The following are responses to the question, "How did you come to read and admire the works of P. G. Wodehouse?" If you haven't already done so, please answer the question yourself.

This page covers comments received in 1999. It was last updated on October 11, 1999.

• Go to How I Met Plum, Vol I: 1997.
• Go to How I Met Plum, Vol II: 1998.

From: Peter Aster
Date: 9/13/99

About 20 yrs ago my wife purchased a battered paperback from a garage sale entitled "The Inimitable Jeeves"(I think thats the title, may be different in U.S. edition). It was one of perhaps one hundred books we purchased each year and I didn't think it was anything special until I heard my wife chortling with laughter, spewing potato chip crumbs across the room. After reading the first page I was hooked. -It was the volume that contains the story about "Comrade" Bingo.

I would agree with several of the fans that "Right Ho, Jeeves", especially gussie's prize-giving, is Wodehouse at his peak. I often listen to the unabridged recordings of the Jeeves series by Alexander Spencer-incredibly entertaining.

From: K.Brusk
Date: 9/8/99

Years ago I fell madly in love with a young woman who would NOT shut up about Wodehouse. I read his work assiduously; I never said thank you.

Who needs Disney videos when you can wean children on Plum? Hmmmm?

From: Neil and Joanne Welch
Date: 9/6/99

The Indiscretions of Archie

Heart of a Goof

This is how it all began

From: diane wagner-price
Date: 9/2/99

What I remember most about my first dip into Wodehousiana is the odd feeling that someone might have slipped a psychedelic drug into my herbal tea. There is absolutely nobody like him. My friend Euna flipped a Bertie and Jeeves book at me one dark and stormy night as I was pacing restlessly around our Army barracks and I've been addicted ever since. Although I laughed out loud at least four times while reading the first page, I had to stop and ask Euna: "Is this guy serious or joking around?" "I've never been entirely sure," she replied. Now, years later, he's an old and comfortable friend. But I agree wholeheartedly with someone (Benson?) who said he wished he could read Wodehouse for the first time again.

From: Neelesh Hundekari
Date: 8/31/99

PGW has opened my eyes to the beauty of the English language and the richness of humour possible.

I first read PGW's Bill the Conquerer. My grandfather had a good hardbound collection of PGWs and my mother used to be an avid reader of his works.

To say the least, Bill the Conquerer was hilarious and since then I am a Plum addict.

My favorite one is "Something Fresh". Jeeves for me is the image of the ideal British butler.

You know, how I select a PGW before beginning a train journey. Buy the one with the maximum number of pages!!!

My greatest anxiety is that there is only so much of Plum in the world and what will I do when I have read them all?

My wife has been initiated into reading Plum by me and she is also an avid fan now.

The ideal world for me will be the world in which PGW's characters live. Will it be too much to ask to be able to be born as a Bertie or a Bill?

Perhaps the fun is to be able to see the world through the eyes of our dear PG Wodehouse.

From: Carol T.
Date: 8/19/99

I have "The Code of the Woosters" -- my first and favorite Wodehouse -- to thank not only for my collection of Wodehouse books but also for my collection of cow creamers. In the novel, PGW describes a certain silver creamer as "a sinister looking cudster, the sort that would spit out of the side of its mouth for tuppence."

I was in high school at the time, and I remember getting weird looks in study halls because I couldn't help laughing out loud. Frequently, I'd have to clutch my aching stomach and wipe away tears.

I still chuckle at favorite PGW lines, including "I was merely offering the animal a piece of fruit" (said with feigned innocence by a cat hater when he is caught lobbing a chunk of banana at an obnoxious feline.)

And one more... A poor blighter, saddled with escorting one of his inamorata's "sticky" young relatives to the theater, says that the boy deserves "ten of the best with a fives bat." I smile to myself whenever I encounter rude drivers and irritating co-workers.

I have come to the realization that Bertie Wooster is my ideal man, even if he is a silly chap sometimes. If I were Honoria Glossop or Stiffy Bing, I'd accept his occasional marriage proposals immediately!

From: Suzanne Frasuer
Date: 8/16/99

I was first introduced to the Mulliners when PBS ran WODEHOUSE PLAYHOUSE during the 1980-1981 season. The series starred Pauline Collins and John Alderton (late of "Upstairs, Downstairs"). I wonder what would happen if, during the PBS fund-raisers, we all requested that they show the series again [and while we're at it, also request the wonderful NORMAN CONQUESTS 3-parter (which starred Tom Conti, Penelope Keith, and Richard Briers). I know that one isn't Woderhouse, but it appeals to the same audience.

From: sampanna
Date: 8/15/99

the best author i have ever read...... i first read Wodehouse when i was 13 years old and have been fascinated ever since

From: Jeff McCarthy
Date: 8/9/99

My first was "Frozen Assets". Visiting the gendarme to retrieve the missing wallet is one of the funniest and most absurd pieces of fiction ever.

From: Jill Robinson
Date: 7/26/99

I was attracted one day to the title 'Galahad at Blandings', because I happened to have a remarkable budgerigar named Galahad (Gally is now six years old), picked up the book, started to read and laughed at every page, since I was (and still am) a lover of England. One Blandings book led to another... and such is my delight in the books that my budgie is now known as Sir GALAHAD William Kelsey THREEPWOOD Shostakovich.

QUESTION: if there is a 2 mile race in Cambridge called a Cesarevitch, can I get away with calling a 2 yard budgerigar race a Shostakovich?

From: Clare Cheetham
Date: 7/26/99

I was lucky enough to live in the same abode as P.G.Wodehouse and therefore recognize many of the places in his books. However, a good 50 or 60 years had elapsed since he had left and I arrived to take up residence. Also we were rather on opposite sides of the fence, so to speak, as he was a boarder at Ivyholme, Dulwich College, whilst I was the daughter of the housemaster, Reg Colman. Included in the introductory tour of our new home in 1962 or thereabouts was a reverential reading of the names on the honours board. Thus, at the tender age of 7 did I first meet him in print.

Many years later I took up one of his books and read. I think it was Summer Lightning but I may be wrong. I know it contained pigs, romance and the lifestyle I yearned for then and still do! I read it on a hot June day, by a swimming pool, with doves cooing on the chimney pots. Yes I burned. But it was worth it. A little of me had wondered whether I was a sad mournful member of the human race for whom T.V. sitcoms could provide no light relief. Articles and books heralded as uproariously funny had left me wondering what I was missing and why. It can't have been a pretty site to see me guffawing on the sunlounger but that was what Blandings Castle did to me. It stands to reason that I didn't quit the Wodehouse habit that day, when a cooling swim and a little calomine could have provided a decent excuse for returning to the company of friends and family and putting the strange noises I'd been emitting down to something I'd eaten at lunch time. No, without a decent pause I was off to the bookshelves and back on to the sunlounger for another fix.

So it has continued for the past 20 years or so, and luckily I can rely on the hot, drowsy atmosphere that makes me reach for a P.G.Wodehouse also being responsible for the fact that I can never quite remember what happened to who, where and when; and so I have the delight of rereading all of his stories again and again with a memory running on half empty. Absolute bliss!

From: Jackie Sorg
Date: 7/25/99

I first met Plum as a teenager when my Great Aunt Mae died and left her books to me. I consider it auspicious that I was introdued to Wodehouse by an Aunt. She lived in Hollywood for years and had quite a collection of novels of the twenties and thirties. The tome in question was "Thank You, Jeeves", and I was soon laughing out loud at the goofy goings on in Chuffnell Regis, including blackfaced looney doctors and drunken valets brandishing carving knives. I did not find any more Wodehouse in my small town high school library, and had to wait until college to resume my thirst for Jeeves and Bertie Wooster. I also got to know and love Mr. Mulliner and all of his nieces and nephews, Lord Emsworth, Psmith, and the light-minded members of the Drones Club. I have recommended the Golf Stories to all of my aquaintenances who indulge in that questionable sport. It seems they need a touch of the Oldest Member. I peruse the stalls of my local bookmerchants for any titles that remain unknowm to me from time to time, and even got my husband (now my ex) to eagerly look for new titles for me. Anytime I need pick-me-up in life, I just open up a Jeeves novel and my existence becomes lighter.

i came into the world clutching joy in the morning in my tiny hand. (I was only joking there. I was introduced to the MAN by my elder sister and have ever since been addicted) In fact I go by this simple litmus test -- there are two kinds of people those who like PGW and those who do not know him . a third minority exist -people who do not like HIm ( is it possible) but they constitute the lower rungs of (un)intelligent life. hence avoid them.

From: Arvind Kulkarni
Date: 7/21/99

The beautiful way in which Wodehouse paints his idyllic, lovable world and creates situations, which for all their complexity, are so simple and funny, the subtle, yet unmistakable sense of humour - these are all hallmarks of a great writer and there is only one writer to whom all these hallmarks apply - Mr.P.G.Wodehouse.

If I ever wish to escape the painful truth of this world, if I am ever wieghed down by the worldy life, a Wodehouse book is the surest way to get me back into a good mood !

From: Mitzie J. Icasiano
Date: 7/13/99

I first stumbled into Sir Wodehouse's work through a friend back in college. The very first title I read was "The Inimitable Jeeves". From then on, I had been in constant search of P.G. Wodehouse titles. My favorite of course is the Bertram Wooster-Jeeves series. Their episodes refresh and renew me each time. Too, reading about them is like visiting old friends and having a good hearty laugh with them.

From: Sophy
Date: 7/2/99

I simply adore P.G.Wodehouse's style of writing.I do not know of anyone on earth who could possibly equal his mastery of the English Language.He combines a sardonic sense of humour, impeccable English and an excellent understanding of human nature to produce true masterpieces.He has a life-long fan in me!

From: Paul Larimore
Date: 7/1/99

My job involves car travel and I became addicted to books on tape. I was an English major in college, but somehow I missed Wodehouse; at age 35 I was perusing the books on tape at the local (St. Louis) library for something to hear in the car. I had often seen, and passed over, Wodehouse titles, but for lack anything more appealing on the shelf, and reasoning that the guy must have something to recommend him to have so many recorded books, I checked one out.

What a great ride "Plum" has given me since! I can honestly say that no author I have found shortens a dull ride as does Wodehouse, and he is a great read, too (albeit I miss the wonderful performances of the authors on recorded books; I especially enjoy Jonathon Cecil as B. Wooster).

I am now engaged in reading all of the Jeeves series in order, and plan to takcle Blandings Castle next. My wife doesn't get it, but I will not let my kids go 35 years sans-Plum!

From: Pat Norman
Date: 6/24/99

When I was a teen-ager in the sixties my older sister gave me a copy of "The weekend Wodehouse" and I have been hooked ever since. I've spent my life buying every one of his books I could find and consuming each one like a fresh piece of candy. I am amazed that so many people have never heard of him, and sorry for them too. I was happy to find this page and all the wonderful tributes to the man who so richly deserves them.

I feel that I've discovered a cure for depression in Wodehouse, far more effective than any drug. I can grab any Wodehouse novel and read a few lines...it's guaranteed to put a smile on my face despite direst circumstances.

Long live P.G. Wodehouse!

From: Juc
Date: 6/20/99

I'm from Hungary so I can't read these books in the original, but translated ones. I guess, these translations are really able to convey the real mood of the books! They are fun to read!

At the moment I read , Uneasy money' ! My favourite part is when Bill is dancing! ( My parents thought I am crazy because I laughed loudly , reading that part!)

Anyway, my father acquainted me with Psmith 2 years ago and I can't stop buying these books since then. They are great!!

From: Priya Mukundhan
Date: 6/18/99

My grandfather introduced me to the wonderful world of P.G. Wodehouse. Ever since I have been hooked to it and have read and re-read (lost track of how many times) most of his books.

Thanks grandpa for this great gift and PGW for making my life all the more sweeter and much more fun with Lord Emsworth, Galahad, Bertie, Jeeves, Psmith and the rest of the gang.

From: Jeff Satterfield, http://www.peaceablekingdom.com/
Date: 6/7/99

I was in the 9th grade at Oconee County High School (Georgia, USA) and had a literature course requiring us to read short stories. An avaricious reader, I invariably read ahead. One story was "Uncle Fred Flits By", and the moment I started reading it I was held in its grip. I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever read (it may be yet, although that was more than twenty years ago). We always read the stories aloud in class, but the girl appointed to read it perhaps did not realize from the start it was meant to be humourous (there were no prologues and we went into the stories ignorant and dry). She lacked the proper spirit to read Wodehouse aloud, and it was read without a laugh. I realized that perhaps Wodehouse was meant for the cognoscenti -- or perhaps those with a peculiar slant on the world to begin with. I have pursued Wodehouse ever since, although there still are stories I haven't yet tucked under my scalp.

From: SHRUTHI JAYARAM
Date: 6/5/99

I AM A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL WHO IS VERY,VERY FOND OF READING WODEHOUSE. I LIVE IN COCHIN,INDIA AND THOUGH ALL MY FRIENDS DONT READ OR UNDERSTAND WODEHOUSE, I LOVE HIS BOOKS AND POSSESS ALMOST ALL OF THEM. I WAS INTRODUCED TO WODEHOUSEAN BOOKS BY MY MOTHER WHO IS ALSO A VORACIOUS READER. MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER IS PSMITH AND WHILE ALL MY FRIENDS READ ENID BLYTONS AND NANCY DREWS, I AM NEVER WITHOUT MY WODEHOUSE. HE IS THE BEST!!!

From: Terry Davison
Date: 5/31/99

When I was a lad of tender years, I attended a school where, under the steely gaze of our ferocious head, I obtained an education that would do credit to the finest minor public school of the 1920's. In retrospect, it was one of the best things to happen to me and was a distinctly Wodehousian experience. The peculiar thing is that this occurred in the 1970's in Toronto. During this time, I received a Pengiun as a birthday present from my younger sister. This was my introduction to PGW. On the first page I read a description of Bertram having a particularly rough morning. Not being one of nature's morning creatures, I understood. As I read the immortal phrase "I pronged a moody forkfull" referring to Jeeve's offering of sustenance I knew that Bertram, PGW and I would form a lasting bond.

From: Po Chin, http://swell.dreamhost.com
Date: 5/30/99

I first (really) met Wodehouse in my school library at the age of 13. I had seen my aunt reading him around my maternal grandmother's house and was fascinated by the colourful bookcovers, so I borrowed one book from the library: "Do Butlers Burgle Banks?". I was hooked. I think Wodehouse is a genius.

From: David Lewellen
Date: 5/24/99

I started right at the top, when I checked out The Code of the Woosters from the library after my senior year of high school. I had read somewhere that Wodehouse was a funny guy, and I liked the title because I lived in Wooster, Ohio. (No connection to our hero, but a nice town and well worth visiting). I was dazzled by the intricate plots and floored by the way Wodehouse bent the language to suit his own ends. The man was a stark raving genius. As I said, I did start with the one that is the best of them all, in my opinion, but I've never read a funnier scene than Gussie giving the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School in Right Ho, Jeeves. And from there I went on to Blandings Castle, Mr. Mulliner, and Ukridge. Haven't read all of the non-saga stories, because life may not have any meaning if there is no new Wodehouse out there. And after 15 years or so of accumulating, I now have a better Wodehouse collection than I've seen in any bookstore. Plum will forever be the cream in my coffee and the salt in my stew.

From: Girish Shirhatti
Date: 5/22/99

Oddly enough, the first Wodehouse I read was "The Coming of Bill", which is one of the very few of his books that approach any kind of seriousness. I was 15 and found it at a cousin's house. The next one was "The Girl on the Boat", which is at the other extreme for light heartedness. Needless to say, I was hooked. Any words that I might have in his praise would be the equivalent of saying that " ...the Taj Mahal is a pretty nifty tomb ..."

From: Claire Stillman
Date: 5/19/99

I was introduced to Wodehouse at a very tender age, indeed his works are some of the first things I remember reading. I found they complimented the Famous Five, The Secret Seven and the Narnia Chronicles perfectly.

From: Kerry Schofield
Date: 5/15/99

There is one very difficult thing about the reading of the books of Wodehouse. That is, of course, putting them down. The answer to such a conundrum, if conundrum is the word I'm looking for, is simply: don't put them down.

From: V.N .Seshagiri Rao
Date: 5/13/99

I started with his book Luck of the Bodkins and I have not yet really stopped reading and reading again all his works.Great writer, great books, quality humour and not the least a comprehensive web page.

    V N S RAO Madras  India

From: Cheryl Maxted
Date: 5/5/99

I was sixteen and was traveling with my sister through Europe for the summer. She bought a paperback book for me to read to the both of us while she was driving and it was titled "Laughing Gas" by P.G. Wodehouse. It was so funny that I began to look for other books written by the same author and discovered the wonderful world of Wodehouse!!! The rest is, as they say, history!

From: Seth Ball
Date: 5/2/99

My Grade 7 teacher saw me reading 'After The Funeral' by Agatha Christie. We had a discussion and she got around to telling me about this 'other writer' named Wodehouse, who corresponded with Christie and whom I might enjoy. Cut to five years later when I finally got around to taking her advice. My Grade 12 teacher told the class to pick some famous writer we hadn't got around to and take a chance. He meant stuff along the lines of Kafka; I picked Wodehouse. I chose to start with a book called 'Quick Service', not knowing what to expect. I remember reading it on the subway trip home from the bookstore, and some athletic types gave me funny looks as I began to chuckle out loud. I didn't care. As it happens, I picked the book that Wodehouse biographer claims was Wodehouse's favourite among his titles. It is a gem, and it's hard to believe that any writer will usurp the Master's position as my all time favourite author.

From: Marthe Anne
Date: 4/30/99

I became acquainted with PGW on a long car drive to Scotland. We had taken a box of tapes and Auntie Marion asked me to choose a tape. After rejecting millions I came across a small battered tape at the bottom. 'Jeeves and Wooster' said the cover 'By P. G. Wodehouse'. An hour later we were in Scotland and I was silently blessing the mysterious PGW.

From: Steven from Boulder County
Date: 4/29/99

My uncle introduced me to Wodehouse when I was 14 or so (almost 30 years ago). I loved his gift for elevating the ridiculous to the sublime, and making it look effortless.

While attending engineering school at the University of New Mexico, I once took an illegally heavy courseload of 13 hours during summer school. During this time, I also ended up caring for my kid brother during the week when both of our parents were out of town. I used Plum's books as a drug, to de-stress prior to bedtime.

My favorites include The Mating Game (especially when Sir Roderick is blowing Bertie's cover), The Code of the Woosters, The Fiery Wooing of Mordred (which I read aloud as a Toastmasters speech), Farewell to All Cats, and A Pelican at Blandings. I have some sixty or seventy of his books.

From: Robert Dickey
Date: 4/27/99

I discovered Wodehouse as a student in Italy, rummaging through a cupboard, where I found a copy of "Laughing Gas." I had never laughed so hard. Well, after that I nver read another book by P.G.W. until about 30 years later. Browsing in a bookstore, I found a P.G.W. shelf and was reminded of the good times I had had. Since then my ambition has been to read everything there is by the Master. A few weeks ago, I acquired my last published book by him. It was The Coming of Bill. I am not a collector of first editions or anything like that; although I have had to acquire some expensive early editions that had not been republished. I have already read all of these books several times. I enjoy them more every time.

From: Bindhu Menon
Date: 4/27/99

I have been fascinated by this author ever since I was a child. I would have loved to have met him. The code of the woosters is my favourite book.

From: Heledd Wyn
Date: 4/26/99

I was about 10 or 11 when the Fry and Laurie Jeeves and Wooster programmes were shown. I was subsequently bought my first novel "Right Ho Jeeves" and nearly laughed myself silly! I have been absolutely hooked since then, although I am having trouble finding bookshops which sell the great man's works as I live in North Wales and my local bookshops are sadly lacking. Someone contradict me here please and tell me that I can find his stuff more easily! I have since started collecting both recent copies and first editions and my enthusiasm grows the more that I read.

His sheer joy for life and way with words have brightened up many of my hours and if there is ever a tonic for the blues then this is most defintely it.

THANK YOU PLUM.

From: Howard Knickerbocker
Date: 4/23/99

I first became aware of P.G. Wodehouse when a friend loaned my wife and me the Jeeves omnibus. That's a real friend!!!! We read it to each other and laughed and laughed. We have since read many more of his books together and separately. He is to English wit what C.S. Lewis (my other favorite author) is to English fantasy. I find myself browsing used book stores in the W section. I can't believe anyone would ever give up a Wodehouse book but I've found several great additions to my library.

From: Robert Thompson
Date: 4/19/99

He was the most gifted writer I've ever read, at least in his prime. No one has understood humorous dialogue and thought process nearly as well as PG. I am reminded of a comment he is reported to have made on humorous writing (paraphrase): "I try to adhere to writing something a bit humorous, at least every three sentences. Less that that and you risk not being funny." He does it.

From: s lachance
Date: 4/17/99

most sadly, i forget. but the first exposure to bertie and his man jeeves was the inimitable jeeves read by jonathan cecil. his writing is just phreaking unbelievable but when it is read by a good comedian it is even greater.

i mean to say WHAT!

From: Sanmati Savadatti
Date: 4/12/99

I first read an extract of Wodehouse in my high school text book in India. Ever since I think I am his BIGGEST fan. I devoured most of his books available at St. Xaviers Institute, Bombay where my mom teaches. Next, I haunted the local library and now after I came to the US for my Master's, it has been the wonderful Zimmerman Library at the University Of New Mexico!!!!

I love the jolly and carefree way in which Wodehouse treats life, and his sense of humor is fabulous. Wodehouse creates an ideal world and I wish I were a part of it!!!:))!!!

From: Vrinda Pisharody
Date: 4/6/99

Wodehouse is probably the best thing that happened to mankind.

From: Barbara
Date: 3/26/99

I was introduced to P.G.Wodehouse by way of the Sat. Evening Post when I was just a girl in grade school. My Grandmother subscribed and I couldn't wait for each issue to see if he would be in it. I love all that he has written. Finding this site has made me resolve to get the books out and start reading all over again. One of my all time favorites is Goodbye to All Cats. That story keeps me in stitches from beginning to end.

From: ila kapoor
Date: 3/21/99

as for me !
i think wodehouse was god!!
what clapton is to guitar wodehouse was to humour!!
i have nearly read all his books and am deeply in love with the jeeves series!!
followed by blandings castle!! and lord emsworth!!
the only wish i have is i want to meet the greatest humourist of all in person !!
but i guess that would never be possible!!
if u r a wodehouse fan pleeeeeeez mail!!
and i will surely reply!!
wodehouse changed my life the way nobody else could!!
i was 14 when i saw "nothing serious" lying on my cousin sister's bed!!
and life was never the same!!
though i always tried to mould my lan. on P.G's style !!
i was never successful!! probably the good things in life do not come so easily to u!!
neway all credit goes to that cousin of mine!!
there is also one Indian journalist whose name i want to mention, mr.V.N naraynan !!
if ne of u have read his weakly column MUSINGS in the hindustan times!!
u may very well taste wodehouse's flavour in his readings

From: Lucian Endicott, http://pages.prodigy.com/KRRC31A/
Date: 3/17/99

I was turned on to Wodehouse at about the age of 9 (probably the right age) by my father. That was almost 60 years ago. I have read almost all of his books, the best 20 times or more.

From: Cindy Evans
Date: 3/15/99

When I was in college, my husband used to read aloud to me from his Wodehouse collection. I had never heard (or read) humor so bright and unexpected. The way he would make his sentences take a sudden left turn often left me laughing so hard that I was practically breathless. Since then he has become a personal household god, ranking above Garrison Keillor and James Herriot. I have since come to appreciate the televised versions of Wodehouse's work, my favorite compendium being "Wodehouse Playhouse" which, I believe, originally aired in the '70's. The most recent Masterpiece Theater also had its bright spots, particularly Hugh Laurie's portrayal of Bertie. I would love it if someone would re-make the Mulliner series. Any ideas on who to cast in the various roles?

In Junior High School I was wandering around our public library which was located in a large, old house. I happened into the "humor" section and spotted "Leave it to Psmith". The "P" intrigued me and I have since been a life long devotee, consistently mispronouncing the man's name until very late in life when I was shown the error of my ways.

I am a member of the NEWTS and believe I am the original source for J. Wendell Stickney in "The Purloined Paperweight." Around the time he was starting the book, I wrote, telling him that I was rapidly becoming a collection (of his books) since that was the only way to get them. He wrote back but I lost the letter! Anyway, I never got to thank him for the compliment of using my name.

From: Aby V. Koshy
Date: 3/12/99

I was introduced to the most amazing world of Wodehouse and his idyllic world when I was studying in the eleventh standard in my school. And so profoundly captivating was the writing style, that I had decided then and there to write in his style. How time flies! I have not written an inch of anything that would remotely be considered Wodehousian, even considerd writing for that matter, but my admiration and love for Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse has only, in the last fifteen years, risen like the dough kept overnight for baking. Maybe that is the reason when Amazon.com decided to recruit associates through Geocities, I joined and created links to a large number of books by P.G. Wodehouse.

May his writings live on and on and on....

From: elisa sohm
Date: 3/10/99

I first met wodehouse when watching a masterpiece theater. The Jeeves and Wooster special they ran was incredible. I simply had to by the books, and from there I was introduced to Uncle Fred and all of the Blandings Stories.

From: Shireen
Date: 3/7/99

I read my first Wodehouse, Company for Henry, which by the way is an excellent and rather an obscure book of his, when I was nearly 15. My best friend was rummaging through her brother's books and the pink cover of the book caught my fancy and I decided to have a go at reading "Plum". My sister had been excessively fond of him but I could never get hold of a book from her as she hardly stayed at home! Anyway after "Company for Henry" there was no looking back for me - I read all his Jeeves and Bertie series and most of his Blandings series in a span of 6 months.

There can be no other writer like him - he was fantastic!! I really pity people who have never even heard of him and I feel excessively sad for people who find his books "trash" - they will probably never know of the joys of being in an idyllic world!!

From: Marc Berger
Date: 2/27/99

My best friend in med school introduced me. I mean, I'd been aware for years that such a thing as P.G. Wodehouse existed (how could you not if you've ever passed that U-X,Y,Z section in any decent bookstore; I mean those orange bindings on the Penguin editions do jump out at one, what?)--but it was Mike who got me started reading him. Thank providence, I say! Got me through some of the darkest! Just like one of Jeeves' dark brown pick-me-ups.

Interestingly, my friend was also an ardent D&D player, and he managed to add a Wodehousian flare to his dungeoning. So you had Fink-Nottles slaying fire breathing what nots, and ichor dripping Glossops in residence under bridges and so forth.

The first of plums work I lay my hands on was "Jeeves Takes Charge." When I read the line " .... his face resembled like something that grows on dead trees! ..." I could not resist myself becoming an ardent admirer of PGW. I like to dream a lot and Plum provides umpteen openings!

Nice to know that a lot of like minded folks around!

From: Richard Evans Lee, http://www.abebooks.com/home/bdfar/
Date: 2/19/99

Tried Wodehouse because Evelyn Waugh liked him so much. Didn't take to it at first. Leave it to Psmith made me a convert.

From: Rama
Date: 2/11/99

I have a couple of much older siblings who are voracious readers, and I was initiated into the Wodehouse religion at a very young age by them. Wodehouse novels have made us very close knit - our favourite passtime is to share funny bits and laugh our heads off. Tood-loo, pip-pip, tinkerty-tonk.

From: Katrina
Date: 1/31/99

A friend's mother handed me a copy of Code of the Woosters 10 years ago, to occupy my time during a visit. I discovered not only Wodehouse that day. I also discovered how impossible it is to explain to someone why the movement of a cow creamer from one place to another is the most hilarious thing you've ever read in your life. I gave up on the explanations, but not on Wodehouse.

I have around 30 of his books, many first editions. I am also addicting all of my friends who will sit down long enough to watch one of the Fry and Laurie PBS shows or who will take a book off with them.

I am beginning the Blandings books, having read every Jeeves and Drone's related story I can get my hands on.

Nice to see there are so many of us out there!

From: Bob R
Date: 1/27/99

When Sir Plum was still alive, I remember driving down Basket Neck Lane in Remsenburg on Long Island. I tried to figure out which house was is and which was Mr. Bolton's. I could have called him. A short time later he died. I wish I had called him.

I discoved his books in the basement of the "The Corner Bookstore" in Stony Brook, NY. I bought a first edition of "Picadilly Jim" for 4 or 5 dollars and I surprised myself by spluging so much on an author I hardly knew. As I understand it, "Picadilly Jim" is worth a little more than 4 or 5 dollars now.

From: Donata
Date: 1/20/99

I have been adoring PG for almost thirty years (now I am 42). I particularly like the Blandings cycle. One of my existential models is Monty Bodkin.

From: Joan
Date: 1/14/99

I first became a fan whilst playing the role of Dame Daphne Winkworth in John Chapman's superb 3 act play"Oh, Clarence!". On the last night I was so upset to be leaving Blandings, but since then I have never stopped reading and listening to the Chivers Audio Books, which are wonderfully unabridged.

From: Harshavardhan
Date: 1/13/99

My friend Andrew (credit really goes to him) introduced me to Plum. He kind of offhandedly said that one needs to have a minimum level of IQ to understand Plum. So I took it as a challenge and trust me that's the only good thing I did in my entire wasted life.

Plum is too good. If I happened to have met him when he was alive I would have hardly thought twice (if not once!) to wash his feet and drink the very water. That's how I adore him. Great guy!! If not the greatest!!

From: Namrata chattaraj
Date: 1/9/99

What ho, and all that sort of rot!

Yes, I sort of live a decent life, nourished to an optimum nutrition level, living on a balanced diet of P.G.Wodehouse.

And boy do I love this man! He's the greatest author that ever endured life on the surface of this Earth!

His every book, keeps me on a humorous high (whatever that means!), and sort of makes life absolutely, Oojah-cum-spiff for me!

More power to the man who he inspired me in more ways than I can think of, not only through his writings, but also through his life, and by the type of person he was.

My only regret in life will always lie in the fact that I could never meet him!

I have the deepest love and respect for this man, and would be very happy to be able to do work related to him in future (apart from reading more and more of his wonderful bks. that is!)

oomphs and wishes,

Namrata

From: Mike Stevens, http://www.playgreatgolf.com
Date: 1/8/99

I discovered Mr. Wodehouse in a collection of golf stories that I picked up at the local library. The first story of his I read was called "The coming of Goff". I enjoyed it so much that I have since read every golf story he has written. I am especially fond of his female characters such as the one whose name slips me just now but thought she had killed her husband with a niblick upon which the Eldest Member commented that such a stroke would require a mashie.

From: The Hatter Bodmin
Date: 1/6/99

As a lad, a young lady whose profile I admired recommended the Master to me. Alas, I found them not to my taste at the time, and it was only as a older, hardened airport traveler that I found myself looking for something easy to read (owing to a previous unfortunate experience with Wilkie Collins and airports). One of the Jeeves Omnibuses met the case, and as fate would have it I was snow-bound at an airport for over eight hours during that trip. Thus it was that I violated Plum's own admonition to not take too much of this stuff at a time, and I've been an addict ever since.