miniZibaldone

Piccadilly Jim by P. G. Wodehouse At this moment, apparently from some upper region, there burst forth an uproar so sudden and overwhelming that it might well have been taken for a premature testing of a large sample of Partridgite; until a moment later it began to resemble more nearly the shrieks of some partially destroyed victim of that death-dealing invention. It was a bellow of anguish, and it poured through the house in a cascade of sound, advertising to all beneath the roof the twin facts that some person unknown was suffering and that whoever the sufferer might be he had excellent lungs. The effect on the gathering in the drawing-room was immediate and impressive. Conversation ceased as if it had been turned off with a tap. Twelve separate and distinct discussions on twelve highly intellectual topics died instantaneously. It was as if the last trump had sounded. Futurist painters stared pallidly at vers libre poets, speech smitten from their lips; and stage performers...

Week-end Wodehouse by P. G. Wodehouse   The Small Bachelor by P. G. Wodehouse   Jeeves Takes Charge by P. G. Wodehouse The Luck of Bodkins by P. G. Wodehouse  Love Among the Chickens by P. G. Wodehouse   Piccadilly Jim by P. G. Wodehouse   Do Butlers Burgle Banks? by P. G. Wodehouse   Carry On, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse Pigs Have Wings by P. G. Wodehouse    Hot Water by P. G. Wodehouse   The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse Meet Mr. Mullner by P. G. Wodehouse Five Complete Novels by P. G. Wodehouse   Much Obliged, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse   Cocktail Time by P. G. Wodehouse   The Jeeves Omnibus 2 by P. G. Wodehouse   The Mating Season and Other Stories by P. G. Wodehouse   Money in the Bank by P. G. Wodehouse   P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters by Sophie Ratcliffe ...

I like “He swings a mean pen” and “You said a mouthful” tremendously. Our most happy word, I think, is “blotto,” though an Englishman is always at his best in terms of address. If he calls a friend “Old bean” on Monday, it would never do to repeat it on the next day. Tuesday it would be “Old egg” and Wednesday would undoubtedly bring forth “Old crumpet.”   The chief characteristic of English humor is that it is cautious. American humor takes chances. That is the principal difference. The American humorist is single-minded; he wants to be funny. The English humorist wabbles; he would like to be funny, but he is haunted by the fear of being vulgar. The English humorist leads a sheltered life. Generally he is born in the private income class; he goes to a public school, then to a university, and then he is probably called to the bar. The American humorist, I believe, has not been sheltered in this way. As a rule, he has been a newspaper man. His humor is spontaneous; his jokes...

W. H. Auden's Book of Light Verse by W. H. Auden   The Wild Birds by Wendell Berry   The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky   The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene   Brighton Rock by Graham Greene   The Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables by Robert Henryson   On the Road by Jack Kerouac Redeemed by Heather King     Love in the Ruins by Walker Percy   Davita's Harp by Chaim Potok   Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke   Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare   Week-end Wodehouse by P. G. Wodehouse   The Small Bachelor by P. G. Wodehouse   Jeeves Takes Charge by P. G. Wodehouse

The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry The Second Coming by Walker Percy   Lancelot by Walker Percy   One Generation After by Elie Wiesel   Night by Elie Wiesel   The Luck of Bodkins by P. G. Wodehouse  The Blues  

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien   S by John Updike   Duluth by Gore Vidal   Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh   Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman   Love Among the Chickens by P. G. Wodehouse   Piccadilly Jim by P. G. Wodehouse   Do Butlers Burgle Banks? by P. G. Wodehouse   Carry On, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse Pigs Have Wings by P. G. Wodehouse    Hot Water by P. G. Wodehouse   The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse