Lord Emsworth and Others

A great collection of stories that do not involve my perennial favorites Bertie and Jeeves. I'm especially enamoured with Wodehouse's way of naming club members either Bean, Crumpet and Egg, or (as in Buried Treasure) after their drinks. Highly recommend for Anglophiles everywhere.

This is an exceptional collection of Wodehouse's short stories. He hits a grand slam immediately with "Crime Wave at Blandings," which tells the hilarious tale of what happens when a senior citizen with a tendency toward nostalgia gets his hands on an air gun for the first time since his childhood. Wodehouse is the greatest when it comes to light-hearted stories that poke gentle fun at our human foibles. If you want to laugh out loud, buy this book!

I very highly recommend this book. It's very funny and entertaining. I'd give it more stars if I could. I really enjoy all of P.G. Wodehouse's books. In my opinion , this is one of his very best.

Though Jeeves is the most famous of Wodehouse characters, the character I love the most is Lord Emsworth. This poor earl, when all he needs is some peace and some time with his precious pig, "the empress of blandings", is always dragged into family affairs, which are of no interest to him by his ever dominant "sisters". This book has one of the best stories about Blandings Castle, "Crime wave at Blandings". You will split your sides laughing with this story. All the other stories are equally good and "The Efficient Baxter", secretary to Lord Emsworth makes a comeback here. This book is an absolute must to any Wodehouse fan and absolutely the most recommended book for readers new to Wodehouse. This was the first book I read of Wodehouse and I read it 20 times before putting it aside. A book definitely worth collecting.

Crime Wave at Blandings, although only one of the shorter stories, for me typifies the uniqueness of the Wodehouse touch. It combines the sentimental with the absurd, uniting them in language which is a luxury to read. Although tecnically speaking it is comic literature, it expresses a touching view of getting older which many others have tried and failed to achieve with supposed serious writing. I strongly recomend this story as a perfect introduction to the wonderful world of Wodehouse and especially the unique brilliance of the Blandings Castle series. Pip! Pip!