I've been reading Wodehouse at bedtime – actually dipping into this volume – and this morning, browsing on Facebook, I came across a Wodehouse anecdote.
It seems that someone signing themselves 'Indignant' wrote a letter to the press attacking Wodehouse for being a vastly overrated writer. In his 1957 collection Over Seventy, Wodehouse responded to 'Indignant' by drawing his attention to a letter in the Times from a Mr Verrier Elwin of Patangarth, India, telling how a cow wandered into his home and, after due consideration, ate a copy of Carry On, Jeeves, selected from a shelf containing works by John Galsworthy, Jane Austen and T.S. Eliot. 'Surely rather a striking tribute,' Wodehouse remarks.
Monday, 10 August 2026
'Surely rather a striking tribute'
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There was a journalist on the Mirror, Connor, who tried to damage Wodehouse as much as possible during the Second German War. Connor then entered the army. A friend of my father found himself in command of Connor and made sure he had as many latrine-cleaning duties as possible.
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Connor (who wrote as 'Cassandra') richly deserved it. PGW had many enemies – Duff Cooper another one.
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