could write genuine American comic verse?)
The dialogue is zippy enough to beg for a sitcom adaptation. Archie in particular is eloquent, though only when he's on top of the situation (needless to say, the presence of his father-in-law reduces him to babbling imbecility). Lucille, though not terribly deep, is sweet and funny and forgiving, everything a Wodehouse hero could want in his better half (or "better four-fifths", as Archie puts it). Other characters pop up with their own quirky storylines in tow, contributing the Homer Price-like disdain for realism that would later form the bulk of the Mr. Mulliner series. It all comes to a sort-of conclusion that's extremely charming and makes you close the book with a smile.
Jeeves and Wooster it isn't, but once you've accepted that, it's great fun.
This book is one of many proofs that Wodehouse's true genius lay, not in merely creating a comic idiot--which he certainly could do, for no one is more deft when it comes to daft--but in creating a noble comic idiot, an idiot that the reader loves and roots for and sympathizes with. The tragedy of this idiot--and thence the comedy--is not the fact that he's an idiot. It's the fact that no one bothers to look past his idiocy and see his pure heart and his ready humor and a hundred other qualities that your average highbrow lacks.
I recall a brief image in a Peanuts special that sums this character type up nicely. Charlie Brown gallantly throws his jacket over a puddle for a passing girl. The girl, though by no means adverse to this gesture, reacts, not with thanks, but with prim indifference--and as Charlie makes ready to go on his merry way, he slips on the jacket and falls flat on his face. Such is the fate of the Wodehouse hero, but unlike Charlie, he hasn't time to be depressed as long as there are people around that want helping.
So here's Archie Moffam (pronounced "Moom", I'm told, though that never figures into the story). He's pretty much just Bertie Wooster in a different suit, but I love Bertie too much to be overly critical. And the premise allows Wodehouse to try something that falls strictly outside Bertie's formula--Archie, bless him, is a married man, with all the trials and tribulations that come with the job description. He's head-over-heels in love with his Lucille and can't think why she condescended to wed him. Unfortunately for him, neither can her father the American hotel manager. Still more unfortunately, Archie differs further from Bertie in having barely a cent to his name. He must find a way to earn some money.
...Or just deal with whatever random crisis the author feels like dishing up in any given chapter. It was originally published as a sketch series, after all.
Therefore, we have an escaped snake. We have a bet on a ball game. We have a sausage-selling amnesiac. Anything goes.
While the pacing and format isn't close to what Wodehouse is capable of, it's always fun to read about, and towards the end moments of genuine genius begin to shoot up like so many crocuses in the spring. They don't exactly make up for the format, but at times they appear to transcend it. (I call particular attention to a poem about a pie-eating contest that would arguably have been funnier out of context. Who knew Wodehouse could write genuine American comic verse?)
The dialogue is zippy enough to beg for a sitcom adaptation. Archie in particular is eloquent, though only when he's on top of the situation (needless to say, the presence of his father-in-law reduces him to babbling imbecility). Lucille, though not terribly deep, is sweet and funny and forgiving, everything a Wodehouse hero could want in his better half (or "better four-fifths", as Archie puts it). Other characters pop up with their own quirky storylines in tow, contributing the Homer Price-like disdain for realism that would later form the bulk of the Mr. Mulliner series. It all comes to a sort-of conclusion that's extremely charming and makes you close the book with a smile.
Jeeves and Wooster it isn't, but once you've accepted that, it's great fun.
October 10, 2007
The Indiscretions of Archie is set shortly after the Great War and Archie was recently demobbed from the trenches of France where he was ‘making the world safe for the working-man to strike in’. His English ‘people’ have realised outside of the army Archie has no real worth and so have promptly despatched him to the brave new world of America to find employment or a suitably wealthy wife.
Archie has fallen in love with hotel heiress Lucille Brewster and in stark contrast to Wodehouse’s usual structure they have married before the book kicks off. Mr Brewster feeling for Archie is similar to his own family and rather than be a novel at all ‘The Indiscretions of Archie’ are a series of episodes with Archie trying and generally failing to curry the favour of his father in law. The book is basically a series of short stories with a constant theme, that’s not intended as a criticism as Wodehouse is the master of the short form and as an entertainment this book cannot be better, just don’t expect enlightening as to any of the words theological questions.
Archie is a self confessed ‘ass, genus priceless, an ass yes but not a silly ass’, a sort of Bertie Wooster but with a modicum of Jeeves’ insight which suggest solutions to the problems with which he is faced. More often than not inappropriate solutions, but solutions none the less. The episodes take Archie from sitting for artists, looking after a snake for Theatrical publicist Roscoe Sherriff (whom we met previously in ‘Uneasy Money’), industrial relations and the purchase of a worthless ornament whist bidding against his father in laws agent.
The book is possibly less satisfying than a Wodehouse novel by the virtue of not being a novel, but as a book I would still strongly recommend it.
Archie has fallen in love with hotel heiress Lucille Brewster and in stark contrast to Wodehouse’s usual structure they have married before the book kicks off. Mr Brewster feeling for Archie is similar to his own family and rather than be a novel at all ‘The Indiscretions of Archie’ are a series of episodes with Archie trying and generally failing to curry the favour of his father in law. The book is basically a series of short stories with a constant theme, that’s not intended as a criticism as Wodehouse is the master of the short form and as an entertainment this book cannot be better, just don’t expect enlightening as to any of the words theological questions.
Archie is a self confessed ‘ass, genus priceless, an ass yes but not a silly ass’, a sort of Bertie Wooster but with a modicum of Jeeves’ insight which suggest solutions to the problems with which he is faced. More often than not inappropriate solutions, but solutions none the less. The episodes take Archie from sitting for artists, looking after a snake for Theatrical publicist Roscoe Sherriff (whom we met previously in ‘Uneasy Money’), industrial relations and the purchase of a worthless ornament whist bidding against his father in laws agent.
The book is possibly less satisfying than a Wodehouse novel by the virtue of not being a novel, but as a book I would still strongly recommend it.
June 29, 2018
Amusing, not Wodehouse's best.
I actually listened to a Libra Vox audio book of this title, read by the always excellent Mark Nelson. The story is amusing, but the main character is annoying. Hearing the story I had assumed that this was an early Wodehouse effort, done before he had mastered his craft. It turns out it is not. Wodehouse can create sympathetic characters, but Archie is not one of them. He is an idiot. On top of that, he speaks in a way that no English person has every spoken. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins was more realistic.
The book is episodic, like a collection of short stories. In each episode Archie does something well meaning that ends up in disaster and annoys his father in law. That's pretty much the whole book.
I actually listened to a Libra Vox audio book of this title, read by the always excellent Mark Nelson. The story is amusing, but the main character is annoying. Hearing the story I had assumed that this was an early Wodehouse effort, done before he had mastered his craft. It turns out it is not. Wodehouse can create sympathetic characters, but Archie is not one of them. He is an idiot. On top of that, he speaks in a way that no English person has every spoken. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins was more realistic.
The book is episodic, like a collection of short stories. In each episode Archie does something well meaning that ends up in disaster and annoys his father in law. That's pretty much the whole book.
May 22, 2016
Hardly the best novel by P. G. Wodehouse, and it obviously suffers from being a series of short stories published in 1920 and 1921. By themselves the short stories are funny and delightful in pure Wodehouse-manner, but the attempt to weld them together to a single story doesn't work that well for me. The stories were altered and edited to make them fit together as a single narrative, yet it doesn't. The jumps between the different stories are just too visible, and at times they're a bit jarring as it jumps from one story to another without proper closure.
This s a minor grievance though. I laughed throughout the entire book. Wodehouse's language is as colourful and eccentric as always. And having been damaged by Hugh Laurie as Wooster, I just can't fail to picture Archie as him. Or at least a clone of him. This is probably what would have happened if Bertie had gotten married instead of getting a valet and life-long companion in Jeeves.
All in all a spiffy read. Tip tip!
This s a minor grievance though. I laughed throughout the entire book. Wodehouse's language is as colourful and eccentric as always. And having been damaged by Hugh Laurie as Wooster, I just can't fail to picture Archie as him. Or at least a clone of him. This is probably what would have happened if Bertie had gotten married instead of getting a valet and life-long companion in Jeeves.
All in all a spiffy read. Tip tip!
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