Jeeves and the Old School Chum

by P.G. Wodehouse

Includes a number of stories taken from Very Good, Jeeves

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Audiobook, Literature

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1930

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

[Roben · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have never read Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, I highly recommend them. Set in early 20th century Great Britain, Bertie Wooster is a wealthy young gentleman and jeeves is his valet (not a butler though according to Wooster, Jeeves can indeed "buttle with the best of them.") Jeeves and Bertie have been described as comic versions of Holmes and Watson. In each story, a problem arises. Bertie may try to solve it on his own but inevitably it is Jeeves who straightens out Bertie's messes. The stories are droll and delightful.
A TV series entitled Jeeves and Wooster was created in the early 90s starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie and Stephen Fry as Jeeves. It is delightful!

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did laugh a little, but I always wonder...from Bronte and Austen to Wodehouse,..where did the English upper crust get their money?

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author P.G. Wodehouse might write airy trifle, but it's such enormously clever and funny airy trifle. This title is particularly airy and trifle-ish, since it's a series of short stories featuring Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves, and so not even a whole book; however, it's still more than worth your time to read it. Better yet, listen to it in the unabridged audio as read by Alexander Spencer, who is every bit as talented in his narration as Mr. Wodehouse is in his airy, trifle-ish cleverness.

[Ace McGee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bernie and Jeeves up to their old tricks. Everything you would expect.

Audiobook

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious wordokay. Wodehous never disappoints!

[Jesse Broussard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Technically, it's Jeeves & the Old School Chum (and other stories), but Goodreads couldn't find it, and no, I did not mean the Other Scholl Chum; thank you anyway.

It was typical Wodehouse: delightful. I was laughing the entire time, and of course highly recommend it. Also includes The Ordeal of Young Tuppy, Episode of the Dog McIntosh, The Love That Purifies, and The Spot of Art.

[Lana. · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a bit of silly fun, Wooster's your man. And if you're in a jam, Jeeves is right along side, ready to save the day with some good sense and a lot of psychology (and maybe a few stereotypes).

An overall fun read. P.G. Wodehouse's writing is ever witty and stylish, and above all amusing.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The handful of short stories in "Jeeves and the Old School Chum" -- each featuring Bertram Wooster and his valet Jeeves, and all originally published in "Very Good, Jeeves," from 1930 -- rank among the best P.G. Wodehouse wrote. They are highly recommended, without qualification.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Bertie and Jeeves, quickly followed by several others. I am loving P.G. Wodehouse. Can't help but giggle along.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Jeeves, same style. I think I've finally exhausted most of the stories. Not such a bad thing after you've read 20 odd of them...

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

More hilarity ensuses, a madcap story once again.

[Lise Petrauskas · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the audio edition (except the reader didn't have a very good grasp of the characters in the way the television episodes have). Gotta love Jeeves and Wooster.

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful performance. funny stuff.

[Nate Frary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and light read.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three or four stories from the Jeeves & Wooster genre. Read ably by Alexander Spencer. They kept us amused on a car trip. Good long trip listening.