P.G. Wodehouse Short Stories

P.G. Wodehouse Short Stories gathers a handful of his early comic tales, read slowly and softly to carry you off to sleep.

These stories come from The Man Upstairs and Other Stories, a collection Wodehouse published in 1914, years before Jeeves and Wooster made him famous. The cast is pure Wodehouse: young men in love who can't quite say the right thing, meddling relatives with strong opinions, and ordinary days that spiral into gentle chaos over a misplaced letter, a missed train, or a golf match gone wrong. Nothing here is cruel or dark, and the trouble always sorts itself out by the last page.

Each story stands on its own, so you can drift off partway through one and pick up fresh the next night. The settings are the same warm, sunlit Edwardian England that runs through all of Wodehouse's early work: country houses, London clubs, quiet garden parties, filled with silly-ass young men, sharp-tongued aunts, and the odd unflappable servant who sees everything coming.

This is light comic fiction, the kind of gentle, old-fashioned English humor readers came to expect from Wodehouse long before Jeeves ever entered the picture. It's perfect for fans of cozy British comedy, or anyone who wants a story that promises nothing worse than a case of wounded pride.

Elizabeth Grace reads at an easy pace, keeping the humour soft rather than sharp. Don't bother following every turn; just let the words wash over you, story by story, until you're gone well before anyone's mix-up gets cleared up.