This book is like all the other Wodehouse books, Galahad trying to bring a couple together. It is a wonderful satire on all the earls, lords, dukes etc. etc. This one is about a lover who is posing as a person who is going to paint a pig, the Empress. Wodehouse never finished the book (because he died while writing it), but that makes it even more interesting. But be careful, once you start reading his books, most likely you will not stop. Everybody will be able to enjoy it a little bit, for his books make you laugh until tears come rolling down your cheeks. Cheers! :)

It was a bitter-sweet experience to read this book years ago, knowing it was P.G.'s last, and unfinished to boot. However, the editor (a Wodehouse biographer) included manuscripts and early drafts, showing marginal notes and erasures, Wodehouse's outline of his plot, and false starts of plot lines, and the editor's own analysis. A fascinating look into the process of writing.

P. G. Wodehouse was a very prolific writer. He wrote over 85 books and stories, many having the same characters and places in them. The most ardent Wodehouse reader and aficionado can get confused as to who did what, when and where. This excellent book makes all clear to the meanest intelligence. Professor Garrison has accomplished a monumental task that is easily read and understood. Almost every character in Wodehouse's many books is listed with information as to which book they occured in, their history, relatives and personalities. Professor Garrison has developed a code for each book title that includes an abbreviation of the title and the year of publication. This is very helpful because many Wodehouse readers want to know the date of publication so as to determine which book in a series came first and so on. The book titles are listed by date of publication in the back. There are also lists of members of the Drones, valets and butlers, and much else of interest to the Wodehouse fan. When one is writing a paper for one of the many Wodehouse Society chapters, this is the bible one turns to for information. This book was written mainly for the rabid Wodehouse fan but anyone who has heard of his books and is curious about the characters can get a brief sketch of even the most minor one. I would strongly recommend this book for even the most casual reader.

The Small Bachelor is the most funny non-Jeeves story I have ever read. I would give five times five stars If I could.

Wodehouse captures an era that probably never was but many of us wish it had. He does one of his best jobs, capturing Twenties New York at a roar in this neatly done up farce. A true hoot, and you can't beat his use of language. Just like reading a screwball comedy, laughs come often and out loud! The Small Bachelor is not to be missed by any true afficionado of P.G. Wodehouse

P. G. does it again. Through the words of the "Oldest Member", Wodehouse spins his tales of love, golf and more golf. Though most modern golfers won't have a clue what a mashie or a niblick is, it doesn't matter, because the golf-stricken fanatics in his tales will light a memory in everyone's mind of a person run into on the links, in the airport, or in the sporting goods store. Wodehouse mentions in passing some of the early greats of golf, and his love of the game comes through in terms of reverence spoken by his characters. The love of golf is ageless and timeless, and to read these stories, written in the 1920's, late in the century proves a link to the past that is strong and vital yet.

"I have devoured his work repeatedly and voraciously, not merely because he is a great comic writer, but because I think he is arguably the greatest musician of the English language I have ever encountered. He may not have anything to say about Real Life (he would hoot at the very idea) but art practised at that level doesn't have to be *about* anything..."
- Douglas Adams, quoted in Muir's introduction

Only the first 6 Blandings stories in this collection can be found in _Blandings Castle_. (For those unfamiliar with the Earl of Emsworth, there are also several Blandings novels, starting with _Something Fresh_).

In the introduction, Muir, who knew Plum (if I may call him so), draws a few comparisons between Plum and Lord Emsworth: both men's lives were run by strong women (Ethel Wodehouse in one case, Emsworth's sister Lady Constance in the other), and they shared "the agony of having to dress up and waste time being social; the disinclination to argue (Plum once tried to arrange with Guy Bolton that should one of them be talked about insultingly the other would not argue but agree, and, if possible, add details)." :) (Muir also quotes a lot of Plum's good lines, which is bound to pep up anybody's writing.)

Lord Emsworth is an elderly, widowed peer devoted to Blandings Castle, his home in Shropshire; his greatest joy is his prize pig, Empress of Blandings, and his greatest trial is his younger son Freddie. Like the Wooster stories, a lot of young people crop up in various states of romantic difficulty. According to Freddie, the family treats Blandings like a Bastille to separate youngsters from unsuitable entanglements (being in Shropshire, it's inconvenient to reach from London).

Emsworth's mind won't stay on anything except important matters, such as whether the roses have greenfly or Whiffles' _Care of the Pig_. He's not foolish, but it's so hard to get him to concentrate on anything that doesn't interest him that it's usually hard to tell.) His butler has more of a grip than he does, but Beach isn't a Jeeves clone.

"The Custody of the Pumpkin" Blandings has a tyrannical Scottish head gardener, McAllister by name. This story introduces Aggie Donaldson, a young American relation of McAllister's who's just become engaged to Freddie, Emsworth's younger son. Since Emsworth has always dreamed of some eligible girl who'd support Freddie, thus relieving *him* of having to do so, he immediately tries to pressure McAllister into sending Aggie away, leaving 2 problems: 1) Freddie's romantic entanglement, but 2) the bigger problem of Emsworth having sacked his head gardener just before competing in the pumpkin class at the Shrewsbury Show. And Angus McAllister has his pride, of course...

"Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best" - but in this case, his new beard has made him a laughingstock behind his back, to the point where Beach plans to give notice so as to speak his mind. Emsworth, of course, is clueless; he's worried about why Freddie has returned from America 8 months after marrying the daughter of Donaldson's Dog-Biscuits, and sending telegrams that he's in trouble. (Freddie fits right in with Bertie Wooster's crowd, except that he has a job.)

"Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey!" After Blandings' pig-man got 14 days for being drunk and disorderly on his birthday (that's a good one in itself), the Empress stopped eating, so Emsworth's more worried about the Shropshire Agricultural Show than who his niece Angela wants to marry.

"Company for Gertrude" - another of Emsworth's nieces, sent to Blandings to separate her from an unsuitable young parson. But "Beefy" Bingham was at Oxford with Freddie, and Freddie's back in England, trying to sell dog-biscuits. Unfortunately, Freddie is the last person to know how to impress Emsworth...

"The Go-getter" is Freddie, who's actually a lot like his dad, but about selling dog-biscuits to his aunt Georgiana rather than about Blandings. Even he notices that cousin Gertrude's engagement to Bingham is coming unstuck, now that she's met a BBC tenor staying with Lady Constance - somebody far less promising than Bingham.

"Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" The 'girl friend' is actually a little girl from London, out for the August Bank Holiday, who wins Emsworth's heart by throwing stones at McAllister, the head gardener - and for her sake, Emsworth might even show a little backbone for once. [Rudyard Kipling considered this one of the most perfect short stories he knew.]

"The Crime Wave at Blandings" Emsworth's little grandson George stalking Blandings with an airgun isn't the problem; the problem is that the *adults* can't be trusted with it after its confiscation. :)

"Birth of a Salesman" Lord Emsworth, attending a wedding in New York, mistakenly chose to stay with Freddie rather than with a female relative with 6 Pekinese dogs. Now that Freddie's finally earning a living rather than sponging on his father, he's gotten uppity about people who neither toil nor spin.

"Sticky Wicket at Blandings" Not only is Freddie at Blandings on another UK sales campaign - so is his uncle Galahad, his father's younger brother. Two generations of no-good younger sons in residence at once. :) Topping it all off, Lady Constance has taken it into her head that Blandings needs a more up-to-date butler than Beach.

An astonishing tour of 400 years of laughs from the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia. Not just the greats like Wodehouse, Twain, and Garrison Keillor but brilliant (but now forgotten) writers, plus cult favorites like Auberon Waugh, Stella Gibbons and P.J. O'Rourke. Highly recommended.

P.G. Wodehouse outdid himself when he wrote this story about a young man who has to WORK for a year in order to win the girl he loves. Monty gets a job at Ivor Llewelwyn's Hollywood studio and basically does nothing but receive a paycheck. While there his secretary falls in love with him. She is saddened though because she knows he loves Gertrude. Monty does his year of work and hottails it back to England only to find out Gertrude's father doesn't think his work counted. Sandy goes to England and gets Monty a job as Llewelwyn's personal secretary. In a short amount of time Mrs. Llewelwyn's pearls are seen as up for grabs by the underworld, Monty falls out of love with Gertrude and into love with Sandy, and Llewelwyn still searches for a way to get past his wife's strict diet. Wodehouse characteristically sums it all up at the end in a masterful fashion.

Stout fans will love this new edition of the definitive, Edgar award-winning biography of Rex Stout. This printing by James Rock Publishing Company contains a new introduction by Professor McAleer and an Afterword by his son, mystery writer Andrew McAleer (Appearance of Counsel) who visited Stout's home and study at age eleven. In addition, there are never-before-published photos of Rex Stout. As always, P.G. Wodehouse's Foreword is great fun. Satisfactory Times Three!!!

I'm a major fan and collector of P.G. Wodehouse (in my view the best writer of English prose of the 20th century). This clever edition of one of his funny cat stories is an excellent and unique addition to my PGW collection, and it's also a wonderful little literary gift and introduction to Wodehouse for the cat-fancier or fan of light humorous writing.

I first discovered the Travelman series of book pamphlets in a newsstand in London's Paddington Station...the size and shape of a paper road map, these are an ideal and absolutely unique format for reading while you commute on the subway, bus, or train. They're much easier to use (and more entertaining!) than any road map I've ever handled, however...they unfold easily bit-by-bit, never awkwardly, and each contains a classic short story.

The Travelman format is ideal for a half-hour commute and the unique concept will have your fellow travelers asking what you're reading and where you got that interesting looking mini-book. There are many more in the series available in the US, including stories by Bram Stoker, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ruth Rendell, Ian Fleming, Dorothy Parker, Roald Dahl and Oscar Wilde. The format is fun, and they make great gifts.