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Wodehouse
A Life
by Robert McCrum
The literary editor of The Observer profiles prolific English author P.G. Wodehouse, best known for his comedic books chronicling the lives of the gentleman Wooster and his valet Jeeves.
W. W. Norton & Company, 530 pages
11/30/2004
$27.95
ISBN: 0393051595
Nonfiction
Biographies & Memoirs
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
Boston Globe Anna Mundow
McCrum's excellent biography neither exonerates nor condemns, insisting that there has been enough of both.
Daily Telegraph Peter Swaab
It's modestly and skilfully narrated, admirably researched and very much a book to recommend to Wodehouse fans.
New York Observer Tom Shone
Mr. McCrum is... possessed of the patience of a man stalking deer, and the portrait that emerges, slowly but indelibly, is easily the best to date. [22 Nov 2004, p. 22]
The Guardian Nigel Williams
A lucid, scholarly and constantly engrossing biography of one of the greatest comic writers of the 20th century.
Wall Street Journal Andrew Ferguson
It's a wonderful book and a delight to read, for many reasons and on many levels.
The Economist
A GOOD test of almost any book is to ask whether one would not be better off reading a work by P.G. Wodehouse, and the answer, in this reviewer's opinion, is nearly always "Yes." Robert McCrum, however, has written a book that provokes the answer "Perhaps not." This is high praise indeed.
The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Frank McCourt
This is a magisterial biography: disinterested, but never detached, and always intriguing. [20 Nov. 2004, D6]
The Spectator Philip Hensher
This is a very good biography, although deliberately sober in tone. Considering that very little happened to Wodehouse, it manages to sustain interest to the end.
Washington Post Dennis Drabelle
[An] admirable and stylish biography.
The New Republic James Wood
McCrum ends his fine book with the kind of exhortation that must come naturally to a biographer who has invested years of labor in his subject. He implores us to take Wodehouse's work more seriously, to see it as all about "the quest for human connection"
London Review Of Books Fatema Ahmed
McCrum, the second authorised biographer [of Wodehouse], steers a course between the extremes of cultish enthusiasm and disdain.
The Independent DJ Taylor
Despite modish judgments about the subject's "repressed" sexuality (which could be interpreted simply as Wodehouse knowing what was best for him and sticking by it), this is a terrific book, as attentive to the art as to the long and industrious life.
The New York Times Janet Maslin
McCrum, the literary editor of The Observer, faces formidable obstacles here... But he surmounts them with an invaluable portrait, thanks to a broad, incisive and complex understanding of Wodehouse's psyche. He also adroitly balances analysis of life and literature, mingling them aptly when necessary.
Publishers Weekly
For balance and readability, this popular biography, like Jeeves, stands alone.
Atlantic Monthly Christopher Hitchens
[McCrum's] biography has a tendency to let in daylight upon the magic.
Booklist Bryce Christensen
By making Wodehouse's biggest mistake the very center of his biography, McCrum makes it easier for his many readers to forgive him as they renew their appreciation for the gifted creator not only of Bertie and Jeeves but also Psmith, Mulliner, and so many other delightful characters. [15 Sept. 2004, p. 194]
Daily Telegraph Nigel Farndale
It is eloquent but unemotional and - a huge relief - he leaves the jokes, similes and felicities to Wodehouse, setting them up deftly so that they catch the light. If I have a minor beef with him, it is that he tends to overanalyse.
Kirkus Reviews
A bit long, but a fitting tribute to one of the great purveyors of light--though not insubstantial--entertainment.
Library Journal Anthony J. Pucci
Though McCrum comes across as a bit of an apologist for Wodehouse, this work is thoroughly researched and well written; it will please Wodehouse aficionados and general readers alike. [15 Sept. 2004, p. 58]
Los Angeles Times Christopher Buckley
[An] absorbing and generous biography. [21 Nov 2004, R6]
The New York Times Book Review Charles Mcgrath
Robert McCrum never knew Wodehouse, and his life of the writer is less warm and intimate (and less subjective) than the 1982 biography by Frances Donaldson, who was a family friend. For a book about a humorist, it's also not very funny.... But McCrum, who is the literary editor of The Observer in London, is an engaging writer and he knows his Wodehouse.
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