A Few Quick Ones
Encyclopedia
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
. It was first published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 13 April 1959 by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 26 June 1959 by Herbert Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of "Herbert Jenkins" and "Barrie & Rockcliffe". One of their most notable authors was P. G...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
All the stories in the collection feature recurring Wodehouse characters and themes: four Drones Club
Drones Club
The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a gentlemen's club in London. Many of his Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members....
members (two Freddie Widgeon and two Bingo Little
Bingo Little
Richard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
), two golf stories (one with the Oldest Member
Oldest Member
The Oldest Member is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse. He narrates the majority of Wodehouse's golf stories from the terrace of a golf club whose location is unclear, and he never has a proper name....
and one without), two Mr Mulliner
Mr Mulliner
Mr. Mulliner is a fictional character from the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Mr. Mulliner is a loquacious pub raconteur who, no matter what the topic of conversation, can find an appropriate story about a member of his family to match it....
, one Jeeves
Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
and Bertie Wooster
Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
, and one Ukridge.
Contents
- "The Fat of the Land" (Drone Freddie Widgeon)
- US; This Week, 2 November 1958
- "Scratch Man" (Oldest MemberOldest MemberThe Oldest Member is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse. He narrates the majority of Wodehouse's golf stories from the terrace of a golf club whose location is unclear, and he never has a proper name....
golf)- US: Saturday Evening PostThe Saturday Evening PostThe Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, 20 January 1940 (as "Tee for Two") - UK: StrandStrand MagazineThe Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
, September 1940 (as "Tee for Two")
- US: Saturday Evening Post
- "The Right ApproachThe Right ApproachThe Right Approach is a 1961 film directed by David Butler. It stars Frankie Vaughan and Martha Hyer.-Cast:*Frankie Vaughan as Leo Mack*Martha Hyer as Anne Perry*Juliet Prowse as Ursula Poe*Gary Crosby as Rip Hullet*David McLean as Bill Sukolovic...
" (Mr MullinerMr MullinerMr. Mulliner is a fictional character from the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Mr. Mulliner is a loquacious pub raconteur who, no matter what the topic of conversation, can find an appropriate story about a member of his family to match it....
)- UK: LilliputLilliput (magazine)Lilliput was a small-format British monthly magazine of humour, short stories, photographs and the arts, founded in 1937 by the photojournalist Stefan Lorant. The first issue came out in July and it was sold shortly after to Edward Hulton, when editorship was taken over by Tom Hopkinson in 1940....
, September 1958 - US: PlayboyPlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, January 1959
- UK: Lilliput
- "Jeeves Makes an Omelette"
- CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
: Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, 22 August 1958 - UK: Lilliput, February 1959
- US: Ellery Queen's Mystery MagazineEllery Queen's Mystery MagazineEllery Queen's Mystery Magazine is an American monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction...
, August 1959 (as "Jeeves and the Stolen Venus")
- Canada
- "The Word in Season" (Drone Bingo LittleBingo LittleRichard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
)- UK: PunchPunch (magazine)Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
, 21 August 1940 - US: Harper's BazaarHarper's BazaarHarper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
, 15 September 1940 - US: This Week, 18 May 1958 (as "Bingo Little's Wild Night Out")
- UK: Punch
- "Big Business" (Mr Mulliner)
- US: Collier'sCollier's WeeklyCollier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, 13 December 1952 (without Mulliner framework) - UK: Lilliput, March/April 1953 (without Mulliner framework)
- US: Collier's
- "Leave It to Algy" (Drone Bingo Little)
- US: Blue BookBlue Book (magazine)Blue Book was a popular 20th-century American magazine with a lengthy 70-year run under various titles from 1905 to 1975.Launched as The Monthly Story Magazine, it was published under that title from May 1905 to August 1906 with a change to The Monthly Story Blue Book Magazine for issues from...
, 1954 (as "Hats Off to Algernon") - UK: John BullJohn Bull (magazine)John Bull Magazine was a weekly periodical established in the City, London EC4, by Theodore Hook in 1820.-Publication dates:It was a popular periodical that continued in production through 1824 and at least until 1957...
, 16 May 1959
- US: Blue Book
- "Joy Bells for Walter" (A golf story without the Oldest Member)
- US: This Week, 17 October 1956 (as "Keep Your Temper, Walter")
- UK: John Bull, 16 February 1957 (as "Keep Your Temper, Walter")
- "A Tithe for Charity" (UkridgeStanley Featherstonehaugh UkridgeStanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse.Ukridge is a schemer who will do anything to increase his funding -- except, of course, work. An alert and creative opportunist, he makes sure that no kindness shown to him, however...
)- US: Playboy, April 1955
- "Oofy, Freddie and the Beef Trust" (Drone Freddie Widgeon)
- First published in the 1949 omnibus Best of Wodehouse, as "Freddie, Oofy and the Beef Trust"
The Ukridge story "A Tithe for Charity" did not appear in the original U.S. edition, which instead featured a 1958 "exclusive" pseudo-Drones story entitled "Unpleasantness at Kozy Kot" (actually a rewritten version of the 1928 Jeeves story "Fixing It for Freddie" collected in Carry On, Jeeves
Carry on, Jeeves
Carry on, Jeeves is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 9 October 1925 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on October 7, 1927 by George H. Doran, New York...
). "Jeeves Makes an Omelette" was a rewritten version of the 1913 Reggie Pepper
Reggie Pepper
Reginald Pepper, known as "Reggie", is a fictional character who appears in seven short stories by P.G. Wodehouse. He is a young man-about-town with far more money than brain cells...
story "Doing Clarence a Bit of Good", which appeared in the UK collection My Man Jeeves
My Man Jeeves
My Man Jeeves is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1919 by George Newnes. Of the eight stories in the collection, half feature the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, while the others concern Reggie Pepper, an early prototype...
.