Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
Encyclopedia
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is a novel
by P. G. Wodehouse
, published in the United States
on March 22, 1963 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York
, and in the United Kingdom
on August 16, 1963 by Herbert Jenkins
, London
. It is the ninth of eleven novels featuring Bertie Wooster
and his valet
Jeeves
.
, the syrupy daughter of the house who believes the stars are God's daisy chain. Only Gussie Fink-Nottle
, Bertie's childhood friend and Madeline's on-again off-again fiancé, stands between our hero and the dreaded state of matrimony. No surprise, then, that matrimonial disaster looms for our hero when Madeline, inspired by the life of Percy Bysshe Shelley
, orders Gussie to abandon his beloved steak and kidney pie
and take up a vegetarian diet. Add the intrigues of Miss Stiffy Byng to win her fiancé the Reverend Stinker Pinker a vicarage, the rivalry of collectors Sir Watkyn Bassett and Bertie's Uncle Tom over an objet d'art, and the irresistible culinary attractions of American Emerald Stoker, and you have trouble of the sort only Jeeves can mend.
, the main events of the novel were dramatised in Season IV, Episode 5: Trouble at Totleigh Towers (aired 1993).
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
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...
, 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 March 22, 1963 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., 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 August 16, 1963 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...
. It is the ninth of eleven novels featuring 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 his valet
Valet
Valet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
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...
.
Plot
In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, Bertie Wooster returns to Totleigh Towers, the site of an earlier ordeal that nearly landed him in prison and, worse still, in bonds of marriage to Madeline BassettMadeline Bassett
Madeline Bassett is a recurring character in the Jeeves stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.-Overview:...
, the syrupy daughter of the house who believes the stars are God's daisy chain. Only Gussie Fink-Nottle
Gussie Fink-Nottle
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a possible member of the Drones Club...
, Bertie's childhood friend and Madeline's on-again off-again fiancé, stands between our hero and the dreaded state of matrimony. No surprise, then, that matrimonial disaster looms for our hero when Madeline, inspired by the life of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
, orders Gussie to abandon his beloved steak and kidney pie
Steak and kidney pie
Steak and kidney pie is a savoury pie that is filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney , fried onion, and brown gravy...
and take up a vegetarian diet. Add the intrigues of Miss Stiffy Byng to win her fiancé the Reverend Stinker Pinker a vicarage, the rivalry of collectors Sir Watkyn Bassett and Bertie's Uncle Tom over an objet d'art, and the irresistible culinary attractions of American Emerald Stoker, and you have trouble of the sort only Jeeves can mend.
Adaptation
In the TV series Jeeves and WoosterJeeves and Wooster
-External links:*—An episode guide to the series, including information about which episodes were adapted from which Wodehouse stories.*—Episode guides, screenshots and quotes from the four series....
, the main events of the novel were dramatised in Season IV, Episode 5: Trouble at Totleigh Towers (aired 1993).
Text
- Everyman hardback (2000) ISBN 978-1841591056
- Arrow Books paperback (2008) ISBN 978-0099513957
- Simon & Schuster hardcover (2000) ISBN 0743204107
- Touchstone paperback (2000) ISBN 978-0743203609
Audio
- BBC full-cast dramatisation (2010) ISBN 0563510072
- BBC audiobook narrated by Jonathan CecilJonathan CecilJonathan Hugh Gascoyne-Cecil , more commonly known as Jonathan Cecil, was an English theatre, film and television actor.-Early life:...
(2005) ISBN 1572704845 - Blackstone audiobook narrated by Frederick DavidsonFrederick DavidsonFrederick Harvey Davidson was the 26th Mayor of Winnipeg from 1917 to 1918.He was born in Brockville, Ontario and moved to Western Canada when he was 18 years old...
(2010) ISBN 1441720073