Nothing Serious (short story collection)

First edition

Nothing Serious is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 21 July 1950 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 24 May 1951 by Doubleday & Co., New York.[1] It was published again in 2008 by The Overlook Press.

Overview

It is a mixed bag of stories, mostly featuring appearances from several of Wodehouse's recurring characters, including two Drones Club stories (the first about Bingo Little and another about Freddie Widgeon), five Oldest Member golf stories, one Blandings Castle, one independent, and one Ukridge story.

'Rodney Has A Relapse' has several thinly-veiled references to A.A. Milne the eponymous Rodney Spelvin, a writer, and his mythologised son, referred to here as Timothy Bobbin.[2] This followed on from antagonism between the two men over Wodehouse's alleged treachery during the Second World War.

Contents

  1. "The Shadow Passes" (Drones Club: Bingo Little)
    • First published in this volume
  2. "Bramley Is So Bracing" (Drones Club: Freddie Widgeon)
  3. "Up from the Depths" (Oldest Member golf)
    • First published in this volume
  4. "Feet of Clay" (Oldest Member golf)
    • US: This Week, 18 June 1950 (as "A Slightly Broken Romance")
  5. "Excelsior" (Oldest Member golf)
    • US: Argosy, 1 July 1948 (as "Hazards of Horace Bewstridge")
  6. "Rodney Has a Relapse" (Oldest Member golf)
    • Canada: National Home Monthly, February 1949 (as "Rupert Has a Relapse")
  7. "Tangled Hearts" (Oldest Member golf)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, September 1948 (as "I'll Give You Some Advice")
  8. "Birth of a Salesman" (Blandings Castle)
    • US: This Week, 26 March 1950
  9. "How's That, Umpire?" (Conky Biddle cricket story)
    • First published in this volume
  10. "Success Story" (Ukridge)
    • US: Argosy, 1 March 1947 (as "Ukie Invests in Human Nature")

See also

References and sources

References
  1. ↑ McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and Heineman, J.H. (1990) P.G. Wodehouse: A comprehensive bibliography and checklist. New York: James H. Heineman, pp. 84-85. ISBN 087008125X
  2. ↑ Thwaite, Ann, A.A. Milne: His Life, Faber & Faber, London, 1990, chapter Hitler's War.
Sources
  • Midkiff, Neil. "The Wodehouse short stories". P. G. Wodehouse pages. Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2006-04-24.
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