“If you think a busy man like myself has time to go rubbing your father, either with or against the grain, you are greatly mistaken.” Continue reading Never mind the Aunts: P.G. Wodehouse’s fictional fathers are stinkers too
The name P.G. Wodehouse is seeing a resurgence in the somewhat unlikely arena of online political commentary, particularly in Britain. This puts some people — those who’ve never read any Wodehouse, but seem determined to lug him into the row … Continue reading P.G. Wodehouse Reference Guide for Political Commentary
This article by Sam Jordison appeared online at The Guardian today: The Code of the Woosters: PG Wodehouse’s guide to fighting fascism | Books | The Guardian In many respects it’s a welcome move in the right direction, away from the usual misinformation and conjecture about Wodehouse’s wartime experience. Sam Jordison is right to point out that Wodehouse made fun of the British fascist Oswald Mosley in The Code of the Woosters (1938): The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of half-wits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, … Continue reading The Code of the Woosters: PG Wodehouse’s guide to fighting fascism (The Guardian)
Bestsellers: Popular Fiction Since 1900 (2002) by Clive Bloom In many respects, Clive Bloom’s ‘Bestsellers’ is an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in the history of publishing, reading, and the emergence of ‘the bestseller’ in the twentieth century. And Bloom chooses some of my favourite authors, including P.G. Wodehouse to illustrate his points. Bloom tracks the development of ‘the bestseller’ alongside increasing literacy levels in Britain, showing how new literature classifications emerged (high-brow and low-brow) to keep class distinctions alive in literature, once the lower classes were no longer illiterate. He exposes ‘literary fiction’ … Continue reading Wodehouse misremembered
A response to the critic Emsworth Emsworth, that worthy critic with an equally worthy name, suggests “P.G. Wodehouse had hung on too long when he wrote The Cat-Nappers“ – The Cat-Nappers being an alias for the work known to British … Continue reading Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen
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