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Dec 13, 2011

Elizabeth rated it:

Bertie Wooster is the first to admit that he's not the smartest bloke around, but he doesn't have to be because he's got his man servant Jeeves to help him solve all his problems. Jeeves is a kind of Jedi Warrior/Knight with a keen fashion sense, and there's not a problem he can't solve. This collection of short stories finds Wooster attempting to help his friends deal with money and romance, and while the scrapes he gets himself into never quite turn out the way he thought, Jeeves is always the More...

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Aug 13, 2011

Kiri added it

I've decided to attempt reading the Jeeves novels in order. However even though this is listed as the first Jeeves novel - it does not contain the Extricating Gussie which is referenced in at least two of the stories. A single story that is found in the 1917 collection The Man With Two Left Feet, which brings Jeeves and Bertie to American shores at the behest of Aunt Agatha. But despite this error I forge -- ever giggling -- onwards!

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Feb 17, 2009

Lizzy rated it:

This is a collection of eight short stories written by P. G. Wodehouse. Four of them are Bertie and Jeeves stories, and four of them are about another character, Reggie Pepper. The Bertie and Jeeves stories are always very formulaic, in that each story involves one of the main character’s friends (or the main character) getting into some sort of scrape, which they then must find some ingenious way to get out of, which inevitably goes horribly, horribly wrong. Many hilarious hi-jinks ensue, but o More...

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Feb 05, 2011

Matt rated it:

This is the first P.G. Wodehouse I have read. I read it mainly on the recommendation and reviews of several of my Goodreads friends.

The writing style and humor of Wodehouse is a dry, British humor. As one friend described it, and I am inclined to agree, it has an intellectual appeal to it.

Wodehouse brings characters, situations, and scenes alive through is humorous and witty description of them.

I hadn't the heart to touch my breakfast. I told Jeeves to drink i

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Feb 11, 2012

Jen rated it:

Considering how long many of the books I normally read are...I needed an easy win if this 50 books in 2012 is going to come off.

I've been meaning to read some Wodehouse. I think everyone "means" to read Wodehouse--assuming they have heard of him. But we all mean to do a lot of things that we never of course do.

The book is a collection of short stories. Some feature Jeeves (the butler) and Wooster, his erstwhile but a bit daft employer. Others have Peppers as the mai More...

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Aug 23, 2011

Caleb rated it:

I love Wodehouse and have read a few Jeeves & Wooster stories. Trying out my new ebook reader, I noticed that this one was in the public domain so I loaded it up. I must say, the Jeeves & Wooster series is the only example I know of something that actually is just as good or better to watch the TV show before reading the books -- when later reading the books, you can hear the voices. That really says something about the quality of the BBC adaptation and the talents of Stephen Fry and Hugh Lau More...

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Aug 29, 2010

Julie rated it:

I downloaded this from Project Gutenberg and read it on my e-reader. Then I went to find the next one, only to find it wasn't available! Why some of his works are out of copyright and some apparently are not baffles me a bit. It doesn't seem entirely based on date.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed it! Even though I'd only seen snippets of the Jeeves and Wooster with Fry and Laurie, I did picture them and hear them when I was reading. I guess I'm tainted. But it's possible it added to the experie More...

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Jan 06, 2012

Tom rated it:

Thanks to Amazon's free Kindle edition, I got to read this collection of P.G. Wodehouse short stories. It was my first exposure, and I greatly enjoyed the stories' quiet charm. The stakes are never much higher than an inconvenient house guest who won't go home, and Bertie Wooster the narrator uses a good deal of slang that, if Wikipedia is to be believed, was dated when Wodehouse wrote it. But the stories themselves are fairly clever in a comedy-of-manners kind of way. I will say, as a warni More...

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Aug 12, 2011

Susan rated it:

'Oh what fun it is to'...read PG Wodehouse during the holidays. Every so often I have to grab an unread novel or collection and hunker down for a few hours of sheer fun. Not all the books feature the long enduring butler who finds intricate solutions to his employer's dilemmas, but when he does, it's like the frosting on the cupcake. The finishing touch. Wodehouse wrote in the first half of the 20th century. His wry, sardonic, droll, polished British wit is subtle and has endured. His sh More...

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Feb 06, 2011

Khaya rated it:

Sometimes -- rarely -- something is over-the-top, formulaic, predictable, silly, and yet I find myself suspending my innate snarkiness and just giggling along with the fun. Such was my first encounter with Jeeves, Bertie Wooster's butler in this series and a fabulous straight man. Every time the audiobook reader intoned, in Jeeves's deep and serious voice, "If I may, sir...," I felt a reflexive Pavlovian giggle welling up. This was great for audio -- light and entertaining without r More...

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Jan 16, 2012

Cheryl rated it:

"It's brain," I said, "pure brain! What do you do to get like that, Jeeves? I believe you must eat alot of fish, or something. Do you eat alot of fish, Jeeves?"

Well, there you go, Bertie Wooster has unraveled the mystery of his man, Jeeves' big brain. There is more wisdom revealed in MY MAN JEEVES; Wodehouse is replete with stories of stolen paintings, boring guests who refuse to leave, and English relatives of friends who believe a ruse and arrive in New York unann More...

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Jan 25, 2012

Chris rated it:

As always, Jeeves and Wooster are wonderfully diverting. Each story has at least two laugh-out-loud descriptions. In this set Bertie is enjoying a trip across the pond to America, thus escaping Aunt Agatha for the duration.

I was surprised that four of the stories (half the book) did not involve Jeeves and Wooster at all, but were Reggie Pepper stories. Still hilarious (especially the kidnapping sequence in "Helping Freddie") but not related. In contrast to The Inimitable Jeeves More...

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Oct 21, 2011

Sergio rated it:

This is the first PG Wodehouse and first Jeeves and Wooster book I've read and I just loved the four stories about these two characters.

Sure, the plots are a bit formulaic, but I really wasn't expecting anything too original in that sense. The stories generally involve a friend of Wooster's in some sort of predicament, followed by a crazy scheme thought up the genius of Jeeves and botched by the incompetence of Wooster. In the end, there's a happy ending though not necessarily More...

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Apr 02, 2009

Nickolas rated it:

I once saw a program on the BBC about Douglas Adams and he was saying how influential Wodehouse was to him. I've been meaning to read this book for some time but have been unable to track down a copy at my usual bookstores. Well there I was, at a fantastic second (or should I say 100th) hand bookstore in the High Street Mall off Market Street in Fremantle Western Australia when it hit me. A book fell from the top shelf and lo and behold there was Mr. Wodehouse staring up at me. Actually I had as More...

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Jan 08, 2012

Chrissy rated it:

If you want something good to read, but don't want to get knee deep into a story that will keep you up all night, this is a great choice. It's a compilation of short, and very amusing and clever stories. Some involve Mr. Bertie Wooster, who admits he's not all that smart, and his "man" (butler) Jeeves. Others involve Mr. Reggie Pepper who also is not too bright. Both men seem to get themselves in these ridiculous messes as they try to help their pals. In Mr. Wooster's case, he has More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Janice rated it:

What: Semi-aroistratic Brits being Brits. Where: NYC & around London. Why: Because they can.

Back in the 90's one of the first compiler websites was www.askjeeves.com. It's still around, living in the Google shadow. I was supposing that the website was harkening to Wodehouse's character Jeeves. However, this Jeeves character provided solution & information that could only be characterized as sillly and petty, a far cry from the complexity and genius of website information comp More...

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Jan 24, 2012

Jim rated it:

This was like watching a favorite sit-com marathon. Vacuous stories with no edifying qualities other than making your sides split. I seriously LOL'd at many points through every story. Not all the stories in this collection are about Wooster and Jeeves. Equally funny are the ones starring Reggie Peppers.

Hollywood writers would do well dipping into this well. I guess Mr. Belvidere, which I never saw, was supposed to be based on Jeeves, but I am sure he can't compare to the original. More...

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Dec 03, 2010

Kati rated it:

Wodehouse's stories are certainly written for reading aloud and Martin Jarvis reads them in such a hilarious way that you simply have to laugh out loud. Too bad that not all of the stories are about Bertie Wooster and his gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves. Only two actually are: "Bertie Changes His Mind" and "Fixing It for Freddie". The rest is told from the point of view of Bertie's various crazy friends. I've seen the show Jeeves&Wooster and those stories that actually don't ha More...

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Nov 20, 2011

Denae rated it:

When I was a child, every once in a while on a Sunday evening my parents would rush us off to bed so they could sit down and watch Jeeves & Wooster on PBS. Why it took me so long to seek out the series after those years of listening to my mother laugh loudly and helplessly, I cannot say. Finally, I decided to take the plunge. My Man Jeeves is a collection of short stories by P.G. Wodehouse, the first in a long series. Unfortunately, half or more of the stories do not contain Jeeves. They were no More...

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Apr 23, 2011

Linda rated it:

P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves series is a laugh-out-loud funny and witty blend of satricial commentary aimed at the turn-of-the-20th-century British upperclass. Modern day stereotypes of British butlers being resourceful and more intelligent than their masters stem, in large part, to Jeeves. The series has a number of books broken into short stories that, ultimately, are supposed to follow an underlying storyline, but one need not read them all in order. Because, really, they weren't written in any pa More...

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Jan 20, 2010

adventurat rated it:

Back to short story format with Jeeves again. This is a mixed volume, with some of the stories featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, and some concerning Reggie Pepper, an early prototype for Wooster.

Bertie is in New York for these stories, after having got on the wrong side of his Aunt Agatha in England. Lots of new scope for his brainless shenanigans and Jeeves' genius at extracting Bertie - and others - from situations of their own making.

The Reggie Pepper stories are e More...

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Apr 02, 2009

Mary rated it:

I seem to be hearing a lot about Wodehouse lately, so I thought I should give the Jeeves and Wooster series a try. My Man Jeeves is a collection of short stories, most of which are narrated by Bertie Wooster, about the scrapes he and his friends get into and how his servant, Jeeves, always brilliantly saves the day. The middle stories were narrated by a guy named Reggie, who didn't have a servant to save the day, but were much the same otherwise (I was a little confused by this interlude, and wo More...

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Apr 10, 2011

Sistermagpie rated it:

The short stories in here are probably the earliest Jeeves and Wooster--which is probably why it was the one available on Project Gutenberg! If you like Jeeves and Wooster you'll like these stories. There are also a few stories about a character called Reggie Pepper who gets into similar scrapes, but next to Bertie he can't help but seem a little pale and as he gets into and out of scrapes on his own he doesn't need a Jeeves character, so you don't have one of the main draws of Bertie's stories. More...

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Apr 27, 2009

Anne rated it:

I have been meaning to pick up something by P.G. Wodehouse since I was 9 years old and spotted it on someone's bedside table. It's 25 years later, and I finally got around to it. I wish I hadn't waited so long! I first read, through Librivox, a short story by Wodehouse called "A Sea of Troubles," and as it was the funniest story I've ever read about suicide, I jumped right into My Man Jeeves with abandon. I didn't realize that some of the stories in this collection were about character More...

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Dec 22, 2011

Kaye rated it:

Brilliant! P G Wodehouse is a literary genius. He has an extraordinary gift for satire and comedy, and writes so effortlessly, it is a true pleasure reading his work.

This collection of short stories include 4 stories featuring the classic duo of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, and a further 4 about another idiotic fop called Pepper.

Wodehouse's brilliance lies in being able to succinctly capture the hypocrisy and lunacy of English aristocracy and social class system without ever re More...

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Oct 02, 2011

Joseph rated it:

This was the first “Jeeves” book that I have ever read. Indeed the first book by P.G. Wodehouse. It was a fun read, but light enough to float away like a helium filled balloon. Eight stories, each essentially stand alone and of the same format. The narrator, an independently wealthy young man, has a friend in some sort of trouble. The narrator comes to the rescue, sometimes with the aid of the marvelous Jeeves, and sometimes with out, with generally mixed results. The stories that include More...

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May 19, 2011

Timothy rated it:

I was first put onto the comedic genius of early 20th century British author P. G. Wodehouse by a friend of mine. She raved in her reviews and comments about how great the author was. I gave him a try with *The Clicking of Cuthbert*, and I was hooked. The humor was spot on, and it wasn't slap-stick or in your face, as much as subtle humor. It was as hilarious as anything one might read today, but at the same time, the reader has to pay attention to the nuances in language, and the context the h More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Robyn rated it:

I was turned on to P.G. Wodehouse by Douglas Adams and Hugh Laurie. The former who referred to Wodehouse as his hero and the latter who played Bertie in several TV productions of "Bertie and Jeeves". Jeeves, in the latter case was played immaculately by Stephen Fry. This book is a series of short tales about a daffy aristocrat who manages to get through life by relying on his simultaneously loyal and genius butler Jeeves. Wodehouse seems to arrive at comedy effortlessly as it seems More...

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Jul 20, 2010

Meave rated it:

I'd read later Wodehouse before this, so my expectations were too high. Who is this Reggie Pepper, I kept thinking, and this idiotic Voules? Jeeves would never, ever demand a bribe to keep quiet, let alone drunkenly accuse one of Bertie's friends of any wrongdoing. And we certainly don't need any antihero gentleman's gentlemen to show just what a paragon Jeeves is. Honestly.

But besides that, you know, Wodehouse is a delight. He is cotton candy that melts just on your tongue. He is a More...

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Nov 17, 2010

Anju rated it:

Half of these stories have to do with Bertie Wooster and Jeeves and half have to do with Reggie Pepper, a character who is sort of a mix between Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. I found that I liked the Wooster and Jeeves stories better, but I'm not sure if that's because in my head, the story involved Fry and Laurie.

I read this particular book via Daily Lit, a website that serializes books and delivers them via either email or RSS. I selected the RSS option and found I rather enjoyed it. A More...

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