Jeeves Again

Despite an encompassing despisement of hard-back books, I just couldn’t wait to read these twelve new stories of Wodehouse’s Jeeves books by such lofty and prestigious writers, in the only medium possible.

This collection of short stories are by Frank Skinner, Roddy Doyle, Alan Titchmarsh, Dominic Sandbrook, Deborah Frances-White, Andrew Hunter Murray, Scarlett Curtis, Jasper Fforde, John Finnemore, Ian Moore, William Rayfet Hunter and Fergus Craig.

These are short stories about Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves encompassing all sorts of what-if scenarios. There are a couple of the classic Wodehouse farcical nature, but also some more surreal affairs. What if they were displaced through time into 2025? What if Jeeves was in fact an electric car? There are also a couple of great stories centred on secondary characters in the Jeeves universe, including a fictional history of the gorrilla Roderick Spode - long-time Wooster antagonist - as he mingles with real-life English political figures, and a story inside the journal of Wooster’s Aunt Agatha, which paints quite a different picture of the overbearing matriarch.

One of the highlights for me is the Roddy Doyle story - a Dublin man who wins the lottery and employs a butler - enter Jeeves. If the beauty of Wodehouse’s style is it’s colloquialism and tone, then Doyle projects his own beautiful and hilarious Irish rhythm and slang.

Another from Deborah Frances-White sees Wooster crashing the local Servants’ Ball, wherein he meets Jeeves, and - after some confusion with a green carnation (a symbol of homosexuality in his time) - ends up having to explain himself to friends both men and women alike. It’s lovely to see a queer story in here, and though attitudes of the time were a lot less gay-friendly, it’s good to see Wooster's doe-eyed curiosity and acceptance of queer culture.

I don't think they're all perfect, but I think for a Wodehouse fan they're all worth a go, and none of the stories last long enough to be dull or tiresome. It's amazing how so many of them capture the style of Wodehouse so perfectly. They're clearly fans, and it's wonderful to feel such love for a thing. These authors have the right stuff. And they have it in buckets.