a_gentleman_of_leisure

A GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE by P.G. Wodehouse

1910. Star Books (Wyndham), 1978. Paperback.

This is the second oldest Wodehouse that I've read, and in a way the
oldest since I have 1906's "Love Among the Chickens" in the 1921
revision. A standalone in the Wodehouse canon, I was afraid A
Gentleman of Leisure would be dated and difficult to read but it was a
rollicking fast read. I'd score it 9 out of 10 and I've only docked it
a point because some of the references have dated. The title isn't
fantastic; in the US the book was publised as The Intrusion of Jimmy,
which is a better title.

My paperback book is published by Wyndham/Star, who also did the
Doctor Who novelisations which were just about my sole reading from
the ages of 8 to 14, under the imprint Wyndham/Target. Wyndham did one
or two of the Doctor Who books as Wyndham/Star but there was such an
uproar from the fans that they were quickly reissued as
Wyndham/Target. Anyhow it is a thrill to read an adult novel under the
imprint, size and fonts of my junior adult reading.

I ran through A Gentleman of Leisure in three calendar days, it was
well plotted, delightful to read and avoided having the plot of a
Stage Musical. It takes as its basis the success of plays based on
Raffles The Amateur Cracksman which I guess were popular on both sides
of the Atlantic in the late 1900s. Raffles was still a popular figure
in the 1950s and is mentioned in the Tony Hancock TV series.

With such a large corpus there will be excellent Wodehouses, good
Wodehouses, run-of-the-mill Wodehouses and bad Wodehouses. This is one
of the excellent Wodehouses. By as early as 1910, P.G Wodehouse had
really hit his straps and this is a fantastic comic novel.

                                            5th December 2024.

My book reviews are at https://github.com/stucooper/booksiveread