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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ivor Llewellyn Tries to Avoid Another Marital Disaster!, August 12, 2003
You may remember Ivor Llewellyn from The Plot That Thickened. He is the tough-minded movie mogul who turns into putty whenever he's around a woman. What's even more surprising, he is inclined to propose marriage to even the most unsuitable female . . . just to fill in gaps in the conversation. He's been through five marriages so far. His awful marriage to Grayce ended in The Plot That Thickened. Now, Llewellyn is a single again, and his divorce lawyer is trying to help him avoid another disaster. Mr. Ephraim Trout of Trout, Wapshott and Edelstein tells Llewellyn that Trout has avoided matrimony by relying on a little circle of friends that call themselves Bachelors Anonymous, an organization inspired by the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. They dissuade their fellows from proposing when the urge strikes and sometimes even take stronger action. But Llewellyn is about to go to London where there is no such organization. Trout proposes that he introduce Llewellyn to a law firm there in order to find a lawyer to play that role. Llewellyn agrees. At the same time, the imperious Vera Dalrymple is in the process of ruining a new play, Cousin Angela, for its playwright, Joe Pickering. Inadvertently, Joe makes a good impression on Llewellyn by tossing him from the stage door when he arrives ready to propose to Vera. So through his lawyer friend, Joe gets the job of protecting Llewellyn from proposals. But there's a complication, Joe has become smitten with a remarkable young woman, Miss Sally Fitch. Her life has taken a turn for the better when she inherits some money and a great apartment from a former employer . . . conditioned on not smoking for two years. A female private detective comes to live with her to make sure that she isn't smoking. Will Llewellyn avoid Vera's clutches? Will Joe and Sally find each other? Will Sally get her money? You'll have to read the book to find out, but the trail is a twisted and hilarious one. Anyone who liked The Plot That Thickened will be delighted with this book. The premises are extreme, but if you can swallow them they take you into some fun territory. P.G. Wodehouse once said that you could write about life as it is or as musical comedy without the music. He preferred the latter, and perhaps none of his books better captures that wonderful comic perspective as Bachelors Anonymous does. I would have rated the book higher, but I think that those who haven't read other P.G. Wodehouse books might find this one a little extreme in its characters and plots . . . and that might make suspending disbelief harder. For me, though, this is a five-star laugh!! After you finish, think about where you could accomplish more if your friends helped you. Then, ask for that help!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
BA : How to Avoid Getting Married, May 26, 2008
P.G. Wodehouse was born in 1881 and is probably best known for his Jeeves and Wooster books. "Bachelors Anonymous" was first published in 1973, only two years before he died, and is one of his standalone novels. Ivor Llewellyn is the exceptionally rich and internationally famous head of the Superba Llewellyn Film Studio, based in Hollywood. Unfortunately, and rather tellingly, one of his closest personal friends is his divorce lawyer, Ephraim Trout. Having just come through their fifth divorce together, Trout - perhaps surprisingly, for a lawyer - now views the movie mogul as more than just a steady meal ticket. Llewellyn is now moving to London for a spell, officially to smarten up the London operation - however, it is a move that meets with Trout's approval. He feels that London's comparatively lousy climate will suppress Llewellyn's tendency to propose. Trout, unlike Llewellyn, has never married : he's been a longstanding member of Bachelors Anonymous, an organisation dedicated to the single life. Any member who feels like they may be falling off the wagon - and, say, inviting a young lady to dinner or to the theatre - can contact his fellow members for help. "Calm succeeds turmoil", says Mr Trout, "and the madness passes". However, while Trout feels London's climate will be a help, he's a little uncomfortable that there's no London chapter of Bachelors Anonymous. To this end, he's advised Llewellyn to get in touch with Nichols, Erridge and Trubshaw - a firm of lawyers based in the English city. Still, following a discussion with the members of the LA Chapter of his noble organisation, he decides to tidy up his affairs at work so he can travel to London and give Llewellyn his undivided attention. Unfortunately, Llewellyn has barely arrived in London before he has forgotten all about Nichols, Erridge and Trubshaw...and falls in with an actress called Vera Dalrymple. Ms Dalrymple, when Ivor first meets her, is starring in a play called "Cousin Angela". The play was written by Joe Pickering who - right up until he met his bossy, bad-tempered leading lady - had been a light-hearted and cheerful soul. Joe spends his days working in a solicitor's office, and - having recently won the middleweight amateur championship - is a fairly useful boxer. On the play's closing night, Joe actually throws a drunken Llewellyn out of the theatre - the mogul was going to thump Mac, the doorman, believing he had insulted a friend called Jack Warner. (In fact, Mac been warning Joe that Sir Jaklyn Warner, a broke Baronet, was looking to borrow some money). Joe had also met Sally Fitch for the first time at the theatre - a journalist, Sally was interviewing him for a women's magazine. (Joe, in typical Wodehousian fashion, is immediately impressed with his interviewer - luckily enough, as they spend the rest of the book unable to avoid each other). Sally is a clergyman's daughter, and was once employed by Letitia Carberry - a keen supporter of the Anti-Tobacco League. Her employment there wound up when Ms Carberry went off to South America to tackle that continent's smoking habit. Coincidentally, Sally is also the ex-fiancée of a certain cash-strapped nobleman. Joe and Sally next meet at the offices of Nichols, Erridge and Trubshaw...Joe has been earmarked as Llewellyn's protection, while Sally is about to come into a little Carberry-related money. Naturally, things do not run smoothly...particularly with the arrival of Trout. As usual with Wodehouse, an easily read, funny and enjoyable book. Absolutely recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A comedy of errors in true Wodehouse form., February 29, 2008
This review is from: Bachelors Anonymous (Paperback)
Bachelors Anonymous is a self-help group of gentlemen that believes a celibate life is the best life. These saintly marauders are not only there for each other, they will also cheerfully intervene on behalf of any man, saving him from the horrors of marriage whether welcomed or not. In their eyes even one date is cause for alarm because as we all know, dinner leads to marriage. When one such man deemed to be of high risk (he's been married five times previously) announces he will be moving to London, for which there is no chapter, the Bachelors not only demand he have an emissary, but send along a chaperon as well! It is this well-intentioned, albeit misguided, assistance that fuels the mishaps and confusion of our heroes and heroines, tearing lives apart before ultimately rubber-cementing them back together again. Though P.G. Wodehouse does tend to recycle his plot lines and wrap his stories up in a nice little bow at the end, on the whole, Bachelors Anonymous is a solid effort that still holds up today. This is an easy read: short, nicely-written and moves at a good pace. The language is formal and a bit dated, and the book is peppered with fifty-cent words and bone-dry wit, but if you enjoy this sort of métier you will find yourself entertained.
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