And Now For My Next Trick

Last July, after about four years of digging through old journals and diaries and generally rummaging about in my brain attic, I released my first book, a memoir called "Revenge of the Nerd, or The Singular Adventures of the Man who Would be Booger." (Well, I didn't personally release it. Technically, St Martins Press released it, a process which appeared to consist of taking a few thousand copies, throwing them as far as they could in all directions and hoping for the best.)

I then went on a book tour to promote it. When I came out from under the ether, it was November. It had been an adventure, but there were times during the process when I was pretty sure this was one I would probably never repeat. I'm an actor, not a writer, and while it had been enlightening and gratifying and educational to actually write a book and see it being bought and read by people who weren't old friends or related to me by blood, no one would've been surprised to learn that I considered my writing career to have ended. One and done. Thank you and we now return to our regularly scheduled program.

Funny how things work out though. It turns out I've written another one after all, and it's one of a very different type indeed. It's called "A Plum Assignment: Discourses on P.G. Wodehouse and His World." There are definitely some memoir-y elements to the book, but primarily it is much as advertised: a non-fictional, whimsical and eccentric collection of essays on the life of the 20th Century's greatest comic writer, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, or as he was known, Plum.

Friends and regular readers are probably familiar with my Wodehouse obsession. It goes back, very nearly to the egg. I mentioned him repeatedly in my first book as a favorite author and lifesaver through difficult times. I was not the only person who regarded him that way. Another was the co-author of this book, Elliott Milstein. That's right, there's a co-author. I brought someone else along to share the pain.

Elliott and I have been writing light-hearted, though scholarly essays and talks on Wodehouse over many years, for publication in Wodehouse journals and as talks at Wodehouse conventions around the world. We decided to collect these morceaux together for the first time and present them for Wodehouse fans and general bibliophiles everywhere and to wrap them in a narrative of friendship.

You see, Elliott and I have known each other since we were beardless boys, and what brought us together was our mutual love of Wodehouse. So for "A Plum Assignment", we introduce each other's articles, through recollection and anecdote, scholarly yet humorous, and all of it guaranteed not to raise the hackles of any thin-skinned celebrities out there.

And Elliott and I were smart enough to trick Ashley Polasek, PhD, FRSA to edit the thing, and when I say she edited it, I mean she jumped in feet first and got her hands dirty. By the time she was done with was, we knew we had been well and truly edited. She practically qualifies as another co-author.

So if you are a Wodehouse fan, or a lover of books in general, or if you're someone who understands the healing and joyful effects of a mutual love of literature with others, this may be the book for you. As John Lennon said on the release of his second book, "It's the usual rubbish but it won't cost much. That's the deal we're going to strike up!"

"A Plum Assignment: Discourses on P.G.Wodehouse and His World" was released April 18th and is available at Amazon and B&N.com, and B&N.uk.