My Man Jeeves (Collector's Wodehouse) Hardcover – May 10, 2007

"Jolly good!" I've never been able to catch "Jeeves and Wooster" but Wodehouse gives us such insight to the main characters' inner workings, I feel as if I've soaked in the whole series, yet still have it all toward which I may greedily look forward! If you're a fan of British humor and don't mind the antiquated, erudite dialog Bertie slings at you like Pollock splashing paint on a canvas, then you will eat "My Man Jeeves" up!

This was the earliest (1919) of Wodehouse's short story collections to mention Jeeves in the title, and these are very early Jeeves/Wooster stories. But only half of the stories in this volume are set in the Wooster household. The other half of these stories feature Reggie Pepper. Pepper can be thought of as a proto-Bertie, but he has no Jeeves-like character around. The Reggie Pepper stories are also similar to the Jeeves/Wooster stories in that they are written in Reggie's voice. Once Wodehouse got rolling with the Jeeves/Wooster stories, he abandoned Reggie Pepper. I think there are only eight Reggie Pepper stories in total, with half of them found in this collection.A few points are worth noting. The earliest Jeeves/Wooster story is not in this collection. That first story was "Extricating Gussie", which is to be found in the 1917 collection "The Man With Two Left Feet." It is in "Extricating Gussie" that Jeeves and Wooster travel to New York. All the Jeeves/Wooster stories in "My Man Jeeves" are set in New York as well. Another factor to bear in mind is that most of these early stories were later reworked, and appear in "Carry On, Jeeves." The story "Leave it to Jeeves" appears in "Carry On" as "The Artistic Career of Corky", with the first few paragraphs re-written for that version. The stories "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" and "Jeeves and The Hard-Boiled Egg" appear in "Carry On" with no obvious alterations. Also, the story "Helping Freddie" appears in "Carry On" as "Fixing it for Freddie", but in that case the story has been changed from a Reggie Pepper vehicle to one featuring Bertie and Jeeves - the plot and much of the language carry directly through this transformation.In short, three of the four Jeeves/Wooster stories, and one of the Reggie Pepper stories, appear, with varying degrees of alteration, in "Carry On, Jeeves." The only Jeeves/Wooster item in this collection that doesn't appear in "Carry On" is "The Aunt and the Sluggard."

My introduction to P.G. Wodehouse’s marvelously complex duo, Bertie Wooster and his man servant Jeeves, came from the 1990 production of Jeeves & Wooster (Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, respectively) giving me fantastic images to enrich my experience. First published in 1919, and although I’ve read it’s not to be the best place to start, My Man Jeeves is a hilarious romp with Bertie Wooster as a very quirky, upper class dandy whose issues, problems, and predicaments are often remedied by his low-key, clever valet, Reginald Jeeves. The book is set in New York, not London, and divided into eight shorts pitting Bertie’s often ill-conceived plans to come to the rescue of his many friends, or get himself out of hot water, against Jeeves’ common sense and insights. When confronted with an issue, Bertie is quick to devise a plan of action, but he learns that in all things, especially men’s fashion, Jeeves knows best! Wodehouse’s writing is an engaging melodic prose with extended and very expressive descriptions and incorporating well the vernacular, mores, and style of the 20s. Bertie is a hoot, and [shouting loudly] I want a “Jeeves” in my life!

If you are well versed in British culture you might find this book quite humorous. Sadly, the humor revolved around people with no life or means of support other than some rich relative who also has no life skills. In comes the main character Jeeves. Jeeves, obviously was a man of some intellect but decided to ruin his life by catering to people who cannot dress, eat or sleep without his advice. The author's (Wodehouse) alter ego Jeeves could've done better serving tea in Common Garden. Chip, Chip Oh Boy!

This little collection of P.G. Wodehouse is fantastic. I picked this up after hearing that it was one of both Christopher Hitchen's and Doug Wilson's favorite authors (Check out  COLLISION: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson ). I was so intrigued by this that I had to pick up a copy.What one will find inside is a collection of eight stories; four of which feature the now iconic Jeeve's/Wooster duo and all of which feature the fantastic and hilarious situations that one who is totally oblivious to their surroundings can get themselves into. These stories are the type that are funny because the situations are so real and/or similar to ones we have, ourselves, suffered through. Take the following for instance:"Lady Milvern was a hearty, happy, healthy, overpowering sort of dashed female, not so very tall but making up for it by measuring about six feet from the O.P. to the Prompt Side. She fitted into my biggest armchair as if it had been built around her by someone who know they were wearing armchairs tight about the hips that season. She had bright, bulging eyes and a lot of yellow hair, and when she spoke she showed about fifty-seven front teeth..... Altogether by no means the sort of thing a chappie would wish to find in his sitting room before breakfast" - pg. 35The stories are filled with this stuff. Just Awesome!!!

You either love P.G. Woodhouse's Jeeves or you don't.I love the characters, the writing, the button -down style.Excellent!

A series of short stories with Wooster and Jeeves full of hijinks, mayhemand well meaning good intentions of helping others that go awry.Loved it even though a couple of stories were awkward. Worth a read.

100 years old and still got it. These short stories are witty and written in an instantly familiar spiffing style. The idioms, the colloquialisms, the turn of phrase are what make this book such a joy. After a couple of stories the pattern emerges, they become predictable but they're still very funny. A century on, it's astonishing to me that there's no mention of WWI but it's a reminder that life carried on. The upper class toffs who populate the stories exist in a world of luxury and privilege thanks to exceedingly rich uncles or aunts who fund their lifestyles which is a tad galling but was how things were. For some. It's a jolly good read.

For a start, the description "Illustrated" is a misnomer. There are no illustrations. The only "illustration" is the title page, so it doesn't qualify that way. Then there is the transcription from printed page to electronic. Like several other Wodehouse transcriptions it is riddled with false line breaks and unwanted space lines in between paragraphs. Whoever oversaw this transcription needs to have proofread it! Then there is the matter of the content. Several of the stories are, what I presume to be, early versions of tales that appear later in other collections. The unknown stuff was of interest but, all-in-all I was disappointed. It is a curiosity. But, for goodness sake Mr Publisher, sort out the quality of the transcription. It is pretty poor!

The book covers nine short stories, five of them of the author's legendary Jeeves & Wooster pairing, with another four with Reggie Pepper (who is cut very much from the same cloth as Bertie Wooster) and is a little gem in terms of providing amusement.Like in the later collections Jeeves' role is so much more than the mundane tasks of his job description, in essence saving the bumbling Bertie and his not dissimilar friends from a perpetual series of unpleasant situations they manage to maneuvre themselves into seems to be the primary occupation. The Jeeves and Wooster episodes here cover the pair's New York period, where somehow in spite of being out of his native ecosystem, Jeeves proves no less astute and capable, and Wooster no less entertaining.Wodehouse describes the moneyed classes with much cheek and certainly does little to up the appreciation of them with the readers, even if sympathy will often be freely given (something relatively inept members of society are often privy to).The book is therefore much more of a light, refined comedy than an attempt at social criticism and all fans of  Jeeves and Wooster - Complete Collection [DVD ] with the inimitable Stehen Fry and Hugh Laurie will do well to try the book version, too. Luckily the majority of the Wodehouse collection has been made available in Kindle format in the meantime, so if you enjoy this, there is much more follow-on reading in the same vein you can do. Jeeves and Wooster - Complete Collection [DVD

This is the earliest collection of stories featuring Bertie Wooster and his extremely competent valet, Jeeves. Interestingly, Bertie Wooster is hiding out in New York, having failed to carry out an errand for his indomitable Aunt Agatha and unable to face returning home to face her possible wrath. During these stories, Wooster – or his friends – get into various scrapes and are saved by Jeeves. Often the plans backfire, in various farcical ways, but Jeeves always has a suggestion to help rescue the situation.Some of the stories in this collection feature another character – Reggie Pepper. He is very similar to Wooster and, again, much of the storyline concerns his friends problems. Often his attempts to help are less than welcome, or there is some confusion, but overall the entire collection is humorous and nicely realised. Short stories are difficult to write well, but Wodehouse is obviously a master of the form and these are a fun read and a good introduction to his characters.

I read this for this year's reading list, and it's hilarious. It was recommended to me, as I had never read any PG Woodhouse. These are short stories, their old style making it fun in itself.I loved the Jeeves and Wooster ones the most, but the other stories were good as well.It's not a very long read, and seems a wonderful introduction to PG Woodhouse.