First published in 1916, “Leave it to Jeeves” is the first story in which Wodehouse’s celebrated butler appears in his full form. The “capable” and “extraordinary” valet to Bertie Wooster, Jeeves’ problem-solving and resourcefulness have made his name a colloquial synonym for the perfect helper. Inspired by Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the iconic duo Jeeves and Wooster were featured in more than thirty short stories and eleven novels by Wodehouse, anticipating and resolving comedic situations from London to New York City.
“Leave it to Jeeves” is everything that we love about the proper and knowledgeable manservant and his sometimes bumbling master. Jeeves knows everything from the correct suit for Wooster to wear, the horse to bet on (or not to), to the best way to introduce oneself to a lady, and proves himself absolutely indispensable to Wooster and his friends in this first of many stories.
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. WodeHouse wrote a plethora of short stories with tall tales on subjects ranging from bibulous bishops to megalomaniac movie moguls. Most of Wodehouse’s fiction is set in his native United Kingdom, although he spent much of his life in the US and used New York and Hollywood as settings for some of his novels and short stories. He wrote a series of Broadway musical comedies during and after the First World War, together with Guy Balton and Jerome Kern, that played an important part in the development of the American musical.
