Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (P. G. Wodehouse) was an English humorist and writer best known for his Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels. Educated at boarding schools, Wodehouse turned to writing at a young age, demonstrating great skill at humorous sketches and musical lyrics. He continued to write part-time while pursuing, at the behest of his father, a career in banking, and successfully contributed numerous pieces to Punch, Vanity Fair, and The Daily Express, among other publications. In addition to his literary work, Wodehouse was incorporated into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in recognition of his collaboration with Cole Porter on Anything Goes, his lyrics to the song Bill from Show Boat, and his work on the musicals Rosalie and The Three Musketeers.
While interned along with other British citizens in Germany during the Second World War, Wodehouse made a series of radio broadcasts for which he was accused of being a collaborator; and, although later cleared of the charges, he never returned to England. His work has influenced many other writers including Evelyn Waugh, Rudyard Kipling, J. K. Rowling, and John Le Carr?. P. G. Wodehouse died in 1975 at the age of 93.
Frederick Davidson may not be the best interpreter of P.G. Wodehouse's comic masterpieces, but he's not the worst and is assuredly the most active, with at least 25 Wodehouse titles under his belt. He is, in fact, one of the most popular and active readers in the general audiobook field. He reads with a dry British accent, low-key and almost drawling. His great weakness is that he enunciates all young women with the same breathy, indistinguishably vapid intonation. With men, on the other hand, he offers a wide interpretation, some quite funny as he portrays such personality traits as growling irascibility or stumbling befuddlement. Luckily for him here, there are few female characters. Author Wodehouse began publishing books in 1902 and died in 1975 after having been named a Knight of the British Empire. The present book first appeared in 1921 at a time when Wodehouse was at least as well known for his collaborative work in America as a playwright. As usual with Wodehouse, misunderstandings and coincidences abound. This is solid entertainment, recommended for public libraries.?Don Wismer, Cary Memorial Lib, Wayne, Me.
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