My Man Jeeves (original 1919; edition 2011)

“After this,” I said, “not another step for me without your advice. From now on consider yourself the brains of the establishment.”
“Very good, sir. I shall endeavour to give satisfaction.”
And he has, by Jove! I’m a bit short on brain myself: the old bean would appear to have been constructed more for ornament than for use, don’t you know; but give me five minutes to talk the thing over with Jeeves, and I’m game to advise anyone about anything.

In four of the stories in this collection, Jeeves and Wooster are living in New York because Bertie doesn't dare go back to England until his Aunt Agatha forgives him for failing to prevent his cousin Gussie marrying a chorus girl. As usual they have to get various of Bertie's friends and acquaintances out of various scrapes caused by unreasonable and overbearing relatives, and Bertie finds that American Aunts can be just as intimidating as English ones.

The other four stories feature Reggie Pepper, who is considered an early prototype of the Bertie Wooster character (according to Wikipedia). These stories also involve Reggie helping his friends out of scrapes, but it's not the same without Jeeves around to supply the brain-power. Reggie does have a valet, but he only appears in one of the stories and he can't hold a candle to Jeeves. ( )

This was my first P.G. Wodehouse, but it definitely will not be my last. What a delightful humorist this author was. This book is a collection of chatty anecdotes, told by a gentleman whose unflappable man Jeeves helps him sort out more problems than just what tie goes best with which jacket. Since this was written in 1919, it is chock full of the amusing slang and social rules from that era.

So 5 stars for the writing. But I must take off 1 star for this CreateSpace edition, which was riddled with formatting errors. Also, many of the odd numbered pages had at least one line (always about two-thirds of the way down the page) where the ink was so faint that one had to guess what it ought to have said. ( )

Although I adore Bertie & Jeeves, these vignettes aren't quite as hilarious as the later Jeeves novels are. ( )

I loved this book! ( )

Although I adore Bertie & Jeeves, these vignettes aren't quite as hilarious as the later Jeeves novels are. ( )