Piccadilly Jim [Hardcover]

P.G. Wodehouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2004

Piccadilly Jim is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the U.S. on February 24, 1917 by Dodd, Mean and Co., New York, and in the U.K. in May 1918 by Herbert Jenkins, London. The story had previously appeared in the U.S. in the Saturday Evening Post between June and November 1916.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Wodehouse spoofs again the British upper crust in this 1917 title, which finds the incorrigible title character facing reform by his haughty aunt.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

PG Wodehouse was born in Guildford, Surrey, in 1881 and educated at Dulwich College. He was created a Knight of the British Empire in 1975 and died on St. Valentine's Day in the same year at the age of ninety-three. His novels are translated into every language and are frequently adapted for radio and television. In Jeeves and Wooster he created two of the best known and best loved characters in twentieth century literature. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 302 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (October 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585676160
• ISBN-13: 978-1585676163
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,270,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Wodehouse, December 7, 2005

By 

Dave_42 "Dave_42" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piccadilly Jim (Hardcover)

P. G. Wodehouse is at his best in "Piccadilly Jim". One or two humorous plotlines simply aren't enough for one of his stories. In this book we have Jimmy Crocker, a playboy of sorts on both sides of the Atlantic he becomes ashamed when his antics may have cost his American father an English Lordship. He decides to take on a different name, because of a girl, and then is forced to pretend to be that person pretending to be himself for the sake of that same girl. His father decides to come to America to be a butler so that he can follow baseball again. There are also kidnapping plots, other people pretending to be someone they aren't, an invention worth stealing, and more; all contained in this one story. If it sounds like it doesn't make sense, then it will when you read this book.

This is a fairly early Wodehouse book, first being published on February 24, 1917 by Dodd, Mean and Company in the U.S., and it was published in May of 1918 in the U.K. by Herbert Jenkins Limited. This book is not part of a series, although the characters Ogden Ford and his mother Nesta were introduced in "The Little Nugget".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-notch Wodehouse, February 20, 2002

By 

Craig Clarke "Living After Midnight: Hard and... (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Piccadilly Jim (Penguin Books) (Paperback)

For anyone who likes the Jeeves stories, I recommend continuing with the Wodehouse oeuvre with this short novel. It's an embarrassing thing to laugh out loud in public, but I enjoyed every page of this quick-paced story.

The story involves Jimmy Crocker, who is a bit of a troublemaker. Always getting into scuffles in his home country of England (the papers call him "Piccadilly Jim" to his chagrin), he decides to go to New York. On the way, he meets a beautiful young woman, but later hears her talking to her family about what an awful person "that James Crocker" is. He decides in order to meet her, he will have to pretend to be someone else, one Algernon Bayliss (a name made up on the spur of the moment).

However, due to his uncanny resemblance to James Crocker (he is continually running into people who recognize him as Crocker), the girl plans to pass "Algernon" off as Crocker to their shared aunt. So Jimmy has to pretend to be Algernon pretending to be Jimmy, all the while trying to get this girl to fall in love with him. (They're really only step-cousins through a second marriage.)

This is a terrific story of mistaken identity (there are several other events involved including James' father masquerading as a butler and a rich couple's child who wants to be kidnapped in order to split the proceeds) but Wodehouse carries all the confusion perfectly, making sure we are able to follow the action, yet without insulting our intelligence, a great feat in itself.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love at first read!, June 13, 2006

By 

Vanitha Srinivasan "Vanitha" (California, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piccadilly Jim (Hardcover)

Picadilly Jim is the first Wodehouse book I have read and thoroughly enjoyed it.This is not a book that you finish reading in 3 days.You want to take your time and relish the language and the play of words. The story has many layers and each layer is as delightful (if not more) as the previous one.
Cant wait to read another Wodehouse!