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    The Best of Wodehouse

    An Anthology; Introduction by John Mortimer

    Part of Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series

    Author P. G. Wodehouse
    Introduction by John Mortimer
    Look inside
    Hardcover
    $40.00 US
    Knopf | Everyman's Library
    On sale Jun 19, 2007 | 840 Pages | 9780307266613
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    With a New Introduction by John Mortimer

    P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) was perhaps the most widely acclaimed British humorist of the twentieth century. Throughout his career, he brilliantly examined the complex and idiosyncratic nature of English upper-crust society with hilarious insight and wit. The works in this volume provide a wonderful introduction to Wodehouse’s work and his unique talent for joining fantastic plots with authentic emotion.

    In The Code of the Woosters, Wodehouse’s most famous duo, Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves, risks all to steal a cream jug. Uncle Fred in the Springtime, part of the famous Blandings Castle series, follows Uncle Fred as he attempts to ruin the Duke of Blandings while he is preoccupied with his favorite pig. Fourteen stories feature some of Wodehouse’s most memorable characters, and three autobiographical pieces provide a revealing look into Wodehouse’s life.

    With his gift for hilarity and his ever-human tone, Wodehouse and his work have never felt more lively.


    “Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever.” —Douglas Adams

    “Mr. Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.” —Evelyn Waugh

    “The very definition of British humor.” —Entertainment Weekly

    “It is impossible to be unhappy while reading the adventures of Jeeves and Wooster. And I've tried.”
    —Christopher Buckley

    “Timelessly funny and mean.” —David Foster Wallace

    “Wodehouse can be extremely funny, of course, and Bertie and Jeeves are echt-Englishmen, but the surprising and surpassing pleasure of these books is their cheerful humanity.” —Kurt Andersen
    P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) is widely regarded as the greatest comic writer of the 20th century. Wodehouse wrote more than 70 novels and 200 short stories, creating numerous much-loved characters - the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster, Lord Emsworth and his beloved Empress of Blandings, Mr Mulliner, Ukridge, and Psmith. His humorous articles were published in more than 80 magazines, including Punch, over six decades. He was also a highly successful music lyricist, once with over five musicals running on Broadway simultaneously. P.G. Wodehouse was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'.

    Frank Skinner performed his first stand-up gig in December 1987, and four years later went on to win the prestigious Perrier Award. During the 1990s Frank established himself as a major name in entertainment - both in live comedy and on television. In 1994 and 1997 he sold-out two UK tours, the second of which culminated in a performance at London's Battersea Power Station - what was then the largest ever audience for stand-up comedy in the UK. On television, Frank has created and starred in a succession of hit comedy shows, including nine series of The Frank Skinner Show from 1995 to 2005; and with his comedy partner David Baddiel, Fantasy Football (1994 - 2004), and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned (2000 - 2005).

    As well as live stand-up and television, Frank has attained three number one hits with the iconic football anthem 'Three Lions' alongside David Baddiel and the Lightning Seeds. He has starred in the West End in both Art and Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis; and his critically acclaimed first book Frank Skinner was the bestselling autobiography of 2002, spending a total of 46 weeks in the Sunday Times bestsellers' list. In 2006 Baddiel and Skinner's World Cup podcasts caused an online sensation with over one million downloads leading to yet another number one chart hit.

    In 2007 Frank Skinner returned to stand-up with another sell-out tour of the UK.

    Frank currently divides his time between London and Birmingham - and, of course, his beloved West Brom.



    Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of twelve acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van and Smile, two collections of short stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

    Alan Titchmarsh MBE is known to millions through his career as a television presenter of shows including Love Your Weekend, Love Your Garden, Ground Force, Gardeners' World, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Spring Into Summer. He has written more than forty gardening books, as well as twelve novels and three volumes of memoirs. He was made MBE in the millennium New Year Honours list and holds the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society's highest award.

    Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer and broadcaster from London. His three previous novels (The Last Day, The Sanctuary, and A Beginner’s Guide To Breaking And Entering) have between them hit the Sunday Times top 10 bestseller charts, been Waterstones' Thriller of the Month and have been nominated for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.

    When not writing, Andrew presents The Naked Week on BBC Radio 4, co-hosts the award-winning smash podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine, and hosts the Eye’s podcast, Page 94.


    Andrew lives in London, in a house which largely belongs to someone else (Barclay’s).



    William Rayfet Hunter is a British-Jamaican writer from the North West of England. They now live and work in East London. Their non-fiction writing has been published by VICE, Dazed, and the Evening Standard. Sunstruck, their debut novel, won the #Merky Books New Writers' Prize 2022. View titles by P. G. Wodehouse
    “Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever.” –Douglas Adams

    “Mr. Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.” –Evelyn Waugh

    “The very definition of British humor.” –Entertainment Weekly

    “It is impossible to be unhappy while reading the adventures of Jeeves and Wooster. And I've tried.” –Christopher Buckley

    “Timelessly funny and mean.” –David Foster Wallace

    “Wodehouse can be extremely funny, of course, and Bertie and Jeeves are echt-Englishmen, but the surprising and surpassing pleasure of these books is their cheerful humanity.” –Kurt Andersen

    About

    With a New Introduction by John Mortimer

    P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) was perhaps the most widely acclaimed British humorist of the twentieth century. Throughout his career, he brilliantly examined the complex and idiosyncratic nature of English upper-crust society with hilarious insight and wit. The works in this volume provide a wonderful introduction to Wodehouse’s work and his unique talent for joining fantastic plots with authentic emotion.

    In The Code of the Woosters, Wodehouse’s most famous duo, Bertie Wooster and his unflappable valet Jeeves, risks all to steal a cream jug. Uncle Fred in the Springtime, part of the famous Blandings Castle series, follows Uncle Fred as he attempts to ruin the Duke of Blandings while he is preoccupied with his favorite pig. Fourteen stories feature some of Wodehouse’s most memorable characters, and three autobiographical pieces provide a revealing look into Wodehouse’s life.

    With his gift for hilarity and his ever-human tone, Wodehouse and his work have never felt more lively.


    “Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever.” —Douglas Adams

    “Mr. Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.” —Evelyn Waugh

    “The very definition of British humor.” —Entertainment Weekly

    “It is impossible to be unhappy while reading the adventures of Jeeves and Wooster. And I've tried.”
    —Christopher Buckley

    “Timelessly funny and mean.” —David Foster Wallace

    “Wodehouse can be extremely funny, of course, and Bertie and Jeeves are echt-Englishmen, but the surprising and surpassing pleasure of these books is their cheerful humanity.” —Kurt Andersen

    Author

    P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) is widely regarded as the greatest comic writer of the 20th century. Wodehouse wrote more than 70 novels and 200 short stories, creating numerous much-loved characters - the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster, Lord Emsworth and his beloved Empress of Blandings, Mr Mulliner, Ukridge, and Psmith. His humorous articles were published in more than 80 magazines, including Punch, over six decades. He was also a highly successful music lyricist, once with over five musicals running on Broadway simultaneously. P.G. Wodehouse was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'.

    Frank Skinner performed his first stand-up gig in December 1987, and four years later went on to win the prestigious Perrier Award. During the 1990s Frank established himself as a major name in entertainment - both in live comedy and on television. In 1994 and 1997 he sold-out two UK tours, the second of which culminated in a performance at London's Battersea Power Station - what was then the largest ever audience for stand-up comedy in the UK. On television, Frank has created and starred in a succession of hit comedy shows, including nine series of The Frank Skinner Show from 1995 to 2005; and with his comedy partner David Baddiel, Fantasy Football (1994 - 2004), and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned (2000 - 2005).

    As well as live stand-up and television, Frank has attained three number one hits with the iconic football anthem 'Three Lions' alongside David Baddiel and the Lightning Seeds. He has starred in the West End in both Art and Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis; and his critically acclaimed first book Frank Skinner was the bestselling autobiography of 2002, spending a total of 46 weeks in the Sunday Times bestsellers' list. In 2006 Baddiel and Skinner's World Cup podcasts caused an online sensation with over one million downloads leading to yet another number one chart hit.

    In 2007 Frank Skinner returned to stand-up with another sell-out tour of the UK.

    Frank currently divides his time between London and Birmingham - and, of course, his beloved West Brom.



    Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of twelve acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van and Smile, two collections of short stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

    Alan Titchmarsh MBE is known to millions through his career as a television presenter of shows including Love Your Weekend, Love Your Garden, Ground Force, Gardeners' World, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Spring Into Summer. He has written more than forty gardening books, as well as twelve novels and three volumes of memoirs. He was made MBE in the millennium New Year Honours list and holds the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society's highest award.

    Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer and broadcaster from London. His three previous novels (The Last Day, The Sanctuary, and A Beginner’s Guide To Breaking And Entering) have between them hit the Sunday Times top 10 bestseller charts, been Waterstones' Thriller of the Month and have been nominated for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.

    When not writing, Andrew presents The Naked Week on BBC Radio 4, co-hosts the award-winning smash podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine, and hosts the Eye’s podcast, Page 94.


    Andrew lives in London, in a house which largely belongs to someone else (Barclay’s).



    William Rayfet Hunter is a British-Jamaican writer from the North West of England. They now live and work in East London. Their non-fiction writing has been published by VICE, Dazed, and the Evening Standard. Sunstruck, their debut novel, won the #Merky Books New Writers' Prize 2022. View titles by P. G. Wodehouse

    Praise

    “Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever.” –Douglas Adams

    “Mr. Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in.” –Evelyn Waugh

    “The very definition of British humor.” –Entertainment Weekly

    “It is impossible to be unhappy while reading the adventures of Jeeves and Wooster. And I've tried.” –Christopher Buckley

    “Timelessly funny and mean.” –David Foster Wallace

    “Wodehouse can be extremely funny, of course, and Bertie and Jeeves are echt-Englishmen, but the surprising and surpassing pleasure of these books is their cheerful humanity.” –Kurt Andersen

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