Ratings are out of four stars; comments are welcome. Mini-reviews of Wodehouse's Jeeves novels are also available.

(***) Something Fresh or Something New (1915)

Main characters: Ashe Marson, Joan Valentine, J. Preston Peters, Aline Peters, George Emerson, Freddie Threepwood, R. Jones, Baxter.

Quite unpolished, with characters that lack personality; the regulars are also somewhat unformed. Nevertheless, this book is very entertaining, especially at its climax. Peters offers a reward for recovering a scarab “stolen” by Lord Emsworth; Joan and Ashe impersonate a lady's maid and a valet, respectively; R. Jones swindles Freddie; Beach complains about his stomach; Peters is forced to be vegetarian; and Baxter falls down a flight of stairs in the night.

(** 1/2) Leave it to Psmith (1923)

Main characters: Ronald Psmith, Eve Halliday, Aileen Peavey, Edward Cootes, Joseph Keeble, Freddie Threepwood, Baxter.

An entertaining read, marred by the fact that Psmith is one of Wodehouse's more annoying creations. (I know I'm in the minority on Psmith.) Impostors abound, as do more than usually unlikely coincidences. Mr. Keeble wants his wife's diamond necklace to be stolen; Psmith and Cootes impersonate a poet and his valet; Miss Peavey has a shady past; Baxter famously throws flower-pots through windows; Eve and Freddie ransack Psmith's cottage; and Baxter is fired.

(***) Summer Lightning or Fish Preferred (1929)

Main characters: Ronnie Fish, Sue Brown, Hugo Carmody, Millicent Threepwood, P. Frobisher Pilbeam, Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, Baxter, Uncle Gally.

Begins a bit slowly but ends with a bang. The young lovers are nondescript as usual, but Pilbeam is a delightful character. Hugo kidnaps the Empress in an attempt to soften up Lord Emsworth; Beach is tormented by his role in the kidnapping; Gally's Reminiscences cause an uproar; a jealous Ronnie punches waiters; Sue arrives at Blandings impersonating rich Myra Schoonmaker; Parsloe engages Pilbeam (of the Argus Detective Agency) to steal the Reminiscences; Baxter returns and falls for Sue; and Pilbeam climbs a water-spout.

(***) Heavy Weather (1933)

Main characters: Monty Bodkin, Ronald Fish, Sue Brown, Lord Tilbury, Sir Gregory Parsloe, Percy Pilbeam, Beach, Gally, Lady Julia Fish.

The sequel to Summer Lightning brings much of the same. Monty must hold a job for a year; Ronnie is jealous of Monty; Pilbeam flexes his muscle as proprietor of the Argus Private Inquiry Agency; Connie and Julia terrorize Blandings; and everybody wants to steal Gally's Reminiscences, but the Empress has the final word.

(**) Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (1935 - short stories)

Six of the twelve stories in this volume are about Blandings, and they take place chronologically between Leave it to Psmith and Summer Lightning. Lord Emsworth and Freddie Threepwood take center stage in these pleasant but somewhat predictable vignettes.

(*** 1/2) Lord Emsworth and Others or The Crime Wave at Blandings (1937 - short stories)

There's only one Blandings story in this collection, “The Crime Wave at Blandings,” but it's a gem. More a novella than a short story, “The Crime Wave” uses Baxter and an air gun to hilarious effect. My high rating refers only to this story; the other stories in the collection are competent but generally ho-hum.

(****) Uncle Fred in the Springtime (1939)

Main characters: Lord Ickenham (Uncle Fred), Pongo Twistleton, Polly Pott, Alaric “Ricky” Gilpin, Horace Davenport, Valerie Twistleton, the Duke of Dunstable, Lord Bosham, Claude “Mustard” Pott, Baxter.

A riot from beginning to end. Uncle Fred is a delight, and he is surrounded by a colorful group of characters. Ricky needs money to buy an onion soup bar; Uncle Fred impersonates Roderick Glossop; Polly and Pongo impersonate his daughter and secretary; the Duke throws eggs at Baxter for singing “Bonny Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond”; Mustard Pott scams money off of Bosham by playing Persian Monarchs; Mickey Finns knock out two people; the Empress of Blandings is hidden in the Duke's bathroom.

(***) Full Moon (1947)

Main characters: Gally Threepwood, Tipton Plimsoll, Veronica Wedge, Prudence Garland, Bill Lister, Colonel Egbert Wedge, Lady Hermione, Freddie Threepwood, E. Jimpson Murgatroyd.

Entertaining until the end, where it runs out of steam. Both Tipton and Bill are quite humorous characters. Tipton keeps seeing the face of a kindly gorilla after drinking; Prue is sent to Blandings to prevent her marrying Bill; Bill appears in two different disguises, including one that terrifies the dull-witted Veronica; Freddie wants to sell Donaldson's Dog-Joy to Tipton's stores; Veronica claims Freddie's wife's necklace.

(***) Pigs Have Wings (1952)

Main characters: Sir Gregory Parsloe, George Cyril Wellbeloved, Penny Donaldson, Jerry Vail, Maudie, Lord Vosper, Gloria Salt, Gally, Beach.

As the title suggests, pigs figure prominently in this enjoyable Blandings novel, which contains one of my favorite Wodehouse exchanges: “Things look sticky, Beach.” “Extremely glutinous, Mr. Galahad.” Sir Gregory threatens the Empress's hegemony with the Queen of Matchingham; George Cyril Wellbeloved goes in search of alcohol; Lord Emsworth and Sir Gregory fall in love with the same woman; and the Empress and the Queen are kidnapped early and often.

(*** 1/2) Service with a Smile (1961)

Main characters: Lavender Briggs, George Cyril Wellbeloved, the Duke of Dunstable, Myra Schoonmaker, Bill Bailey, Archie Gilpin, Lord Tilbury, Jimmy Schoonmaker, Uncle Fred.

Some of Blandings' most colorful characters appear in this novel, along with large helpings of plot. Uncle Fred pulls the strings, although his chicanery at the end is somewhat confusing. Uncle Fred introduces Bill as his Brazilian friend Meriwether; Dunstable employs Emsworth's haughty secretary Lavender Briggs to steal the Empress; George Cyril Wellbeloved has no morals; Emsworth cuts the ropes of a tent housing a group of annoying church lads; Jimmy Schoonmaker finds the courage to propose to Lady Constance.

(** 1/2) Galahad at Blandings or The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood (1965)

Main characters: Tipton Plimsoll, Wilfred Allsop, Alexandra “Sandy” Callender, Sam Bagshott, Dame Daphne Winkworth, Huxley Winkworth, Colonel Wedge, Lady Hermione, Beach, Constable Evans.

Tipton Plimsoll and the Wedges return in this generally agreeable but somewhat rehashed offering. Sandy drives Emsworth crazy as his latest secretary; the Wedges think Tipton is bankrupt; Sam accidentally steals Beach's watch and then punches Constable Evans; Wilfred intoxicates the Empress; Gally intercepts a disastrous letter from Veronica; Sam impersonates Augustus Whipple (“On the Care of the Pig”).

(**) A Pelican at Blandings or No Nudes is Good Nudes (1969)

Main characters: Wilbur Trout, Vanessa Polk, the Duke of Dunstable, John Halliday, Linda Gilpin, Howard Chesney, Gally.

The presence of the Duke of Dunstable enlivens an otherwise listless novel. The oft-married Wilbur wants a nude painting which reminds him of an ex-wife; the Duke buys the painting to sell to Wilbur; various people try to steal the painting; John impersonates a psychiatrist; and Vanessa has a secret of her own.

Sunset at Blandings (1977)

...and some of the rest

I may add to this list eventually.

(****) Laughing Gas (1936)

Wodehouse takes a ridiculous concept - the young Earl of Havershot and child film star Joey Cooley somehow exchange bodies while both are under sedation - and really flies with it. Some people call this Wodehouse's worst novel, along with The Coming of Bill; I agree about Bill, but fervently disagree about Laughing Gas.

(****) Biffen's Millions or Frozen Assets (1964)

Full of all the usual stock Wodehouse characters -- the dashing hero, the small-pretty-and-vivacious heroine, the rich-lazy-and-powerful older man, and so forth -- but in a delightfully pleasing way. The pimply and unscrupulous Percy Pilbeam (also featured in Summer Lightning, Heavy Weather, and Bill the Conqueror) pushes this novel into four-star territory. The first chapter, starring an intentionally incompetent French policeman, is worth the price of admission alone.

Sam the Sudden or Sam in the Suburbs (1925)

The first of five novels (the other four are listed directly below this one) featuring the delicious Soapy and Dolly Molloy and Chimp Twist. Wodehouse cites Sam the Sudden as one of his personal favorites. (I've forgotten what my rating for this book was.)

(***) Money for Nothing (1928)

Begins slowly but ends in a flurry of comical criminal activity. Chimp runs a place called Healthward Ho, and Soapy administers knock-out drops to anyone who comes near him.

(***) Money in the Bank (1946)

(***) Ice in the Bedroom (1961)

Dolly tries to recover a diamond necklace she left in a house in Valley Fields. The level of creativity occasionally flags a bit, but Chimp (as detective J. Sheringham Adair) is still in fine form.

(** 1/2) Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin or The Plot That Thickened (1972)

As usual, Soapy, Dolly, and Chimp set out to steal a valuable (in this case, a pearl necklace). The supporting cast is a bit lackluster, though.

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