P.G. Wodehouse: A Portrait of a Master

Rating:
Summary: Portrait of the Artist by a Fan
Review: Although I've fallen off a bit on my drive to read all the Wodehouse ouvre in order, I can feel my juices beginning to bubble up about it again after reading this delightful biography of the master. I don't know what to think of Jasen as a biographer--I tend to believe that he's a poor one from the showing on this book, as he tends to simply list events in Plum's life, interspersed with excerpreted letters by and to Plum. And Jasen makes no bones that his book is an unbiased study of Wodehouse, from the subtitle to the treatment. On the other hand, I don't konw how you could treat Wodehouse in any other way, for he truly had lost any malicious bone in his body at approximately the age of 25, as if mean-spiritedness was a baby-tooth that one lost and promptly forgot about.

I bought this book years ago for its secondary bibliography, listing all the stories and books. With something roughly like 90 books to his credit, sometimes with similar titles between novels, different titles for American or British publication, and all eminently re-readable, it's quite a chore to keep them straight in one's mind. With an accurate list at hand, the only problem is finding the damn things.

I believe Frances Donaldson has written a more traditional biography (did I read it back when I first discovered Wodehouse in the stacks at the University of Texas?), which I should acquire and judge against Jasen.

Rating:
Summary: Passable look at P.G. Wodehouse's life
Review: P.G. Wodehouse was one of the funniest people of the twentieth century, with his goofy peers, superbrained butlers and absurd stories. David A. Jasen clearly has done his research, but "P.G. Wodehouse: A Portrait of a Master" is merely a passable biography, not a great one.

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was born to an upper-class British family living in Hong Kong, although he himself was born on English soil. He and two of his siblings also went to school in England, in the care of aunts and uncles, while his parents remained on the other side of the world.

Writing was clearly in "Plum's" blood from an early age -- he wrote his first story at the age of seven. Later he gained attention for penning school stories, but he gained fame as a result of his humorous looks at the British upper-classes, most notably the dim aristocrat Bertie Wooster and his quiet, ultra-intelligent manservant Jeeves.

Any biography of Wodehouse would have to be a positive one, since he seems to have led a pretty upright life. The most scandalous thing that seems to have happened to him was being accused of being a Nazi sympathizer. And that was mainly naivete. In his everyday life, Wodehouse comes across as a nice, funny guy who was immersed in his own stories.

Despite his efforts to stay objective, Jasen comes across as a scholarly fan. He mentions just about every positive mention of Wodehouse (including from Dorothy Parker). And despite calling Wodehouse by his nickname -- "Plum" -- he remains respectful of Wodehouse's personal life, his marriage to Ethel, and his relationships with family and friends.

Unfortunately while Jasen is a good fan, he's not such a good writer. Well, he's not a bad one. But "Portrait of a Master" is very dry and sometimes even a bit desiccated. It's basically a chronological look at the events in Wodehouse's life, without much to bring them to life. And it's almost impossible to keep Wodehouse's dozens of short stories and novels straight.

Despite the uninspired writing, this is a good resource for P.G. Wodehouse fans. "P.G. Wodehouse: A Portrait of a Master" isn't too exceptional as a biography, but it's a solid collection of info for people interested in "Plum."