220. Thank you, Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse

May 2009
History: This book, one of many of the Jeeves series, was first published in the U.K. in 1934. The story had previously been serialized during the year of 1934. Jeeves is Wodehouse's most famous character. The name "Jeeves" comes from Percy Jeeves, a Warwickshire cricketer killed in the First World War. Both the name "Jeeves" and the character of Jeeves have come to be thought of as the quintessential name and nature of a butler, inspiring many famous similar characters
Plot: After a falling out concerning Bertie's relentless playing of the banjolele, Jeeves leaves Bertie's service and finds work with Bertie's old friend, Lord "Chuffy" Chuffnell, of Chuffnell Hall, Dorset. He is replaced by Brinkley, a most unsatisfactory valet, and together they travel to one of Chuffy's rental properties in Dorset, the remote location of the cottage allowing Bertie to continue practicing the banjolele without complaints from his neighbors. Chuffy, whose high rank is only matched by his low financial status, hopes to sell his dilapidated family manor to raise cash, and enlists Jeeves' help in persuading visiting American millionaire J. Washburn Stoker to stump up the cash. Stoker's daughter, the beautiful Pauline, is not only a former fiancee of Bertie, but has quickly become the object of Chuffy's finance-impaired affections. Stoker himself, meanwhile, covets the talents of valet extraordinaire Jeeves. Of course all kinds of confusion ensues, including the fiery destruction of Bertie's cottage and banjolele, but fortunately Jeeves' enormous brain enables him to unravel everything satisfactorily as the story ends: the home is sold, the two couples are headed to the altar, and Jeeves has re-entered Bertie's grateful employ.
Review: I listened to this book on the way to NYC. It was easy and fun, and I liked it. I loved the narrator, Jonathan Ceril.
Opening Line: “I was a shade perturbed.”
Closing Line: “Thank you Jeeves”, I said. “Not at all sir”.
Quotes: “ Excellent companion though I’d always found him in the past, Chuffy had not shown himself at his chummiest, during the recent scene, with the result that for some little time, had been feeling like Daniel In the lions den.”
Rating: Very Good