Money for Nothing [Hardcover]

P.G. Wodehouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2007

Following a contretemps with Colonel Wyvern, what could be better than a sojourn at Healthward Ho? Quite a lot, as it turns out, when Lester Carmody of Rudge Hall puts himself into the hands of Dr Twist, the aptly named owner of the establishment, and pursues a devious money-making scheme.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Released as a single volume in 1909, the first two of this trio follow the misadventures of young cricket ace Mike Jackson and his chum at school. Published a little later in Wodehouse's career (1928), Money for Nothing serves up a Romeo and Juliet-like tale of the romance between the offspring of two feuding buffoons. Typical Wodehouse British farces.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

The author of almost a hundred books and the creator of Jeeves, Blandings Castle, Psmith, Ukridge, Uncle Fred and Mr Mulliner, P.G. Wodehouse was born in 1881 and educated at Dulwich College. After two years with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank he became a full-time writer, contributing to a variety of periodicals. As well as his novels and short stories, he wrote lyrics for musical comedies, and at one stage had five shows running simultaneously on Broadway. At the age of 93, in the New Year's Honours List of 1975, he received a long-overdue Knighthood, only to die on St Valentine's Day some 45 days later. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (May 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585679232
• ISBN-13: 978-1585679232
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,184,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Money for Something, March 29, 2006

By 

Gord Wilson "alivingdog.com" (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Money for Nothing (Paperback)

Like many readers bitten by the P.G. Wodehouse bug, I at one point attempted to procure all of the Master's literary output. That spell of power reading included this early novel, which I devoured in the hardback. On later rereading, however, I somewhat revise my initial favorable impression.

Why? How can a Wodehouse book get three stars? Simply in relation to the usual five star ratings. There are plenty of nuggets here (and did this title inspire the Dire Straits song?), but if this were the first Wodehouse title you picked up, you might not find him the stellar author that those who latch onto a Jeeves or Drones or Blandings novel generally find him to be.

Wodehouse would write for more than fifty years after this story first appeared, but even then he knew which were the good bits, and the best lines from this novel would appear verbatim later on. Of course he got that idea from his first life of writing musicals for the stage (and along with Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern bringing the musical to America), where the good bits are endlessly rehashed in amusing variations.

Now that both Overlook Press in hardback and Penguin in paperback are reprinting the entire run of Wodehouse, completists will certainly want to sample this novel, but for those new to Wodehouse, Jeeves or the Drones are better places to start.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Wonderful Wodehouse, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Money for Nothing (Paperback)

Have you ever come across a P.G. Wodehouse story that isn't an absolute delight? No, and this one is no different. Wodehouse is a master with words, creating a single sentence that can have you on the floor laughing hysterically. His plots, at first glance, seem unconnected but by the end, everything works out so beautifully it's almost stunning. Not only do things work out so nicely, but it's also great fun getting there. An especially great book for a nice Sunday afternoon...

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny, absurb, and British, August 28, 2002

By 

snowy "Lorne Vallen" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Money for Nothing (Paperback)

John Caroll loved Patricia Wyvern whom he had known since childhood, their being neighbours.

But John's uncle, Lester Charmody, mortally offended Colonel Wyvern, Patricia's father, when the former used the latter as a bodyshield when they both accidentally walked into a blast site on Charmody's grounds. Colonel Wyvern was of the old school and demanded proper apologies where he considered it due, causing a feud in a quiet countryside of Rudge. Worse for John that Pat considered him, too homely and unexciting.

Meanwhile, Lester Charmody was brooding over money problems. It was not that he had none, he had plenty. But he considered his trove pittance. Worse was his sitting on the Charmody's heirlooms which could not be sold out of the estate.

Lester's moods was not improved by his other nephew, Hugo, who pestered him for five hundred pounds to invest in a night-club with Ronnie Fish (of Blandings background).

The stalemate might have gone on indefinitely had not the Molloys insinuated themselves into Rudge Hall. An older husband to a younger pretty wife, the couple passed themselves off as a American oil tycoon with his daughter.

A plot was hatched between the Molloys and Lester to pretend to have the heirlooms stolen, claiming insurance, smuggled to America to be sold. The services of "Chimp" Alexendar Twist was secured to remove the valuables. Of course, they all planned to double-triple-cross each other.

Amidst the intrigue, Hugo Charmody and John Carroll learned that sometimes it took an enemy to provide them with a way out of their predicaments.

A very funny book, Wodehouse was meant to be enjoyed as a light-hearted book, definitely not to be taken too seriously.