P.G. Wodehouse
Ambition and delusion: The Director, by Daniel Kehlmann, reviewed
Returning from Hollywood to Austria to care for his mother in 1939, the film director G.W. Pabst is seduced by ‘good scripts, high budgets and the best actors’ into working for Dr Goebbels
I just don’t get P.G. Wodehouse
I have a confession to make, which may upset many readers. Having only a passing acquaintance with his books, I’ve…
Chasing nostalgia
The true English disease is Downton Syndrome. Symptoms include a yearning for a past of chivalry, grandeur and unambiguously stratified…
The Spectator’s Notes
Domenica Lawson, daughter of Rosa and Dominic, the former editor of this paper, has Down’s syndrome. She is classified as…
What ho
In the First Act of Othello, just as things are getting interesting, the audience hears someone calling from offstage: ‘What…
The wonder of Wodehouse
Everyone knows a Lord Emsworth. Mine lives south of the river and wears caterpillars in his hair and wine on…
The telltale signs your child is texting about Jeeves and Wooster
You’ll be relieved to learn my penguin is back. ‘How long was it gone?’ you ask. About six months. ‘And…
From Jeeves to Johnson: language and literary references in Boris’s speech
In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, Bertie is moved to reward his inestimable valet for solving the unsolvable. Before requesting the…
Long life
When your mind suddenly goes wonky, you may be the one person who doesn’t realise that there is something wrong…
Jeeves and the Cap that Fits
A story about Bertie Wooster and a man called The Donald, with apologies to P.G. Wodehouse
‘Clean eating’ is a great word of the year… for 1906
The word of the year, according to Collins, the dictionary people, is binge-watch. It means to watch DVDs consecutively or,…
The imitable Jeeves
For as long as I can remember — I take neither pleasure nor pride in the admission — I have…
Bertie Wooster in the commentary box
There can be a strong strain of self-parody in even the greatest commentators. When Henry Blofeld describes the progress of…
