The Editor Regrets

"The Editor Regrets"
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 1 July 1939

"The Editor Regrets" 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 1 July 1937, and in The Strand Magazine in the UK in September 1939.[1] The story was included in the 1940 collection Eggs, Beans and Crumpets.[2]

In the story, Bingo Little is fired from his job as editor of a children's magazine after disregarding an important contributor and comes up with a plan to get his job back.

Plot

Members of the Drones Club try to sell articles to Bingo Little, editor of the children's magazine Wee Tots, but Bingo rejects them, A Crumpet believes that Bingo enjoys rejecting their articles because he is drunk with power, and that this will get Bingo into trouble. The Crumpet remarks that this nearly happened not long ago, and recounts the following story.

Bella Mae Jobson, an American author of children's books, comes to London. Purkiss, Bingo's boss, wants her to contribute to Wee Tots and asks her to see his editor, Bingo. Bingo is not informed about this, and when told by telephone that Jobson has arrived, he feels too important to see someone without an appointment, and refuses to see her. Bingo later tells Purkiss that he sent her away. Purkiss angrily explains Jobson's importance. He then insults and fires Bingo.

Bingo does not look forward to telling this to his wife Rosie, who secured him the job, and goes to a party to distract himself. He meets the beautiful Bella Mae Jobson there. Hoping to ingratiate himself with her to impress Purkiss and get his job back, Bingo treats her to meals and gives her gifts, including a signed photograph of himself. She invites him to a lunch party at her hotel suite. Rosie returns from a trip early, and has been invited to Jobson's lunch party, complicating matters. Bingo has not told Jobson he is married and foresees embarrassment if this is discovered, so he writes a telegram to Jobson saying that he cannot attend. He decides to steal the signed photograph to keep Rosie from seeing it.

After bribing the maid to access Jobson's suite while she is out walking her dog, Bingo takes the photograph, but is met by Purkiss, who also bribes the maid to enter. Purkiss tries to talk to him but Bingo hurries out. Outside, he sees Rosie. She is on her way to comfort Mrs. Purkiss, who lost her dog. Rosie asks Bingo to tell Jobson that she and Mrs. Purkiss cannot make it to the party. Bingo readily consents, and Rosie leaves. Purkiss asks Bingo for help. To curry Jobson's favour, Purkiss took his wife's Pekingese and gave the dog to Jobson, so he does not want his wife to go to the party and see her dog there. He asks Bingo to prevent his wife from coming to the party. Bingo agrees in exchange for being reinstated as editor.

Publication history

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

The story was included in the collection Tales from the Drones Club, published in 1982.[5]

Adaptations

The story was adapted into an episode of the BBC television series Wodehouse Playhouse. The episode, titled "The Editor Regrets", aired on 28 November 1978. It featured John Alderton as Bingo Little, Susan Jameson as Bella Mae Jobson, Bernard Archard as Purkiss, and Jane Cussons as Rosie Little. David Quilter also appeared as Tuppy Glossop and William Hayland appeared as Stilton Cheesewright; these two characters are not present in the original story.[6]

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. 157, section D59.123.
  4. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 186, section D133.214.
  5. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 126, section B25a.
  6. ↑ Taves, Brian (2006). P. G. Wodehouse and Hollywood. London: McFarland & Company. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-7864-2288-3.
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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.