ANY Book by Patrick McManus.
Posted on 03/11/2006 4:59:36 AM PST by Caipirabob
1. "Leave It to Psmith" by P.G. Wodehouse (Doran, 1924).
May I begin a survey of superb comic novels by offering the collected works of P.G. Wodehouse--100 volumes, give or take? No? Well, how about "Leave It to Psmith"? Everyone knows about Bertie and Jeeves. Allow me to introduce Rupert Psmith. The "P" is silent, he explains, "as in phthisis, psychic, and ptarmigan." But the comedy is uproarious in this tale of an impecunious though impeccably turned out dandy who impersonates the modern poet Ralston McTodd--a scaly specimen--in order to cadge an invitation to Blandings Castle so that he can pursue the beautiful Eve Halliday. The plot is stuffed with improbable twists, farcical turns, breath-stopping complications and one of the greatest predawn flowerpot-throwing scenes in literature.
2. "Scoop" by Evelyn Waugh (Little, Brown, 1938).
"Scoop" is Waugh's funniest book and the best (and most savage) satire of newspaper journalism in English. William Boot is the retiring author of "Lush Places," a nature column in the Daily Beast, the brash flagship of Lord Copper's gargantuan publishing empire. He is not to be confused with John Courtney Boot, the ambitious novelist eager to get away from London and his girlfriend. A helpful friend, the mesmerizing Mrs. Stitch, invites Lord Copper to a lunch party, wraps him around her little finger and has everyone at the table regale him with the exploits of young Boot, "the Prime Minister's favorite writer." "Get Boot," Lord Copper commands, and his underlings buzz into action, producing the wrong Boot, of course, who is promptly outfitted and sent to the godforsaken African hot spot of Ishmaelia to cover the impending revolution. The rest is farce--or just journalism.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Thanks, wonderful post. I've got to read it again, later.
bookmark for later printing. Thanks for the pointer for good reading.
Sadly, the world of Wodehouse has been replaced by sitcoms.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that!"
"Slouching Towards Kalamazoo," by Peter DeVries.
"They Shoot Canoes" .....Patrick McManus
BTTT..
Three men and a Boat
Thanks for posting this article.
I look for reading material like this.
Rare is the fiction book published today that I can stomach.
ANY Book by Patrick McManus.
I have to go with Hunter S. Thompson's
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Cracked me up.Of course you needed to be there to really
understand.
"I didn't tell him about the MaNTA bats, I figured
he'd see them soon enough.
Don't worry kid, we're not like the ......others."
Stop on by the FReeper Canteen tonight.
I will be posting many of these audio stories for your enjo0yment
Stop on by the FReeper Canteen tonight.
I will be posting many of these audio stories By Patrick F MacManus for your enjoyment
See post #32
Whoops: Walk in the Woods is non-fiction.
He skewers the South Africans who aspire to be Englishmen.
bfl
Enjoy.
MacManus cracks me up.
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