What Ho!: The Best Of P. G. Wodehouse

by P.G. Wodehouse

Selected by P.G. Wodehouse Societies to mark the 25th anniversary of PG Wodehouse's death, the anthology has comic stories, extracts, drafts, articles, letters, poems, and 13-pg notes afterwards. Stephen Fry introduces: "What a very, very lucky person you are. Spread out before you are the finest and funniest words from the finest and funniest writer this century"

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

Unknown Binding

First published February 3, 2000

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

[Aditya Mallya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book for Wodehouse beginners (For I regret to say that such people exist). What that poor, downtrodden section of society that has never savoured the master's fare wants (apart from a sound beating) is a full meal. I recommend a light Uncle Fred to start with, followed by a sumptuous Jeeves and Wooster, with a nice Blandings to wash the whole thing down. Once this has been completed, a marked change will come over the unwashed beginner. His spine will straighten. His collar will stiffen. A gleam will enter his eye. He will spring up and shout "Golly!". Or perhaps "Hoy!", for these beginners can be an uncultured lot. Some have even been known to say "Cor!" but one prefers not to reveal these things to a sensitive audience. Whatever be the exclamation our beginner chooses to use, it is reasonably certain that he will thereafter be a Changed Man. At some future unspecified date, his biographers will solemnly classify his life into two epochs: Before Wodehouse, and After.

I say, that was rather good, what?

The anthology "What Ho! The Best of P G Wodehouse" declares that one of its functions is to serve as exactly the kind of introductory meal that I just described, but it is closer to being a collection of tasty snacks that an experienced Wodehousian will appreciate more than our poor beginner. In fact, this is the book's second function - to serve as a sort of light snapshot of the great writer's body of work. Grizzled Wodehouse veterans can flip through the stories as they would with a photo album and chuckle as their favourite memories are recalled.

For such readers, this book is a treasure. Not only do we get Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, Lord Emsworth, Uncle Fred and Psmith in one place, we also get Mr. Mulliner, The Oldest Member and his golf stories, Ukridge and of course our favourite collection of Eggs, Beans and Crumpets from the Drones Club. There are also lesser known, but equally funny, Wodehouse works such as his Hollywood stories.

There are some unique offerings as well. The always eloquent Stephen Fry (who played Jeeves in the BBC television series) writes a wonderful foreword which in itself is worth reading. The anthology also features some of Wodehouse's story notes, poems, letters and thoughts on other writers, all of which offer very enjoyable insights into his personality.

So if you are an old Wodehouse hand, go ahead and read this. If you are one of those beginners that are slinking away in shame to lead a life of quiet desperation, fear not, laddie. We were all like you once. Stiffen up the sinews. Summon up the courage. For there is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. And there is a road to the bookshop, which, taken during working hours, leads on to your very first Wodehouse book. What ho!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

2006:

"I am now completely in love with [his works]. This is all Hugh Laurie's fault, you know. I found out about Jeeves and Wooster when *ahem* looking for info about him on the internet, saw it on TV, noticed it was based on some books I'd never heard of by a guy whose name was familiar, and bought the book. And now I'm hooked. As if I don't have enough books to read already. I loved the Emsworth and Jeeves/Wooster especially. Psmith seemed interesting, but there wasn't much in the collection, so I'm not sure.

So yay, another 90 books to read. Why do all these great authors have to write so much? I am never. ever. going to get anything done. Just - they're useless. They're not, you know, deep or informative or intellectual studies or other such crap. They are completely irreverent and hilarious and beautifully written. The man was a genius. And he further confirms my (not at all ridiculous) theory that all the funniest people are British."

[S.Ach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha ha ha ha Mu Ha ha ha ha!!
Wait a second…wait a second…let me catch my breath…
Mu Ha ha ha ha Mu Ha ha ha ha!!
You are killing me…. O Lord Emsworth…. Mu Ha ha ha ha
I can't even…. Pig hoooooeeeey….Mu Ha ha ha ha!!!
O Jeeves! You rascal! Mu Ha ha ha ha Mu Ha ha ha ha
My dear Psmith!!

Stephen Fry is right. Those who could read this , are really really lucky !!!
Love you Mr. Wodehouse!

P.S. I have the copy of this book at my parent's place, which I visit once a year for a week, and catch up with a chapter or two from this book that essentially contains some funny excerpts from Wodehouse's best works.
P.P.S. If you think these excerpts are funny, I can assure you, the books are funnier.

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume includes excerpts selected by international Wodehouse societies. It is not a collection one can pick up and plough through. Some of the excerpts suffer from being uprooted from their comfortable surroundings.

At the end there’s a mishmash — odds and ends that one can find endlessly interesting if indeed one finds Plum and Jeeves and Wooster endlessly entertaining.

Wodehouse can be a perfect cleanser for the reading palate, but one should never attempt (without an ample supply of fortifications) to down 556 pages all in one go.

Is it obvious I love PG Wodehouse? I certainly do. Just not too much as one time.

[Shree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe no one reviewed this book before... I'm only half way through and i've spent nights just clutching my abdomen in laughter!!

This guy's a genius!! I laugh to myself on the way to work thinking abt some line i read the previous day...

The pig is out of this world..

Best literary comic in the universe!! No contest!

[Sugan Shreyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What a very, very lucky person you are. Spread out before you are the finest and funniest words from the finest and funniest writer the past century ever knew" - this is how the introduction to the book begins. And this is by no means an exaggeration.

Been a while since I read PGW, had picked up this collection out of curiosity and this turned out to be pure gold! Makes me want to go and buy the entire collection of Jeeves and Blandings, and read, re-read it. I think I might just do that.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

P.G. Wodehouse wrote like a fiend, and his particular specialty was soft, intelligent, wry humour. Whenever I read Wodehouse's work, I find myself smiling and smiling -- always makes me feel good. Gentle stories in a language that is beautifully wrought.

[Nigeyb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection. As Stephen Fry states at the start of the book's introduction, "What a very, very lucky person you are. Spread out before you are the finest and funniest words from the finest and funniest writer the past century ever knew." Quite.

[josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I've always been curious about P.G. Wodehouse's work, and when I got this collection I was really excited to find out what I would end up thinking of it. Wodehouse's writing is certainly excellent, and I did chuckle quite a few times, but in the end a lot of the stories that were selected here weren't entirely for me. Some were wonderfully funny, and I think my favourite in this was 'The Clicking of Cuthbert' or 'The Eighteenth Hole'. I think what I've discovered is that I need a bit more of a plot, or some more excitement, rather than these everyday-type stories (that were good, don't get me wrong, just not for me). I did end up skipping a few that didn't grip my attention (as one ends up doing when reading collections of stories), but all in all I did enjoy this quite a bit. I'll probably return to reread some of them, and maybe give the ones I skipped another try. All in all it was an OK experience, but not my favourite stories.

[vanni · Rating 3 out of 5]

remember dear children; play golf, change your life!

[Jose Torroja Ribera · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Divertidísimo! Algunos de los textos son fantásticos, de un humor blanco pero completo.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am an avid reader, both in despairing tones by those who think that the only proper thing for females of my age to be really interested in is useless saps like the Bieber, and also in proud accents by those like to boast the intellectual in their family circles (if such lovely things exist today). But I'm getting off track.
What I'm driving at, is that avid readers like good books. Strange as it may seem, these entertaining pieces of paper and paste are rather in short supply today, so you need to head back about fifty-odd years if you want to hit a corker. And nothing's a better corker than this Wodehouse collection, what? Built along the lines of Ethel Merman (and thankfully as talented as that illustrious dynamite) it's perhaps the most entertaining thing I've read or seen this year, short of Miley Cyrus looks like at the moment. It's truly the best collection of Wodehouse out there - it even contains his greatest triumph, 'the Crime Wave at Blandings' - a spiffing short story which, as legend tells, Marx banned all Communists from reading , lest it would make them laugh and look happy.
But that's not all. There's Mulliner, and Jeeves, and Hollywood, and then the editors decided to top this marvellous sundae off with the red cherry of Wodehouse's personal letters to friends; but decided to go even one better and shove in the back some of his humorous verse and thoughts on other writers. So do your feeble frame a favour and read this book. Life is short and hard, if income tax and grumpy women who write letters to the newspaper complaining about the price of toothpaste are anything to go by, but I say as long as tea's available, and the world's not overrun with Kindles, then P.G. Wodehouse will do wonders for your digestion.

*NOTE: This review was written with liberal doses of artist's license*

[Kaushik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of some of the finest stories of arguably the greatest humorist ever. The only issue any reasonable person can have with this book is that it isn't long enough. Stephen Fry's enormously witty and slightly emotional introduction is the icing on the cake. From Jeeves to Psmith, the reader will be introduced to some of the most endearing characters ever to grace English fiction. This is a book that every English knowing person must read before going to the grave.

[Prakash Yadav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense Dense dense wodehouse for the attention-span deficit insatiable soul. Every page oozes the best of his work and though it leaves one a heretic for having forgone the story between the pages, this guilt trip is a boon for people who don't yet realise they were better off reading his entire set of omnibuses.

[Manuel Taboada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siempre es un buen momento para leer a Wodehouse, uno de los mejores escritores en lengua inglesa del siglo XX y un genial humorista. Este voluminosa antología (766 páginas) es un recorrido exhaustivo por las historias protagonizadas por los entrañables Jeeves y Wooster, Lord Clarence, Ukridge, Psmith, los miembros del Club de los Zánganos, etc. Como adicto a Wodehouse desde mi adolescencia, puedo asegurar que no faltan aquí las narraciones que yo recordaba como más divertidas; no en vano han colaborado en la selección las distintas asociaciones que en diversos países del mundo se dedican a promover la obra del autor inglés. Además, se recuperan cartas, pequeños ensayos, borradores y notas autobiográficas que nos acercan a la persona tras el nombre. Quitando alguna licencia de traducción en uno o dos relatos que pretende “modernizar” a algún personaje, no se le puede poner un pero a este volumen. O quizás sí: es inevitable el riesgo que corre el lector que se acerca por primera vez a estas narraciones de pensar que, una vez acabado el libro, ya no haya razones para acercarse a otras obras del autor. Sería un craso error.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful selection of choice Wodehouse, much of which I've never read before. In fact, most of which has eluded me until now.
There are marvellous pieces that make you laugh out loud, endless pieces of witty writing, marvellous moments when the words seem to leap off the page as though they'd never been used before, and much more.
Great for dipping into again and again.
The only puzzling chapter was the one that was supposedly cut out of the English edition of a book, but kept in the American version. This seems such a weak piece, with little of real Wodehouse style and aplomb that I wonder if it wasn't written by some hack pretending to be Wodehouse. But I must be wrong...

Re-read this in July 2019, by which time I'd forgotten how many of the stories panned out and was just as delighted as the first time.

[Somdutta · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gem of a book from a gem of an author! This book is a delight to read especially for Wodehouse fans, it's a treat of ginormous proportions. This book is a perfect gift to anyone who has not yet been initiated to Wodehouse's world and is willing to try a few reads. This book is fine assortment of colourful characters created by P.G Wodehouse. To top it all the later part of book contains poems, Wodehouse's experience during his stay in Hollywood, New york and some on his life. My particular favourite is his poem on his missing a catch at a cricket match. Well, to conclude as Stephen Fry said," You don't analyze such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour. Like Jeeves, Wodehouse stands alone, and analysis is useless."

[Brian Conway-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read any of P. G. Wodehouse's books for years but Jeeves and Wooster turned up like long lost friends in my hour of lockdown need. I've spent the last two weeks laughing out loud and or quietly chuckling. Couldn't recommend a better companion than this book. I will be popping back into this particular volume on a regular basis.

[Tanmay Jadhav · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, an entertaining listen(Audiobook). Listened to it mainly on my commutes to and from the gym and once in the Gym (although chuckling in the middle of benching 75Kgs is not ideal if you want to live)

[Karthick · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, it has lived up to the testimonies that 'nothing can ever go wrong in the world of wodehouse'.
Lovely read.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, not as funny as the classic Michael Hordern and Richard Briars adaptations by BBC radio.

[Anshuman Pant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of P.G. Wodehouse indeed, with a foreword by Stephan Fry. If you are new to the world of Wodehouse then this will be a good appetiser. If you aren’t so new then this will be a good compendium.

[Chet Makoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you own or read one Wodehouse collection of stories this should be the one.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A linguistic virtuoso for the post-Edwardian age.

P.G. Wodehouse probably needs little introduction - he is one of the most highly regarded comedic English writers of the twentieth century. His prodigious body of work spans almost a hundred novels and covers a vast assortment of comedic icons, from the immortal pairing of Jeeves and Wooster to the Fawlty-Towers-esque menagerie of Blandings Castle, to less well-known creations like Psmith and Mr Mulliner and his farcical stories derived from a seemingly inexhaustible supply of young relatives.

What Ho! is a collection of some of the finest and funniest of these stories, chosen to represent a representative swath of Wodehouse's creations. Compiled with the input of Wodehousian societies the world over, and fulsomely introduced by the inestimable Stephen Fry, the compendium is a truly valuable resource for getting up to speed on one's Wodehousian.

The best thing about reading Wodehouse is that one gets to experience the full power of the English language as it is brought to bear to tackle the immortal problem of how to make things sound funny. Wodehouse's stories are, while immaculately crafted with their attention to detail, not the most striking thing about Wodehouse, nor are they the active ingredient in his literary immortality. Indeed, the vast majority of Wodehouse's stories are almost frivolous variations on the studied frippery of the Edwardian men-about-town set (as seen in his Drones Club stories or the adventures of Psmith/Mike or Wooster/Jeeves), or of storm-in-a-teacup type crises in the almost Edenic setting of Blandings castle. In the hands of any lesser writer, such stories would have been well-written but ultimately forgettable comic yarns, of interest only to literary historians of the 1910s.

But Wodehouse - his scintillating prose, his mastery of metaphor and imagery, his studied comic timing, and the sheer elegance of his diction - elevates the art of comedic storytelling to heights hitherto unknown. His narratives are vibrant canvases upon which he paints masterworks of language.

His characters are perhaps another reason why Wodehouse has reached the ranks of comedic immortality. They are all people of a certain comedic archetype - the spurs-wearing dilettante, the harridan aunt, the beautiful young woman in search of a worthy husband, the querulous lord of a country estate, the layabout with the get-rich-quick scheme - and Wodehouse expertly maneuvers them into positions where those archetypes have maximum freedom of play, where he can concoct scenarios that are at once fresh and yet still adhering to their essential qualities. It is, essentially, a branding exercise, one which has succeeded in making these characters comic icons that persist in mimetic fashion.

Wodehouse's stories are, as Stephen Fry puts it, fundamentally innocent - bereft of adult themes and preoccupations, wistfully unaware of war, suffering and famine - or, for that matter, the privations imposed by colonialism - they have often been described as safe spaces for the soul, brain candy to indulge in on a bad day. Most of his stories have relatively little in the way of guile in them, but I'd actually like to point out an exception in his various Hollywood stories, which are hilarious and rather acerbic satires of the excesses of Hollywood, no doubt gleaned from the days when he was writing scripts for them (and getting paid exorbitant amounts of moolah for what amounted to comparatively little work) while living in a house in Beverly Hills.

So, to sum, Wodehouse's facility with the English language, paired with his carefully crafted comic plotlines as well as his modular building blocks of iconic comic archetypes, assure him a place in the hallowed annals of comic English writing, and What, Ho! is an excellent place to start one's Wodehousian journey.

I give this collection: 5/5 cuckoos

[Nullifidian · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this may have been created in collaboration with several Wodehouse societies, I'm afraid it's not as good as some other Wodehouse anthologies, particularly The Most of P. G. Wodehouse. The inclusion of the autobiographical material was a mistake, ironically for all of the reasons stated in the essay "Personal Details", which is included in the book. I can't understand why they didn't just include more stories, unless they were consciously trying to prove his point.

And that brings me to the other problem: not enough fiction. In The Most of P. G. Wodehouse, we're almost always treated to a broader variety of stories (with the exception of Psmith, who doesn't appear at all, and Lord Emsworth, who is represented by the single brilliant story "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey!"). There are seven Drones Club stories vs. six. Five golf stories vs. four (I'm not counting "Bingley Crocker Learns Cricket" and "A Day with the Swattesmore" as golf stories because they aren't — and they aren't as good as his golf stories). Five Ukridge stories vs. three. Eight Mr. Mulliner stories vs. three.

The best stories in What Ho! are also in Most, and the differences that remain are almost always in the latter's favor. It wasn't necessary to have two Hollywood-themed stories in the Mulliner section when one was enough (and that one, "Monkey Business" in Most, is funnier than the two included in What Ho!). "The Reverent Wooing of Archibald", "Strychnine in the Soup", "The Smile That Wins", and the aforementioned "Monkey Business" are much more amusing in this reviewer's opinion. ("Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo" appears in both anthologies.)

However, since even a second-rate collection of Wodehouse is still better than no Wodehouse at all, I'm going to give it four stars. It also deserves four stars in part because of a beautifully written and insightful introduction from Stephen Fry.

[Jonathan Fraser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a perfect book for a beginner or a snifter as your personal gentleman mixes you a whiskey and splash.
Everyone has their own favourite bit but this contains some of the best. The innocence of an old befriending a young girl( and there is nothing more innocent than this story), how a young curate copes with delinquent bishop ad how lady constance isnt quite as pure as she would like us to believe. The Psmith excerpts are far from the best and Ukridge is well represented but of even more interest is some of Wodehouses reflections. He says he has had a long innocent life which isnt true, until his old age begins.
Particularly good to read is how pleased he was with the defence by George Orwell of Wodehouse's misjudgment .You'd be hard pressed to find to find 2 writers more different than those two.
I cant think of another writer who could have played cricket with Sherlock Holmes and had a good evening with Big Brother
Now I must be of to the police station. Gussie has been arrested again . I did tell him the correct way to lift a policeman's helmet!

[Simarpreet Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Ho! is a delightful collection that brings together some of the best of Wodehouse’s humor. If you’ve ever enjoyed Jeeves, Wooster, or his quirky cast of characters, this book feels like a warm invitation back into his world of wit and absurdity. The wordplay, the ridiculous situations, and the lighthearted tone had me smiling almost constantly as I read.

What I love about Wodehouse is how effortless his comedy feels—characters get into the most bizarre scrapes, often because of misunderstandings or their own foolishness, and yet it never feels forced. In this collection, I found myself laughing out loud at a few stories, especially when Jeeves’s quiet brilliance was set against Bertie’s hopelessness. It’s clever, silly, and comforting all at once.

That said, the collection can feel uneven in places—not every story shines as much as the best ones—but overall, it’s a gem for anyone who loves light British humor. For me, What Ho! was the perfect escape: funny, charming, and endlessly entertaining. A book you can dip into any time you need to brighten your day.

[Sara Platero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tanto si eres un fan acérrimo del autor como si no le conoces de nada este recopilatorio de capítulos de Wodehouse no te dejará indiferente.

Historias totalmente alocadas donde un malentendido se lleva a su máximo esplendor con compromisos inesperados, secretarios malqueridos, tías y hermanas mandonas y hombres acomodados y poco activos.

Este hombre era un maestro del humor y, si te gusta disfrutar de este género sin duda tienes que dar la oportunidad a sus obras. No recomendaría empezar por este recopilatorio ya que, si te gusta, te puede estropear algunos momentos clave de otras novelas.

Como todo lo que he leído de este hombre, bien escrito, con líos imposibles de desenmarañar y sin duda con una capacidad argumental y de desarrollo de los personajes fantástica.

Solo hay una forma de leer a este autor y es con una sonrisa en los labios.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wodehouse must be one of the more unique writers in the English language - constantly witty, often funny, with all of his characters inhabiting an upper-class British world that never existed in the way it is parodied - and yet the reader quickly and easily is absorbed into his silliness. A world where all women are either Battleaxes or Sweet Young Things; where a marital engagement can be broken off because of the selection of the wrong hat; where the servants are always smarter and two steps ahead of the gentry, and the gentry are doing their damnedest to do nothing. This is a fun omnibus of excerpts, chapters and short stories of all his main characters, including, of course, Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, and the intrepid Psmith. Fun diversion, 3.5 stars just for cleverness sake, but not at all important or necessary in your life.

[Ruthann Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would enjoy a cookbook or history of accountancy if Wodehouse wrote it. His Bertie and Jeeves tales are amongst his finest, but still, the subject matter isn't something I would touch by any other author. His brilliant use of language, coupled with impeccable pacing and characters whose pathos makes me weep with laughter, takes light society fluff and elevates it to be some of the finest literature of the last century. The Sermon Handicap is one of my all time favorites. His sentences should be framed and hung in museums.