Sonny Boy (short story)

"Sonny Boy"
Author P. G. Wodehouse
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Drones Club
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher The Saturday Evening Post
Media type Print (Magazine)
Publication date 2 September 1939

"Sonny Boy" is a short story by English humorist P. G. Wodehouse. The story is part of the Drones Club canon. It was published in the US in The Saturday Evening Post on 2 September 1939, and in The Strand Magazine in the UK in December 1939.[1] The story was included in the 1940 collection Eggs, Beans and Crumpets.[2]

In the story, Bingo Little tries to make back money lost in a bet with the help of his infant son Algernon Aubrey.

The title of the story is derived from the song "Sonny Boy".

Plot

Bingo Little treats his baby, Algernon Aubrey Little, to milk at the Drones Club. A Crumpet tells a Bean, Egg and Pieface the following story about Bingo, his wife, the novelist Rosie M. Banks, and their baby.

Like Bingo at the same age, his baby is ugly and resembles a gargoyle. Bingo, an avid gambler always on the lookout for omens, takes this as a sign to bet on a horse named Gargoyle, but the horse loses and Bingo is down ten pounds, leaving him no money for luxuries. To make up the loss, he decides to get money from Oofy Prosser. Oofy is in love, but nonetheless in no mood to lend money. Bingo horns his way into dinner with Oofy and the girl. Oofy resents Bingo's presence and refuses to give him money. Rosie sends Bingo ten pounds to start a bank account for their baby Algy.

Bingo walks Algy in a baby carriage in Wimbledon Common. Bingo's bookmaker, Charlie Pikelet, is also walking an ugly baby with a baby carriage. Each man believes his baby is uglier, and Pikelet proposes a wager. Bingo bets ten pounds that Algy is the ugliest baby in Wimbledon, using Algy's ten pounds in the belief that Algy would not object. Pikelet asks a passing policeman to judge the babies. The policeman says that his own baby at home is even uglier, but declares Arabella the winner. Bingo loses the ten pounds.

Rosie calls Bingo and says she will be returning from her trip with her mother the next day. She asks Bingo to correct the galley proofs for her Christmas story and send them to her publisher. The story, "Tiny Fingers", concerns a hard-hearted godfather who disapproves of his goddaughter marrying a young artist, but is moved when their child sits on his knee and writes them a cheque. Bingo, remembering Oofy Prosser is Algy's godfather, is inspired by the story and goes to Oofy's flat with Algy. Oofy's valet, Corker, tells Bingo that Oofy is asleep after a late night. Bingo leaves Algy there and goes to greet Rosie and her mother at Paddington. Upon returning, Bingo finds Oofy alarmed by the baby. Oofy says that Bingo, by ruining his dinner with the girl, saved him from marriage and babies, and thanks Bingo by giving him fifty pounds.

Publication history

"Sonny Boy" was illustrated by James Williamson in The Saturday Evening Post.[3] It was illustrated by Gilbert Wilkinson in the Strand.[4]

The Best of Wodehouse, a 1949 collection of short stories, featured "Sonny Boy".[5] The story was included in the collection Tales from the Drones Club, published in 1982.[6]

The 1951 anthology The Best of Modern Humor, edited by P. G. Wodehouse and Scott Meredith, included "Sonny Boy", which was the only story by Wodehouse included in the anthology.[7] The story was the only Wodehouse story included in the 1967 anthology A Carnival of Modern Humour, also edited by P. G. Wodehouse and Scott Meredith.[8]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Midkiff, Neil (7 December 2017). "The Wodehouse short stories". Archived from the original on 17 February 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 77–78, section A62.
  3. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 158, section D59.124.
  4. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 186, section D133.215.
  5. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 118, section B8a.
  6. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 126, section B25a.
  7. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 118, section B9a.
  8. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 121, section B13a.
Bibliography
  • McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S.; Heineman, James H. (1990). P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H. Heineman Inc. ISBN 978-0-87008-125-5.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (1981) [1951]. Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (Reprinted ed.). Middlesex: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140033513.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (2013). Ratcliffe, Sophie, ed. P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters. London: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0786422883.
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