Laughing Gas
by P. G. Wodehouse
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Classic Literature. Fiction. Romance. Thriller. This stylish, charming, and delightfully witty comedy showcases all the reasons why P.G. Wodehouse is hailed as one of the most sharp-witted writers of the 20th century. It begins when a proper British earl falls asleep in a dentist's chair-and wakes up in the body of America's favorite child star.Tags
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Member Reviews
The plot was what ultimately stood between this tale and a higher rating. I read Wodehouse primarily for the sparkling prose narration. In that sense, the book did not disappoint. And the portrait of early-30s Hollywood was also interesting. But ultimately, the story became a little too preposterous and too many of the characters unlikeable. Give me a Jeeves and Wooster tale over this, any day.
This is a sparkling little comedy from a master of the art. There's a humorous bumbling chap who finds himself inheriting the Earldom and all the family responsibilities that come with it - including rescuing his cousin Eggy from an unsuitable female he's found in Hollywood. A man less likely to be capable of rescuing anyone has probably never been written, but Reggie duly sets off - only to become smitten with a lady actress. *swoon*.
By a madly convoluted means he finds himself in the body of a child star who ears knickerbockers, has blonde curly hair and in the care of an old harridan - the soul of the child star is now inhabiting his well pressed body. And the body swop story continues with varying degrees of peril and hilarity show more engendered when you land in the middle of someone's life - with no idea how they got there, or what might be creeping around the corner.
The characters are all fairly stock types, there's not great character development here, but it is a great fun little read. Its rolls along at a reasonable rate and you find yourself wondering how this is ever going to play out - and of course it does all work out for the best in the end, but getting there is well worth the ride. show less
By a madly convoluted means he finds himself in the body of a child star who ears knickerbockers, has blonde curly hair and in the care of an old harridan - the soul of the child star is now inhabiting his well pressed body. And the body swop story continues with varying degrees of peril and hilarity show more engendered when you land in the middle of someone's life - with no idea how they got there, or what might be creeping around the corner.
The characters are all fairly stock types, there's not great character development here, but it is a great fun little read. Its rolls along at a reasonable rate and you find yourself wondering how this is ever going to play out - and of course it does all work out for the best in the end, but getting there is well worth the ride. show less
Wodehouse's aptly named story Laughing Gas is the precursor to tales like Mary Rodgers' Freaky Friday, Summer Switch, and A Billion for Boris. The simplest explanation of the plot is this: Reginald Havershot, Earl of Havershot, and Joey Cooley, child film star, accidentally trade bodies when they go under the gas at the dentist's office. Reginald narrates the entire story from his point of view, and his stolid British sensibilities make the whole thing simply hilarious.
Wodehouse's dry humor had me in stitches. It's very British, so if you don't like that sort of thing you will probably walk away wondering what' so funny. One part that had me laughing was when Reginald (in Joey's body) is being chased by two disgruntled child actors show more whose fame he has taken. Wodehouse writes,
Presently the huh-ing broke out again.
'Huh,' said Orlando Flower.
'Huh,' said Tommy Murphy.
'Huh,' said Orlando Flower.
There was a moment's silence. Then Tommy Murphy spoke.
'Huh,' he said, like one who has just thought of a new and original repartee.
The psychology of these two young pustules was a sealed book to me. I could not follow their mental processes. There appeared to me to be absolutely nothing about this last 'Huh' that made it in any way different from the 'Huh's' that preceded it. But there must have been, because its effect on the boy Flower was immediate. Flushing beneath his spots, he flung himself on Tommy Murphy , and they came to the ground together in a clawing mass.
And the whole book is like this. Eventually everything gets sorted out and Reginald and Joey return to their proper bodies. And there's even a love story in it for Reginald (believe it or not). Overall, this book had me howling and I recommend it for anyone who wants a good laugh. I will certainly be looking for more of Wodehouse in the future! show less
Wodehouse's dry humor had me in stitches. It's very British, so if you don't like that sort of thing you will probably walk away wondering what' so funny. One part that had me laughing was when Reginald (in Joey's body) is being chased by two disgruntled child actors show more whose fame he has taken. Wodehouse writes,
Presently the huh-ing broke out again.
'Huh,' said Orlando Flower.
'Huh,' said Tommy Murphy.
'Huh,' said Orlando Flower.
There was a moment's silence. Then Tommy Murphy spoke.
'Huh,' he said, like one who has just thought of a new and original repartee.
The psychology of these two young pustules was a sealed book to me. I could not follow their mental processes. There appeared to me to be absolutely nothing about this last 'Huh' that made it in any way different from the 'Huh's' that preceded it. But there must have been, because its effect on the boy Flower was immediate. Flushing beneath his spots, he flung himself on Tommy Murphy , and they came to the ground together in a clawing mass.
And the whole book is like this. Eventually everything gets sorted out and Reginald and Joey return to their proper bodies. And there's even a love story in it for Reginald (believe it or not). Overall, this book had me howling and I recommend it for anyone who wants a good laugh. I will certainly be looking for more of Wodehouse in the future! show less
Wodehouse is such a legend, I didn't quite know what to expect, since this is the first of his books I've picked up. I wouldn't call it great literature, but it is fun and light reading, a nice change from when everything has been a bit heavy. The plot is sort of a Freaky-Friday type body exchange (long before Freaky Friday, of course) when an English earl changes places with a precocious Hollywood child star. The child star delights in the new body, trained as a boxer, because he can run around "poking in the snoot" everyone who has mistreated him. It's not so delightful for the earl, who is stuck eating prunes for breakfast every morning in a body too small and weak to do anything but be dependent. A jolly ride, with some very good show more one-liners. show less
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BOOK REVIEW: So it is just hard to go wrong with any Wodehouse book. This book is just laugh out loud funny. You’re taken on a short journey of a body switching plot. Just when you think our heroes day can’t get any worse - it goes from bad to worse. Recommend this book to anyone who enjoys terrific writing like only Wodehouse can do and is in the mood to have many good laughs. The book is suitable for all ages and is a quick read.
Here’s one of my favorite bits:
'Haven't you ever heard of Sister Lora Luella Stott?'
'No. Who is she?'
'She is the woman who is leading California out of the swamp of alcohol.'
'Good God!' I could tell by Eggy's voice that he was interested. 'Is there a swamp of alcohol in show more these parts? What an amazing country America is. Talk about every modern convenience. Do you mean you can simply go there and lap?'
The only thing wrong with this read is you will, eventually come to the last page! Heartily recommend! @KatoJustus4 show less
BOOK REVIEW: So it is just hard to go wrong with any Wodehouse book. This book is just laugh out loud funny. You’re taken on a short journey of a body switching plot. Just when you think our heroes day can’t get any worse - it goes from bad to worse. Recommend this book to anyone who enjoys terrific writing like only Wodehouse can do and is in the mood to have many good laughs. The book is suitable for all ages and is a quick read.
Here’s one of my favorite bits:
'Haven't you ever heard of Sister Lora Luella Stott?'
'No. Who is she?'
'She is the woman who is leading California out of the swamp of alcohol.'
'Good God!' I could tell by Eggy's voice that he was interested. 'Is there a swamp of alcohol in show more these parts? What an amazing country America is. Talk about every modern convenience. Do you mean you can simply go there and lap?'
The only thing wrong with this read is you will, eventually come to the last page! Heartily recommend! @KatoJustus4 show less
Using a plot device similar to that in F. Anstey's Vice Versa, Reggie, 3rd Earl of Havershot, our hero, swops bodies with a curly headed child film star, Joey Cooley, The Idol of American Motherhood, and learns first hand of the trials of stardom. Reggie, having the common complaint of Wodehouse men, has fallen in love at first sight with April June, a blonde bombshell, who came to remind me of Lina Lamont (from Singing in the Rain). To add to the complications his former fiance Ann Bannister, who gave him the push after he inadvertently burned the back of her neck with his cigar, is currently the nursemaid to young Joey. We have a Wodehouse aunt-substitute in the awful Beulah Brinkmeyer, a permanently sozzled cousin, Eggy and even a show more butler, Chaffinch, although he is not quite what he seems.
Despite the unusual, nay, impossible, premise of body-swopping, this book works rather well. The characterisations are good and there are plenty of laughs, and, of course, everything turns out all right in the end. Very much based on PGW's Hollywood experiences we learn much about the attitudes of stars and movie makers as well as the many would-be character actors and script writers hanging around on the edges.
Not 5-star, but certainly worth 4. show less
Despite the unusual, nay, impossible, premise of body-swopping, this book works rather well. The characterisations are good and there are plenty of laughs, and, of course, everything turns out all right in the end. Very much based on PGW's Hollywood experiences we learn much about the attitudes of stars and movie makers as well as the many would-be character actors and script writers hanging around on the edges.
Not 5-star, but certainly worth 4. show less
tw: briefly racism played for laughs, casual n-word use
a lovely read full of charming wodehouse characters and extremely silly prose. comfort fiction in the best sense and a great reward for just picking up a random wodehouse paperback at the used bookstore.
a lovely read full of charming wodehouse characters and extremely silly prose. comfort fiction in the best sense and a great reward for just picking up a random wodehouse paperback at the used bookstore.
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ThingScore 75
Not the best Wodehouse has ever done, but that doesn't stop this from having its amusing moments. Reggie, recently become an Earl, lands in Hollywood, falls in love and, in a dentist's office, while under gas, exchanges souls with a child-star, a lad famed for badness...and, with this Thorne-Smith peg, they each do one another no little harm. There are several good chuckles and some good show more Wodehouse characters and incidents. Ran in This Week quite a while back. show less
added by SnootyBaronet
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Author Information
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P. G. Wodehouse was born in Guildford, United Kingdom on October 15, 1881. After completing school, he spent two years as a banker at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in London and then took a job as a sports reporter and columnist for the Globe newspaper. His first novel, The Pothunters, was published in 1902. He wrote over 100 novels and short show more story collections during his lifetime including A Perfect Uncle, Love Among the Chickens, The Swoop, P. Smith in the City, Meet Mr. Milliner, Doctor Sally, Quick Service, The Old Reliable, Uneasy Money, A Damsel in Distress, Jill the Reckless, The Adventures of Sally, A Pelican at Blandings, The Girl in Blue, and Aunts Aren't Gentlemen. His most famous characters, Bertie Wooster and his manservant, Jeeves, appeared in books such as Much Obliged, Jeeves. He also wrote lyrics for musical comedies and worked as screenwriter in Hollywood in the 1930s. In 1939, he bought a villa in Le Touquet on the coast of France. He remained there when World War II started in 1939. The following year, the Germans appropriated the villa, confiscated property, and arrested him. He was detained in various German camps for almost one year before being released in 1941. He went to Berlin and spoke of his experience in five radio talks to be broadcast to America and England. The talks themselves were completely innocuous, but he was charged with treason in England. He was cleared, but settled permanently in the United States. He became a citizen in 1955. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1975. He died from a heart attack after a long illness on February 14, 1975 at the age of 93. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Au pays du fou rire
- Original title
- Laughing Gas
- Original publication date
- 1936
- People/Characters
- Reginald John Peter Swithin Havershot, 3rd. Earl of Havershot (our hero); Joey Cooley (Idol of American Motherhood); Egremont Mannering (a cousin); April June (a pill); Ann Bannister (a fiancee); Chaffinch (a faux-butler) (show all 8); Beulah Brinkmyer (a harridan); T P Brinkmyer (a foobar)
- Important places
- England, UK
- First words
- I had just begun to write this story, when a literary pal of mine who had had a sticky night out with the P.E.N. Club blew in to borrow bicarbonate of soda, and I thought it would be as well to have him vet what I'd done, in ... (show all)case I might have foozled my tee-shot.
- Quotations
- “Didn't Frankenstein get married?"
"Did he?" said Eggy. "I don't know. I never met him. Harrow man, I expect.” - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then, hand in hand, we walked down the lane, guided by the scent of frying sausages which told me that Eggy had not overestimated his culinary skill and that little Joey Cooley was busy victualling up against the new day.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Reviews
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- 7 — Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 30
- ASINs
- 37
