The Inimitable P. G. Wodehouse: The Story of His Life and A Treasury of His Wit

P.G. Wodehouse is regarded by many as the greatest of English humorists. His stately homes, dragon-like aunts and young men about town have delighted readers since he began publishing in the early 1900s. But understanding the man who was loved for his comic creations yet reviled for his wartime broadcasts has been difficult. He was far funnier on paper than in person, content to detach himself from real life so that his judgement on political matters was flawed. He was unwilling to reveal anything of his personal life, largely due to his conviction that he was `the dullest subject that was'. Mark Hichens's lively account of Wodehouse's life reveals a man who could be both naïve and shrewd: a social recluse who married a spirited party-lover; and a writer whose unremitting hard work gave us unforgettable portraits of so many diverse characters.

Hichens contends that as much light can be cast on Wodehouse from his fictional characters as from his autobiographies; he was more ready to put elements of himself into them. One discovers from them his traits and attitudes - such as his love of sport, his unhappy early employment in a bank and his various phobias. The final section of the book is a stand-alone collection of classic Wodehouse delights, from the joys of love - `the more he looked at her, the more he felt a lifetime spent in gazing at Elizabeth Bottsworth would be a lifetime dashed well spent' - to the after-effects of alcohol - `I have a headache that starts at the soles of my feet and gets worse all the way up.'