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A Man of Means
Six early (1914) shorts, written in collaboration with C.H. The Episode of the Landlady's Daughter / The Landlady's Daughter- The Episode of the Financial Napoleon / The Bolt from the Blue- The Episode of the Theatrical Venture- The Episode of the Live Weekly- The Episode of the Exiled Monarch / The Diverting Episode of the Exiled Monarch- The Episode of the Hired Past"
110 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1914
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462 people want to read
About the author
P.G. Wodehouse
1,694 books6,946 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 81 reviews
May 16, 2019
A Man of Means is a collection of six short stories written in collaboration by P. G. Wodehouse and C. H. Bovill. The stories all star Roland Bleke, a nondescript young man to whom financial success comes through a series of “lucky” chances, the first from a win in a sweepstake he had forgotten entering. Roland, like many a timid young man seeks love and marriage. In this pursuit his wealth is regularly a mixed blessing. The plot of each story follows its predecessor, sometimes directly, and occasionally refer back to past events in Bleke’s meteoric career. The writing style is crisp and droll, and shows much of the skill and polish of the later Wodehouse. The disasters that befall the hapless Bleke are entertainingly recounted and his unforeseen rescues surprise and delight. In the character of the butler, Mr Teal, we meet an early draft of the ingenious Jeeves.
February 17, 2018
This is the first audiobook I have ever got through. I say "got through" because I don't like being read to. However, this was quite funny, the chapters were only about 15-25 minutes long and it wasn't a hugely complicated plot so I was able to listen to a chapter to and from my walk to work and enjoy it.
February 6, 2011
Interesting form of a series of stories following the bumbling brilliance of a lottery winner. All he wants is peace and quiet but he keeps getting imbroiled in chaos by his chivalrous treatment of women. I liked that it feels like the stories are going to be about how he gets taken for a ride, but they end up being about how it all works out at the end. Except when he tangles with the servants, they do take him for a ride.
August 30, 2022
3.5*
These 6 short stories are all about Ronald Bleke who starts off as an unassuming clerk and ends up as a "man of means" through no fault of his own. Fun stories though not quite as good as Wodehouse's best.
These 6 short stories are all about Ronald Bleke who starts off as an unassuming clerk and ends up as a "man of means" through no fault of his own. Fun stories though not quite as good as Wodehouse's best.
May 16, 2013
An early Wodehouse about a poor, helpless soul that the world insists on treating gently-- in fact, getting him out of any scrape he gets into and handing him oodles of money to boot. It's charming, if it doesn't quite survive in our darker age. Nowadays the young feller would have his head handed to him on the proverbial platter of life, right? Or perhaps I'm too cynical for this friendly tale that maintains its belief in good luck and success despite one's best efforts to fail.
February 19, 2018
Fun and enjoyable - author’s usual. Well narrated (LibriVox). Recommended.
September 26, 2024
ENGLISH: This is the first time I've read this novel, one of the first by Wodehouse, as it was published in 1914. It is made of six short stories initially published separately, with the same main character, who is so lucky to get money without doing practically anything. As usual with Wodehouse, he barely escapes from three (or four) betrothals.
Many other books by Wodehouse are funnier than this one.
ESPAÑOL: Es la primera vez que leo esta novela, una de las primeras de Wodehouse, que se publicó en 1914. Se compone de seis relatos breves publicados inicialmente por separado, con un mismo protagonista, que tiene la suerte de conseguir dinero sin hacer prácticamente nada. Como es habitual en Wodehouse, se libra por los pelos de tres (o cuatro) compromisos matrimoniales.
Esta novela es menos graciosa que muchas otras que Wodehouse escribió.
Many other books by Wodehouse are funnier than this one.
ESPAÑOL: Es la primera vez que leo esta novela, una de las primeras de Wodehouse, que se publicó en 1914. Se compone de seis relatos breves publicados inicialmente por separado, con un mismo protagonista, que tiene la suerte de conseguir dinero sin hacer prácticamente nada. Como es habitual en Wodehouse, se libra por los pelos de tres (o cuatro) compromisos matrimoniales.
Esta novela es menos graciosa que muchas otras que Wodehouse escribió.
June 23, 2024
An enjoyable early work of Plum (co-written with another author)... the first chapter/story was the best of the six with the most humorous lines and moments but it was somewhat more dry for the remaining 5 sections (but still enjoyable)...
June 19, 2017
A Don Quixote like wandering innocent in the world of the moneyed,
Bottom Line First:
Six short comic misadventures forming a light read. A Man of Means is humorous rather than raucous. For a Wodehouse fan such as myself this is a collection completer of material often hard to find in paper copy. Mine is a Kindle copy. This may make for good bed time stories for the almost to early Harry Potter aged child. As an adult reader I enjoyed these stories but I know PG can do better.
Wodehouse's six short tales of a traveling Innocent, Roland Bleke is our Man of Means. Having been co-written with C. H. Bovill and first published as a magazine serial 1914 they are from after the period Wodehouse would call his apprentice years. So neither exactly early Wodehouse, but neither is it from his prime.
There are several aspects that make these connected stories unusual. Unlike many of his earlier books the main character is a young man, not a school boy. There is nothing about boxing or cricket. Unlike many of his more famous stories Roland begins as a working man of few means and no connections. He will come into money and find that this is a mixed blessing. Across six brief stories, barely totaling 90 pages his money will get him into troubles including those he comes through while being oblivious. His several near ruinations often has efforts to skin him doubled back on the would be con artists.
He will meet a butler who will resemble Jeeves but with less loyalty towards his employers and social `betters' - having all of the smarts of Jeeves, much of the same cunning, but less interest in the well-being of his young man.
There is, as is usual with Wodehouse little in the way of social commentary and no danger of there being any larger morals or didactic efforts. A Man of Means is all comedy and all inconsequential. Just as PG Wodehouse should be
Bottom Line First:
Six short comic misadventures forming a light read. A Man of Means is humorous rather than raucous. For a Wodehouse fan such as myself this is a collection completer of material often hard to find in paper copy. Mine is a Kindle copy. This may make for good bed time stories for the almost to early Harry Potter aged child. As an adult reader I enjoyed these stories but I know PG can do better.
Wodehouse's six short tales of a traveling Innocent, Roland Bleke is our Man of Means. Having been co-written with C. H. Bovill and first published as a magazine serial 1914 they are from after the period Wodehouse would call his apprentice years. So neither exactly early Wodehouse, but neither is it from his prime.
There are several aspects that make these connected stories unusual. Unlike many of his earlier books the main character is a young man, not a school boy. There is nothing about boxing or cricket. Unlike many of his more famous stories Roland begins as a working man of few means and no connections. He will come into money and find that this is a mixed blessing. Across six brief stories, barely totaling 90 pages his money will get him into troubles including those he comes through while being oblivious. His several near ruinations often has efforts to skin him doubled back on the would be con artists.
He will meet a butler who will resemble Jeeves but with less loyalty towards his employers and social `betters' - having all of the smarts of Jeeves, much of the same cunning, but less interest in the well-being of his young man.
There is, as is usual with Wodehouse little in the way of social commentary and no danger of there being any larger morals or didactic efforts. A Man of Means is all comedy and all inconsequential. Just as PG Wodehouse should be
April 24, 2021
Early coauthored shorts. Luck favors fools.
November 3, 2014
Loved the ironic narration style, but every story follows the same story line. Felt sory for the way too naive Mr. Bleke who seems incapable of love and who would lead a happier life as a poor man than as a millionaire.
September 9, 2016
The wodehouse magic is emerging, but one can see why these are the early shorts. Overall, a fun, light read :) The end was excellent!
August 27, 2020
This was a fun and short collection of stories revolving around Roland Bleke- a man of little intelligence and no backbone, who is terrified of marriage but proposes relatively frequently, and who is constantly getting into scrapes and somehow, by pure luck, generally coming out the better for them.
September 5, 2019
This is a book of short stories that features a man named Roland Bleke. Roland seems to find himself in disastrous scrapes especially since becoming wealthy. However, with some ingenuity and a stroke of chance, he escapes unsuitable alliances and investments. The language was witty and lively and my first introduction to the author. T’was too short. I wanted more.
March 17, 2020
A Man of Means is a series of six interconnected short stories written in collaboration with Charles H. Bovill. The two men shared Bovill's flat while they along with several other gentlemen were endeavoring to write a musical comedy complete with lyrics. While I don't know the specifics of the collaboration, it seems like CH had probably faded by the last story as it reads a bit like a Wooster goes to Blandings where he meets a butler who takes an interest in his affairs. This butler is far from the Jeeves model. The earlier stories are moderately entertaining but far from the 'hey look I recognize that as Wodehouse writing' of the final tale. So I suspect that old CH wasn't quite up to the standards of PG who thankfully seemed to have discovered that he worked better as a solo act.
While a nice collection these stories can't compete with the Jeeves & Wooster short stories. Since I'm going through the works of PG Wodehouse in order, the most exciting thing for me about this collection was the final period as the next work up is the first Blandings novel.
While a nice collection these stories can't compete with the Jeeves & Wooster short stories. Since I'm going through the works of PG Wodehouse in order, the most exciting thing for me about this collection was the final period as the next work up is the first Blandings novel.
July 21, 2017
Entertaining Throughout
Can be read in a single sitting. Whole book is divided into 6 short stories and although the stories can be read separately but it's better to go in order starting from 1 to 6 as there are a few references to characters from previous chapters. I read this book after completing a very large uninteresting book and wanted to read something light. This book was just what I needed.
Can be read in a single sitting. Whole book is divided into 6 short stories and although the stories can be read separately but it's better to go in order starting from 1 to 6 as there are a few references to characters from previous chapters. I read this book after completing a very large uninteresting book and wanted to read something light. This book was just what I needed.
January 9, 2022
Early Wodehouse (first published 1916), with a collaborator, but showing much of what was later to be the distinctive Wodehouse comic style. Even the scheming butler at the end sounds like Jeeves, though he pulls something that Jeeves might not have.
It's the story of a deeply undistinguished nebbish of a clerk who begins the book by asking his employer to lower his salary, since once it hits 150 pounds (per year, presumably) he will have to get married to his landlord's daughter. Being of weak and conventional character, he has got engaged to her despite not at all wanting to get married, because it seems to be expected of him.
He then, in the first of a number of coincidences, wins a large amount of money, and takes one of his few decisive actions in the whole book in order to escape the marriage.
This is a collection of six stories, each of which puts him in a different comic situation and (usually) extracts him from it by luck. For the first three stories, his capital increases each time, and several times he again finds himself expected to marry someone he doesn't really want to (who is after his money; he has no other perceptible attractions, or indeed qualities) because of his weakness of character.
Now, a main character who lacks agency (and personality, and much of a spine) and a plot driven by coincidence are usually fatal flaws for me, but somehow these stories make it work. The comic situations are so absurd, and the secondary characters so entertainingly depicted, that, like the little boy in Princess Bride with the kissing scene, I didn't mind so much.
It's the story of a deeply undistinguished nebbish of a clerk who begins the book by asking his employer to lower his salary, since once it hits 150 pounds (per year, presumably) he will have to get married to his landlord's daughter. Being of weak and conventional character, he has got engaged to her despite not at all wanting to get married, because it seems to be expected of him.
He then, in the first of a number of coincidences, wins a large amount of money, and takes one of his few decisive actions in the whole book in order to escape the marriage.
This is a collection of six stories, each of which puts him in a different comic situation and (usually) extracts him from it by luck. For the first three stories, his capital increases each time, and several times he again finds himself expected to marry someone he doesn't really want to (who is after his money; he has no other perceptible attractions, or indeed qualities) because of his weakness of character.
Now, a main character who lacks agency (and personality, and much of a spine) and a plot driven by coincidence are usually fatal flaws for me, but somehow these stories make it work. The comic situations are so absurd, and the secondary characters so entertainingly depicted, that, like the little boy in Princess Bride with the kissing scene, I didn't mind so much.
July 30, 2022
A breezy, fun short read that is of interest today mostly because of PGW early use of poking fun at an upper class ensemble, as well as a glance at a proto-Jeeves. Remember, in the UK this appeared in 1914, and the first Blandings did not arrive until 1915, with the first brief words from Jeeves the same year. The butler in this book bears little resemblence, but we can speculate.
Also interesting is the atypical Wodehouse leading man (and plot). Post-school-story Plum already had a couple of classic Psmiths and one or two other totally worthy novels under his belt, but here are stories of a guy who it's really hard to sympathise with, and the other characters are hardly much better. While some descriptions are classic PGW, makes you wonder what PG actually contributed in terms of character and story.
Also interesting is the atypical Wodehouse leading man (and plot). Post-school-story Plum already had a couple of classic Psmiths and one or two other totally worthy novels under his belt, but here are stories of a guy who it's really hard to sympathise with, and the other characters are hardly much better. While some descriptions are classic PGW, makes you wonder what PG actually contributed in terms of character and story.
December 10, 2024
6 short stories with a red thread: Mr. Roland Bleke, a person who is very shy, prefers to be left alone, easily falls in love which he soon regrets and quite rich.
Completely in line with Wodehouse plots, some lover story, often unhappy, is developing. Parents/guardians push a girl to get engaged to Bleke (the money) who falls in love, the girl loves someone else. Bleke comes to his senses and realises that this will not be the happiness he is aiming for. Each time Wodehouse comes up with an escapre route that solves the issues and leaves everybode happy.
Ths is always funny as is the trademark of Plummie Wodehouse.
Completely in line with Wodehouse plots, some lover story, often unhappy, is developing. Parents/guardians push a girl to get engaged to Bleke (the money) who falls in love, the girl loves someone else. Bleke comes to his senses and realises that this will not be the happiness he is aiming for. Each time Wodehouse comes up with an escapre route that solves the issues and leaves everybode happy.
Ths is always funny as is the trademark of Plummie Wodehouse.
October 2, 2017
This is one of the books from the initial period of Wodehouse’s career, so it is understandably less refined than some of his later works. The subtle tongue-in-cheek humor is present and doesn’t fail to make you smile.
The protagonist, the meek and mild Roland, is likeable and hateful at the same time. One cannot help but be astounded by his stupidity and at the same time feel quite sympathetic towards him. An unusual character, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading him.
The protagonist, the meek and mild Roland, is likeable and hateful at the same time. One cannot help but be astounded by his stupidity and at the same time feel quite sympathetic towards him. An unusual character, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading him.
July 19, 2018
I listened to this book of short stories while running. They were a perfect, light distraction and the narrator was top notch. As always with Wodehouse, there was comic misunderstandings, wry understatement, and gentle poking at British society. The stories all feature Roland Bleke, who continually lucks into fortune and favor through incompetence or sheer blundering. The tales do follow a bit of a predictable pattern, but are still very amusing.
April 18, 2020
Roland is just an unassuming, easy going guy, who starts running into lucky breaks at gaining money, which he really doesn’t get too awful excited about. The ways he gains his money, tries to spend and invest it, how other less scrupulous characters try to weasel it away from him, and how he falls in love and gets tricked into engagements to women he quickly discovers are totally not his type, all make for great comedy.
December 30, 2022
Will DEFINITELY be reading more Wodehouse for more lines like these:
“He felt rather like a nervous man who had been given a large bang to hold by a strange woman who had promptly vanished around the corner.”
“Roland bleated gratefully.”
“She had large flashing eyes, the physique of a rugby international forward, and the agility of a cat on hot bricks.”
“If ever there was a toad under the harrow, he was that toad.”
“He felt rather like a nervous man who had been given a large bang to hold by a strange woman who had promptly vanished around the corner.”
“Roland bleated gratefully.”
“She had large flashing eyes, the physique of a rugby international forward, and the agility of a cat on hot bricks.”
“If ever there was a toad under the harrow, he was that toad.”
May 13, 2017
Humour At Its Best
There is no doubt at all, that of all the humorist in literature, there is no one who has such a marvelous turn of phrase and sense of the ridiculous as P.G. Winehouse.
There is no doubt at all, that of all the humorist in literature, there is no one who has such a marvelous turn of phrase and sense of the ridiculous as P.G. Winehouse.
June 16, 2017
This is a collection of short stories featuring Roland Bleke. Roland is not armed with high intelligence or great wit, but he does have some luck. He repeatedly gets entangled in difficult situations, but manages to get out of them by sheer luck. A good read but not the best of Wodehouse.
December 1, 2021
Entertaining listening 🔰😀
Six will written thriller adventure mystery short stories by P. G. Wodehouse about men with money 💰 the adventures and mistakes they make. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a fun quick read. Enjoy 2021😊
Six will written thriller adventure mystery short stories by P. G. Wodehouse about men with money 💰 the adventures and mistakes they make. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a fun quick read. Enjoy 2021😊
August 31, 2017
The original wodehouse signature is vivid throughout the six stories.Evidently this book is one of his earliest compositions as Jeeves has not taken his birth yet.Very hilarious!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2017
Oh so very funny, but not the best Wodehouse.
August 4, 2019
A short and sweet little book that I enjoyed. A couple of the stories were quite humorous, needless to say, it's earned a permanent little home on one of my bookshelves.
May 10, 2020
If you listen to this on LibriVox I highly recommend the warm and amused voice of Tim Bulkeley. Each chapter follows young Roland Bleke’s ups and downs in business and in love.
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