Ukridge (short story collection)

First edition (UK)

Ukridge is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 3 June 1924 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 30 July 1925 by George H. Doran, New York, under the title He Rather Enjoyed It.[1]

The stories had previously appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine in the US and in the Strand Magazine in the UK.

The book contains ten short stories relating the adventures of Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, narrated by Ukridge's long-suffering friend, the writer "Corky" Corcoran.

Contents

Ukridge had previously appeared in Love Among the Chickens (1906), Wodehouse's first novel to be published in the US, and would return in some other shorts. The timeline of his adventures is rather hard to follow—the tales collected here begin with him meeting up with Corky after a long separation, and follow fairly neatly on from each other, via being disowned by his Aunt Julia to meeting Millie, to whom he is married by the time of Love Among the Chickens. In the later shorts, however, he seems to be still single and living sporadically with his aunt.

Reception

Wodehouse biographer Richard Usborne cheered, "These are some of the best stories that Wodehouse ever wrote."[2]

See also

References and sources

References
  1. ^ McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and Heineman, J.H. (1990) P. G. Wodehouse: A comprehensive bibliography and checklist. New York: James H. Heineman, pp. 45-46. ISBN 087008125X
  2. ^ Usborne, Richard (1988). The Penguin Wodehouse Companion. Penguin Books. p. 46. ISBN 0-14-011165-4.
Sources