Bertie Wooster has sent Jeeves off on vacation. Soon, however, drowning dachshunds, broken engagements, and inextricable complications lead to the ...
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Jul 22, 2008
Trevor
rated it: 
Yet another delight.
This one needs you to have read a few of the others in this series - or at least, I think it is better if you know some of the other characters and the sorts of 'solutions' that are offered in other books to resolve the types of problems Bertie's friends are likely to find themselves in before you read this one.
It is wonderful to watch Wodehouse set up situations and then to deny (or is it defy?) our expectations repeatedly. This one refers to mystery More...
This one needs you to have read a few of the others in this series - or at least, I think it is better if you know some of the other characters and the sorts of 'solutions' that are offered in other books to resolve the types of problems Bertie's friends are likely to find themselves in before you read this one.
It is wonderful to watch Wodehouse set up situations and then to deny (or is it defy?) our expectations repeatedly. This one refers to mystery More...
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Mar 17, 2008
Faith-Anne
rated it:
Any of Wodehouse's "Jeeves and Wooster" books are books worth reading. His books are delightful escapes into a world where misadventures happen. Don't except solutions to world hunger or any other problems of humanity to be solved. Instead, just sit back & enjoy the ride. I find it impossible to read a Wodehouse novel without laughing.
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Apr 06, 2010
Every Hollywood comedy I had ever seen came back to me as I saw the prototype from which they were modeled, and now I don't believe I'll ever see a movie like that again without wishing I was actually reading P.G. Wodehouse. First, the situation becomes so complex and entangled that at one point it is almost incomprehensible, and the reader has to be surprised he can tie it down at all. Second, his usage of English slang in dialogue and narration should not be passed over too quickly, because he
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Apr 02, 2010
Mike
rated it: 
Another book read first under different title. This time the other one is "Jeeves in the Offing".
Another volume of Bertram getting stuck and Jeeves eventually contriving a rescue. Such a brief description does not do the book justice, of course. Let me try harder:
Imagine a man: well-to-do, relaxed, with a certain charm and poshness living a rather predictable and enjoyable (if you like your creature comforts more than your intellectual pursuits) life when it More...
Another volume of Bertram getting stuck and Jeeves eventually contriving a rescue. Such a brief description does not do the book justice, of course. Let me try harder:
Imagine a man: well-to-do, relaxed, with a certain charm and poshness living a rather predictable and enjoyable (if you like your creature comforts more than your intellectual pursuits) life when it More...
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May 02, 2011
John
rated it: 
Really 2.5 stars, but I'll round up in case I'm being a bit cranky and unfair.
I've read some Jeeves books in the past and enjoyed them, so thought I'd go for a bit of humor among all the recent nonfiction. Almost immediately, I was put off by the Breach of Promise thing (which comes up several times in the book) - it's the 1920's, not the 1860's, in these stories. Bertie's terrified of having to marry a girl he can't even remember proposing to, and if he had it was in the distant pas More...
I've read some Jeeves books in the past and enjoyed them, so thought I'd go for a bit of humor among all the recent nonfiction. Almost immediately, I was put off by the Breach of Promise thing (which comes up several times in the book) - it's the 1920's, not the 1860's, in these stories. Bertie's terrified of having to marry a girl he can't even remember proposing to, and if he had it was in the distant pas More...
Aug 22, 2010
Meave
rated it:
I do love those abbreviations. I had no idea they used to be de la mode until I read my first Wodehouse a few years ago, and now they've come back in internet-writing and I think it's delightful. I wonder if they sounded like weird, crude prose-poems to readers of early Wodehouse.
Jeeves in the Offing is basically the same plot as any other Jeeves & Wooster, although the bonding of Bertie and Roddy over snitching biscuits at midnight from their respective headmasters' offices was pret More...
Jeeves in the Offing is basically the same plot as any other Jeeves & Wooster, although the bonding of Bertie and Roddy over snitching biscuits at midnight from their respective headmasters' offices was pret More...
Jul 23, 2009
Samantha
rated it:
I have often found my self in a saddened state for having been born in the wrong time, in the wrong country. I yearn for a life of dressing for dinner, butlers, high tea, country house weekends, cute little roadsters and stiff-upper lips. Oh to be English! This PG Wodehouse classic allows me to immerse myself in that culture, if only for as long as the book lasts. I cannot speak more highly of the Jeeves and Wooster hijinks. This was my first exposure to Jeeves and Wooster and it's left me wanti
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Aug 08, 2011
I had previously only read a couple of short compliations in the Jeeves and Wooster series, and had thoroughly enjoyed those. This was the first full length novel I had read with these excellent characters.
To be honest, I struggled a bit with this one - perhaps because the Jeeves character was quite peripheral (only appearing sporadically in the last 20 pages or so) and the Jeeves-Wooster interaction is the aspect of these books that I enjoy the most. I found it a pleasant enough read but never More...
To be honest, I struggled a bit with this one - perhaps because the Jeeves character was quite peripheral (only appearing sporadically in the last 20 pages or so) and the Jeeves-Wooster interaction is the aspect of these books that I enjoy the most. I found it a pleasant enough read but never More...
Dec 02, 2011
Angie
rated it:
One of the funniest books I have ever read! I find myself laughing out loud through many parts of it. You can't remain in a bad mood and read this book. Wodehouse's writing confirms my belief that the British have a superb command of their language:
"Really, one sometimes despairs of the modern girl. You'd have thought that this Wickham would have learned at her mother's knee that the last thing a fellow in a highly nervous condition wants, when he's searching someone's room, i More...
"Really, one sometimes despairs of the modern girl. You'd have thought that this Wickham would have learned at her mother's knee that the last thing a fellow in a highly nervous condition wants, when he's searching someone's room, i More...
Aug 18, 2011
Elisha
rated it:
The world would be a sad place without Bertie and Jeeves. Even though this book's plot is very familiar - Bertie ends up engaged AGAIN to a girl he doesn't want to marry, he plots to push someone into a lake so they can be conveniently rescued, and that blasted cow creamer of Uncle Tom's goes missing. It's all happened before, but somehow you don't even mind.
It's just a pleasure to read these books. They are so funny and clever. I keep meaning to read with a pencil to highlig More...
It's just a pleasure to read these books. They are so funny and clever. I keep meaning to read with a pencil to highlig More...
Mar 24, 2011
Dan
rated it:
Despite reading more than half of Wodehouse's oeuvre and adoring Jeeves & Wooster, I'd never gotten around to this one because it was written in 1960, when Plum was 79 and well past his prime. Well, blow me down: this one's a pip! A little looser and lazier than the absolute cream of the crop but still amusing throughout and achingly funny in spots. As usual, the plot's nearly irrelevant. It's his turns of phrase that make Wodehouse the Master, and "How Right" has them pirouetting a
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May 21, 2009
Nicky
rated it:
My first attempt at reading Jeeves and Wooster, after having made my way through the 4 seasons of the program TV with Fry & Laurie.
Very enjoyable- has the same energy, and fabulous vocabulary of the shows. It holds up well over time too, it doesn't come across at dated material, even though the stories are generally set in the 30s.
This particular volume would be best enjoyed by those already knowing the characters (who recur in many adventures) and settings. I will probably try to More...
Very enjoyable- has the same energy, and fabulous vocabulary of the shows. It holds up well over time too, it doesn't come across at dated material, even though the stories are generally set in the 30s.
This particular volume would be best enjoyed by those already knowing the characters (who recur in many adventures) and settings. I will probably try to More...
Jun 27, 2009
Judy
rated it:
I'm just wild about Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves. In fact, knowing that there is a limited supply of P. G. Wodhouse books, I ration them like we are living during World War II. In this comedy of errors, Bertie reads his engagement in the Times (to his utter surprise), a public school friend, Kipper Herring wins, loses, wins, loses, and wins again the hand of a socialite while at the same time writing a book review that libels their former headmaster, and a leading British psychiatrist is
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Sep 13, 2009
Jean
rated it:
I really enjoyed this Bertie & Jeeves outing, possibly because it was one of the books that *wasn't* adapted for the excellent Jeeves And Wooster television series, so I had no "spoilers" for the story. Funny, endearing, and lighthearted as always. There is a bit less Jeeves in this novel, as he is on his annual vacation during part of it, but he still comes to Bertram's aid in the end.
What I learned from this book? Well-crafted humor never goes out of season. Wodehouse More...
What I learned from this book? Well-crafted humor never goes out of season. Wodehouse More...
Mar 05, 2009
Maybe it's my personal situation, but this was too much of rearranging set pieces. Bobby Wickham, Roddy Glossop, Aunt Dahlia and the cow-creamer.
It confirmed that Loretta Chase really had homaged her Bertie (the doofus brother-in-law in the Scoundrels series) on Wooster, even the dogs loving him and becoming tame lickers upon smelling Bertie is actually Wodehouse canon, so now I wonder if Chase introduced that big dog only for that reason and instead of loving her Bertie as I had come More...
It confirmed that Loretta Chase really had homaged her Bertie (the doofus brother-in-law in the Scoundrels series) on Wooster, even the dogs loving him and becoming tame lickers upon smelling Bertie is actually Wodehouse canon, so now I wonder if Chase introduced that big dog only for that reason and instead of loving her Bertie as I had come More...
Apr 07, 2009
Siri
rated it:
This book was just plain pointless fun. Very difficult to "get" if you don't understand the context. Definitely culture-specific humour. Very English. But once I muddled through the first few pages, I loved it. I didn't learn any lessons. I didn't ponder it. I just smiled and laughed at the ridiculous plights of poor Bertram Wooster as if I was reading a Calvin and Hobbes collection for hours on end (which I also enjoy doing).
If definitely is impossible to be in a ba More...
If definitely is impossible to be in a ba More...
Jul 02, 2010
Ben
rated it:
Frothy comedy populated by our favorite Wodehouse characters. In Bertie Wooster's world the 1920s never end and English country house weekends last forever. Bertie, Bobbie Wickham, Sir Roderick Glossop and "Kipper" Herring descend on Aunt Dahlia's place; hijinks ensue. A little light on Jeeves but satisfying.
Anyone who enjoys PG Wodehouse should do himself a favor and rent the Jeeves and Wooster series starring Steven Frye and Hugh Laurie. Yep, that guy from "House
Anyone who enjoys PG Wodehouse should do himself a favor and rent the Jeeves and Wooster series starring Steven Frye and Hugh Laurie. Yep, that guy from "House
Apr 26, 2011
Doug
rated it:
Hilarious. Why have I not read Wodehouse before this? A totally unexpected surprise; I was expecting a dowdy, dreary piece of droll British humor and got a truly memorable, laugh-out-loud expeirence instead. I'm not sure what inspired to pick this up, other than the kids have read some Jeeves for high school English classes (which, by the way, I had previously thought was a rather curious choice for the teacher to make), but I'm very glad I did.
May 19, 2008
Ian
rated it:
‘Jeeves in the Offing’ is a Jeeves and Wooster novel which yet again sees our hero’s tasting the gastric delights at Brinkley Court, where they have been enlisted to re-unite the union of Bertie’s school pal ‘Kipper’ Herring and one Bobbie Wickham, who has not only haunted them previously but also that other Wodehouse great Mr Mulliner.
Also on hand is Psychiatrist Roderick Glossop whom is no longer a spectre to Bertie but a co-conspirator posing as the butler, Swordfish, in order to More...
Also on hand is Psychiatrist Roderick Glossop whom is no longer a spectre to Bertie but a co-conspirator posing as the butler, Swordfish, in order to More...
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Nov 08, 2010
Julie
rated it:
This is my first Jeeves and Bertie novel. I think to like this kind of book you have to love British social comedies and pointless silliness. Which I do.
Example: "When I say 'mind', I refer to the quarter-teaspoonful of brain which you might possibly find in her head if you sank an artesian well."
It has just the right amount of dachshunds, pointless abbreviations, foreign phrases and complicated scenarios to keep it entertaining, and of course, Jeeves to save th
Example: "When I say 'mind', I refer to the quarter-teaspoonful of brain which you might possibly find in her head if you sank an artesian well."
It has just the right amount of dachshunds, pointless abbreviations, foreign phrases and complicated scenarios to keep it entertaining, and of course, Jeeves to save th
Dec 18, 2009
Frank
rated it:
What can I say? The perfection of perfection. Hugh Laurie said that reading Wodehouse saved his life and I could say the same. I pick this book as my favourite because it contains the legendary Wooster/Jeeves coupling but most of all because it features my No. 1 Wodehouse girl Roberta (Bobbie) Wickham. I'm always slightly sad that Bertie and Bobbie didn't link up but that wouldn't have been Bertie would it. As he says himself he's a 100/1 shot to get married. Still ...
I think Wodehouse ba More...
I think Wodehouse ba More...
Nov 04, 2009
Kathleen
rated it:
Oh Bertie. A beautiful story set while Bertram Wilberforce Wooster must deal with that trial of a time when his faithful valet Jeeves is on holiday. He goes to stay with his aunt Dahlia at Brinkley for the duration, and all manner of hi-jinks ensue. Of course, they must eventually call upon a higher power and have Bertie drive all night to the seaside to get Jeeves. Jeeves, of course, delivers.
Nov 11, 2011
"[Wodehouse is] a master, a genius of inventiveness and versatility, brilliant in his use of language, more adroit than almost any novelist since Dickens at working out a complex package of plot, sub-plot, and sub-sub-plot." - Daily Telegraph
Listen to Jeeves in the Offing on your smartphone.
Listen to Jeeves in the Offing on your smartphone.
May 19, 2010
Surreysmum
rated it:
[These notes were made in 1982:]. Like all Wodehouse, very silly, very amusing. I find it is not so much the situations which set me chuckling - they're pretty standard sit-com stuff: duckings in water, getting caught hunting in someone's room, etc. - as the idiosyncratic language in which the whole thing is told. I doubt if anyone could ever take umbrage at this sort of light-hearted romp.
May 18, 2010
Sally
rated it:
A nice diversion from life's general trials. I don't think I could read more than one of these at a time, but the breeziness of Bertie's narrative is very entertaining as a change of pace. I was especially struck by the large number of Biblical allusions, such as his suggestion to get rid of an unwanted guest: "Cast him into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth!"
Dec 15, 2011
Kati
rated it:
Read by Simon Callow. Poor Bertie, this time it really wasn't his fault, he was actually the only - relatively - sane person around yet he still ended up labeled as a lunatic in the general sense and a kleptomaniac too! And who can he thank for that? Jeeves! Sometimes I think Bertie's nothing but a bottomless well of amusement for Jeeves, the poor chap.
Dec 14, 2008
Christine
rated it:
Jeeves books are always good. Always fun. Always entertaining. My high school English teacher was right! The characters, plot, and humor are consistently amusing. The clueless rich man-boy. The overbearing aunt. The trouble-making cousin. Women in love. Engagements broken. Hi-jinks, fashion faux-pas, and plenty of drinks. Love it.
Jul 23, 2011
David
rated it:
Impossible to read without envisioning Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who were perfectly cast in the roles of Jeeves and Wooster, respectively. PG Wodehouse's grasp of the English vocabularly is top-notch, as ever: his powers of description using only a few words are second to known and is equalled, in my opinion, only by Terry Pratchett.
Jun 04, 2011
Clay
rated it:
If you really want to have a good laugh read this book. I was first made aware of Wodehouse by Doug Wilson back in 1997. Whomever thinks that they're "all that and a bag of chips" should read these Wodehouse books and realize we all act like Bertie sometimes and we all need a "Jeeves" in our lives to lend a helping hand.
Jun 13, 2011
Sho
rated it:
I wish, really truly dearly wish that I could use language in the way that PG Wodehouse used it.
Alas, it's a dying art.
What is there to say about this Jeeves tome? It is most excellent and hilariously all over the place, plot-wise, until the last few pages. And it features an Aunt, which is always excellent news in the World of Wooster.
Alas, it's a dying art.
What is there to say about this Jeeves tome? It is most excellent and hilariously all over the place, plot-wise, until the last few pages. And it features an Aunt, which is always excellent news in the World of Wooster.
