Wodehouse, P. G. How Right You Are, Jeeves. New York: Harper & Row, 1960. Print.
Genre: humor
Summary: Rich boy Bertie Wooster goes on a weekend holiday at the same time his butler, Jeeves, is called away to judge a beauty pageant. In just a few short hours, Bertie manages to wreck his best friend’s wedding engagement, ruin his uncle’s lucrative business prospects, all while convincing a gossiping American author that he’s completely insane. Only one person can clean this mess–but can Bertie find Jeeves in time?
Critique: In a book where every chapter is a romp, I’m not sure most readers can keep from getting bucked off Wodehouse’s saddle. Especially not when they’re clutching the laugh-stitches stabbing their sides. Best of all: Bertie’s ultra glamorous slang. His life is so full of drama that he must always abbreviate. For instance, he must call Lady Wickham and get the sit. (situation). His past is a painful subj. Ultimately feels rather contemporary and not that different from txtspk. Additional humor derives from Bertie’s careless splicing of French and Latin alongside his patchy memory for practical words: “I’m what they call an a-something of novels. Aficionado, would that be it?” Everywhere else, the dialogue clips along as the mixups stack faster than bills in a millionaire’s wallet. In short, reading Wodehouse is a lot like watching one of Preston Sturges’s movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age! OMG. ROFLMAO!
jenny mason 