Performing Flea
by P. G. Wodehouse
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P.G. Wodehouse is recognized as the greatest English comic writer of the twentieth century, rightly admired throughout the world and translated into more than thirty languages. Launched on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, this series presents each Overlook Wodehouse as the finest edition of the master s work ever published beautifully designed and faithful to the original.Tags
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Member Reviews
Excellent collection of PGW letters written between 1910 and 1955. Partcularly expansive on the internment years.
Charming anecdotes that charm.
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Author Information
656+ Works 110,533 Members
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
- Original title
- Performing Flea
- Alternate titles
- Author! Author!
- Original publication date
- 1953
- People/Characters
- P. G. Wodehouse
- First words
- Introduction
It was only a few months ago - though I had been receiving them for more than thirty years - that the thought occurred to me that an amusing and instructive book could be made of these letters of P. G. Wod... (show all)ehouse, eliminating the purely private passages which would be unintelligible to anyone but myself.
It is usually difficult to decide at what point to begin a book, fiction or otherwise, but the problem here is settled by the fact that the letters I received from Plum between 1899 and 1920 have, with very few exceptions, be... (show all)en either lost or destroyed. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Nobody who has not been in a prison camp can realize what letters, especially letters like those I received, mean to an internee.
- Disambiguation notice
- UK title 'Performing Flea', US title 'Author! Author!'
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 146
- Popularity
- 223,222
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.08)
- Languages
- English, Italian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 7
