The Coming of Bill

Were I to go out on a limb, as I am often inclined to do, I would say that this book should be mandatory for engaged couples to read. I read it on a trip recently, and then––as soon as I finished it––I started it again, reading aloud with my wife. First of all, Wodehouse is positively hilarious (esp......more

4-1/2 stars. When I read a book that forces me to re-read sentences just for the pure enjoyment of the way they are worded I know I've found a gem. In fact, I would pause and read them out loud to my sister so we could both enjoy them. Loved the language, the humor, the characters, the themes, and th......more

"There were a 'undred fifty of us, living in shoebox in middle of road!" "Cardboard box?" "Aye." "You were lucky!" - Four Yorkshiremen sketch from "At Last the 1948 Show" I'm not quite sure what Plum was trying to do here: was he trying to write a serious novel of social commentary, was he perhaps workin......more

A very curious entry in the Wodehouse canon, being one of his only books with some major emotional vulnerability and a non-comical treatment of depression, marital alienation, and even death and suicide. Emotional abandonment and isolation, in favour of the-absurd-science-du-jour, are the key theme......more