15 Funniest Literature For Fun, Fools, and Frivolity

15 Funniest Literature For Fun, Fools, and Frivolity

By Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm

April is the perfect time to curl up and laugh yourself sick with a funny book. So I compiled a list of 15 books guaranteed to bring out the fool in any reader or at least put a smile at on their faces.

This list consists mostly of novels but also a short story, an autobiography, plays, an anthology, and two collections of writings by known humorists.

I  have also included the best quotes and moments that explain why these books are funny. While I am aware that humor is subjective, and maybe some of these quotes might be dark or even outdated but in my mind they represent the best of these books and their authors.
If you know of any books that make you laugh that I haven't included, please let me know in the comments below or on my Facebook page.

15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney-The school-age misadventures of Greg Heffley and his friends and family including his bullying older brother, Rodrick have been loved by kids and adults alike. Kids completely relate to Greg’s inability to control situations that often get progressively worse and funnier as the story goes along. Adults probably remember their own awkward youth and the mishaps that encountered.

The series is a very hilarious almost sitcom-like look as Greg recounts through writing and drawing his latest foibles to his exasperation and the reader’s delight.

Funniest Moments:

The Jeff Kinney illustrations are the best parts of the books in their simplicity and visual humor. The characters are drawn as stick figures and compliment and sometimes run counter to Greg’s writing as if to reveal Greg’s thought process or the real events that occurred.

14. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by John Thurber

Thurber’s short story is a simple one about a milquetoast unhappily married man dragged around the town by his nagging wife only to daydream of adventures and heroism. “Walter Mitty” has all of Thurber’s usual writing tropes some of which may be outdated to modern readers, such as the nasty wife/wimpy husband stock characters that were so popular in writings in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s. However it is the dream sequences that truly make the story unique and funny.

In each of his fantasy scenarios, Mitty is a too-good-to-be-true hero who walks in and saves the day to the amazement and awe of his fellow surgeons/pilots/attorneys/soldiers whatever. The dream sequences seem one part Boy’s Own Adventure and one part Hollywood film as Mitty’s fantasies allow him to become the hero that he can’t be in his real life. The dreamers inside all of us can relate.

Funniest Quote: Most of the dream sequences are hilarious in their over-dramatic dialogue, fictitious jargon, and melodramatic situations. Here is an example:  

“‘It’s the millionaire banker, Wellington McMillan,’ said the pretty nurse. ‘Yes,’ said Walter Mitty removing his gloves slowly. ‘Who has the case?’ ‘Dr. Renshaw and Dr. Benbow, but there are two specialists here, Dr. Remington from New York and Dr. Pritchard-Milford from London. He flew over.’ A door opened down a long, cool corridor and Dr. Renshaw came out. He looked distraught and haggard. ‘Hello Mitty,’ he said. ‘We’re having the devil’s own time with McMillan, the millionaire banker and close personal friend of Roosevelt. Obstreosis of the ductal tract. Tertiary. Wish you’d take a look at him.’ Glad to,’ said Mitty.

In the operating room there were whispered instructions: ‘Dr. Remington, Dr. Mitty. Dr. Pritchard-Mitford, Dr. Mitty.’ ‘I’ve read your book on strepthothricosis,’ said Pritchard-Mitford shaking hands. ‘A brilliant performance, sir.’ ‘Thank you’’ said Mitty. ‘Didn’t know you were in the States, Mitty,’ grumbled Remington. ‘Coals to Newcastle, bringing Mitford and me up here for a tertiary.’ ‘You are very kind,’ said Mitty.

A huge complicated machine connected to the operating table, with many tubes and wires and began at this moment to go pocketa-pocketa-pocketa. ‘The new anesthetizer is giving way!’ shouted an intern. ‘There is no one in the East who knows how to fix it!’

‘Quiet Man,” said Mitty in a low cool voice. He sprang to the machine, which was now going pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-queep. He began fingering delicately a row of glistening dials. ‘Give me a fountain pen!’ he snapped. Someone handed him a fountain pen. He pulled a faulty piston out of the machine and inserted the pen in its place. ‘That will hold for ten minutes,’ he said. ‘Get on with the operation.’ A nurse hurried over and whispered to Renshaw and Mitty saw the man turn pale. ‘Coreopsis has set in,’ said Renshaw nervously. ‘If you would take over Mitty?’ Mitty looked at him and at the craven figure of Benbow, who drank, and at the grave, uncertain faces of the two great specialist. ‘If you wish,’ he said. They slipped a white gown on him; he adjusted a mask and drew on thin gloves; nurses handed him shining…..

13. The Princess Bride by William Goldman-While the film deservedly is a classic in parodying the fairy tale/adventure genre, the book is equally as humorous. Of course there is the story of Westley AKA the Dread Pirate Roberts and his true love, Buttercup.

All of the familiar characters like the vengeance seeking Inigo Montoya, the cowardly Prince Humperdinck, and the supposed genius Vizzini are there as well as the situations like the encounters with the ROUS, the history of the Dread Pirate Roberts, and the clever storming of the castle by three men, a holocaust cloak, and a wheelbarrow.

However, what sets the book apart from the movie is Goldman’s fictitious backstory to how he encountered the “original book” by S. Morgenstern  from his father and how the version that we are reading is simply “the good parts” version with all of Morgenstern’s original satire edited out.

The book is filled with humorous asides as Goldman explains what he had removed and the reasons behind it, such as a 30 page section on packing, and Buttercup’s royal training. (He limits this section to one line “One thing and another three years pass.”) This meta-fiction writing makes the book stand out as more than a stand-alone adventure novel and becomes a clever send-up of writing in general. In fact Goldman’s back story fooled readers so much that there are still people convinced that the original “text” by S. Morgenstern really exists.

Funniest Quote Narration (Very dark but very true at times): Look (Grown-ups skip this part): I’m not about to tell you this book has a tragic ending. I already said in the very first line how it is my favorite in all the world. But there’s a lot of bad stuff coming up, torture you’ve already been prepared for, but there’s worse. There’s death coming up and you better understand this: Some of the wrong people die. Be ready for it. This isn’t Curious George Uses the Potty. Nobody warned me and it was my own fault (you’ll see what I mean in a little) and that was my mistake so I’m not letting it happen to you. The wrong people die, some of them, and the reason is this: life is not fair. Forget all the garbage your parents put out.”

12. Then We Came To the End by Joshua Ferris-Anyone who has worked in an office setting will completely understand Ferris’ story about advertising agency employees worried about upcoming lay-offs during the early 2000’s dot com bubble burst.

Many scenes are almost unbelievable such as a fired employee who returns dressed as a clown to attack his former colleagues or a duo of office pranksters who pull an elaborate joke on a co-worker when they steal a Native American figure from his desk. The characters and situations are all sharply written and so broad and farcical but at the same time understandable. They become almost relatable in their elaborate schemes to beat the tedium and office politics and their anxieties when their time at work may be coming to an end. The reader will enjoy the ride even if they might sniffle a little at the end.

Funniest Quote: Narration: “Using a wide variety of media, we could demonstrate for our fellow Americans their anxieties, desires, insufficiencies, and frustrations-and how to assuage them all. We informed you in six seconds that you needed something you didn’t know you lacked. We made you want anything that anyone willing to pay us wanted you to want. We here hired guns of the human soul. We pulled the strings on the people across the land and by god they got to their feet and they danced for us.”

11. The Essential Groucho Writings by, for, and about Groucho Marx-The Marx Brothers are still some of the most well-known and beloved comedians of all time and part of their success lies in the character of Groucho. Known for his one-liners, his large mustache, his trademark cigar, and his eyebrows that seemed to have a life of their own, Groucho stood out as one of the most memorable of the brothers.

This book is a collection of many of Marx’s best works including the scripts from the movies, his columns, his period hosting the game show, You Bet Your Life, and reminisces and articles written by people who knew him best. It is a great, hilarious, and sometimes touching tribute to one of the funniest performers in the Golden Age of Hollywood

Funniest Quote(s):         

From the films: From Duck Soup

Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Teasdale: “Oh your excellency. We’ve been expecting you. As chairwoman of the reception committee, I extend the wishes of every man, woman, and child of Freedonia.

Groucho as Rufus T. Firefly, President of Freedonia: Never mind that stuff. Take a card.

M.D.: Card? What will I do with the card?

G.M.: You can keep it. I’ve got fifty-one left.

M.D.: As chairwoman of the reception committee, I welcome you with open arms.

G.M. Is that so? How late do you stay open?

M.D. I’ve sponsored your appointment because I feel you are the most able statesman in all of Freedonia

G.M.: Well that covers a lot of ground. Say! You cover a lot of ground yourself. You’d better beat it! I hear they’re gonna tear you down and put up an office building right where you’re standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can’t get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that’s too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. You know you haven’t stopped talking since I’ve been here. You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle.”

From his writing: Marx (After Warner Brothers sent the brothers a telegram protesting their use of the title A Night in Casablanca, he sent this letter to the film company’s legal department): “You claim that you own Casablanca and that no one else can use that name without permission. What about ‘Warner Brothers?’ Do you own that too? You probably have the right to use the name Warner, but what about the name Brothers? Professionally, we were brothers long before you were. We were touring the sticks as the Marx Brothers when Vitaphone was still a gleam in the inventor’s eye and even before there had been other brothers-the Smith Brothers, the Brothers Karamazov; Dan Brothers, an outfielder with Detroit, and ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’ (This was originally ‘Brothers, Can You Spare a Dime?’ but this was spreading a dime pretty thin, so they threw out one brother, gave all the money to the other one, and whittled it down to ‘Brother Can You Spare a Dime?’)”

10. The Odd Couple/The Sunshine Boys by Neil Simon-These two plays stand out as the best of Simon’s works, both portraying two bickering men forced to live and work together. Even the title, The Odd Couple, is instantly identifiable as well as the story of two polar opposites, a slob and a neat-freak living together. The situation has almost become a staple in modern day sitcoms and buddy films.

The Sunshine Boys is not as well-known but I like it better than The Odd Couple. The plot concerns vaudeville duo, Lewis and Clark, based on real-life duo Smith and Dale (with a lot of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis’ acrimonious relationship thrown in). Lewis and Clark got along well on-stage but bickered off, but are forced out of retirement and back together for one show. This trope is also familiar to modern audiences as many shows and movies portray seniors who don’t get along but are forced to live or work together.

What stands out from the stock situations is Simon’s gift for writing the characters. Whether it’s Odd Couple’s Felix and Oscar or Sunshine Boy’s Lewis and Clark, Simon gives them great one-liners against each other making their encounters hilarious and causes them to stand out from their many imitators.

Funniest Moment(s):

From The Odd Couple:

Oscar: I can’t take it anymore, Felix, I’m cracking up. Everything you do irritates me. And when you’re not here, the things I know you’re gonna do when you come in irritate me. You leave me little notes on my pillow. Told you 158 times I can’t stand little notes on my pillow. ‘We’re all out of cornflakes. F.U.’ Took me three hours to figure out F.U. was Felix Unger.

From The Sunshine Boys:

“Willy Clark: What’s wrong with saying ‘enter’ instead of ‘come in?’

Al Lewis: Because it’s different. Do you know why we did this sketch for 43 years, Willy because it’s good.

Willy Clark: And do you know why we’re not doing it anymore? Because we’ve been doing it for 43 years.

A.L.: If we’re not doing it anymore why are we changing it?

W.C.: You know what’s wrong with you, Lewis? You’ve been sitting on a New Jersey porch for too long. You’re out of touch. From my window here, I see everything that’s going on in the world. Look! I see old people, young people, nice people, bad people. I see hold-ups! I see drug addicts! Ambulances! Car crashes! Jumpers from buildings! I see everything! You see…a lawn mower…and the milkman.

A.L.: That’s why you want to say ‘enter’ instead of ‘come in?’ “

9. Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding-Bridget Jones’ is a humorously self-aware story about a woman who spends a year trying to lose weight, maintain a relationship with a responsible adult, and develop “inner poise and authority and sense of self as woman of substance, complete without boyfriend, as the best way to obtain boyfriend.” Her diary entries are great reading as she recounts her irritation with her smug married friends, her affair with her lecherous boss, Daniel Cleaver, her relationship with Mark Darcy, her parent’s friends’ son, and her mother’s late-life crisis and much younger boyfriend. Throughout the book, Bridget recounts her search for love and satisfaction with writing that is witty, dry and at times hopeful and optimistic. She is the character that many single men and women can completely understand and maybe are.

Funniest Quote: Bridget (on seeing Mark Darcy for the first time at her parents’ friends’ Turkey Curry Buffet): “It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It’s like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the gardens shouting ‘Cathy’ and banging your head against a tree.”

8. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams-While one would think a book about the destruction of earth would be too dark for a comedy, Adams made a Sci-Fi comedy classic.

It is filled with humorous situations such as when protagonists, Arthur Dent, the last surviving Earthling and Ford Prefect, an alien from Betelgeuse (not Guildford as he claimed) are trapped by a race of aliens who torture then by reciting bad poetry. Then there’s the simple fact that the Earth is destroyed so the aliens can make a new interplanetary highway.

The main characters make for a winning comedy team as Dent, Ford, Zaphod Beeblebrox, the idiotic President of the Galaxy, Trillian MacMillan, a beauty who speaks in probabilities, and Marvin, a mopey android, navigate the universe. Many lines are quite memorable such as “so long and thanks for the fish” and “the secret to life, the universe, and everything.” (Both of which ended up as book titles to the later installments to the series). It is to science-fiction, what Princess Bride is to fantasy: a great send-up of the genre and a legend in its own right.

Funniest Quote: Narration: “One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very, very obvious, as in ‘It’s a nice day,’ or ‘You’re very tall,’ or ‘Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirty foot well, are you all right?’ At first Ford formed a theory to account for his strange behavior. If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months’ consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of the new one. If they don’t keep on exercising their lips, he thought their brains start working.”

7. A Liar’s Autobiography Vol. VI by Graham Chapman-No one would expect an autobiography from one of the members of Monty Python to be a dry dreary sob-fest and it isn’t. Chapman’s book movingly discusses such topics as his struggle with alcoholism, his homosexuality including his relationship with his life partner, David Sherlock and adopted son, John Tomiczek (The book ends before Chapman’s discovery of inoperable throat cancer and subsequent death in 1989). However in true Python fashion, Chapman never let the book get too dark or depressing. Throughout the book, Chapman’s writing is filled with funny asides and description that almost turn his life into a Python script in its own right.

Funniest Quote: Chapman (after he suffered from D.T.’s):

“My personal physician and hard-drinking companion, his Efficaciousness, A.R. Baily, the Practical, M.R.C.P., brought along a remarkably sane psychiatrist whose name for the purpose of this book, I shall give in the form of a Times crossword clue:

Across

1. Familiar French horseman on the tip of one’s tongue ruins musical pedigree (7,8)

Dr. One Across, having known me since medical school gave analytical flummery the elbow and said, ‘Graham, you’re an alcoholic.’

I said, ‘Yes.’

He said, ‘Do you want not to be?’

I said, ‘Yes.’”

6. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde-Any book lover would dream about visiting the world of Fforde’s Thursday Next series at least once. It is a world where literary characters such as Cheshire Cat or Miss Havisham come out daily to chat with real characters. Where Shakespeare machines stand on street corners and quote lines form the play for a small price. Where people take their literature so seriously that there are gangs that fight over whether Shakespeare did or did not write his plays (The Oxfordians and the Baconians are particularly vicious). Where people travel by airship instead of train or airplane and the Crimean War lasted for over 100 years.

Fforde writes of an intriguing alternate universe which plays out the humor in meta-situations that allow the real and the fictional world meld into each other. He also provides memorable characters to inhabit it, both his and other writers’, Thursday Next, the series’ main protagonist is a clever and memorable lead. She takes the world’s bizarreness with a detachment and wryness that accepts the goings-on.

Funniest Quotes: Many of them come from the epitaphs at the beginning of each chapter, which provide the reader with some much needed exposition, all without dropping it unnecessarily into the action. A couple of them:

Acheron Hades (resident antagonist and all around nasty guy): “The best reason for commuting loathsome and detestable acts and let’s face it, I am considered something of an expert in this field-is purely for their own sake. Monetary gain is all very well, but it dilutes the wickedness to a lower level that is obtainable by anyone with an overdeveloped sense of avarice. True and baseless evil is as rare as the purest good-and we all know how rare that is.”

Thursday (describing her odd family particularly her time-traveling father): “I was born on a Thursday, hence the name.  My brother was born on a Monday and they called him Anton-go figure. My mother was called Wednesday but was born on a Sunday-I don’t know why-and my father had no name at all-his identity and existence had been scrubbed by the ChronoGuard after he went rogue. To all intents and purposes he didn’t exist at all. It didn’t matter. He was always Dad to me.”

5. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman-Like Hitchhiker, Good Omens takes the end of the world in a new and funny direction. This is more of a send-up of religion and Biblical prophecies as the Antichrist is born but given to the wrong parents and Crowley, a car-phone owning demon and Aziraphale, a bookstore owning angel, like Earth so much that they want to stop the inevitable Apocalypse.

Many of the Apocalyptic prophecies and writings are cleverly parodied such as the Bugger Alle Thise Bible (which has a few extra verses transcribed a clearly irritated copyist) and the Four Horseman, uh, Bikers of the Apocalypse (along with new members, Really Cool People and Things That Do Not Work Properly After You Give Them a Good Thumping). The stand-out characters are Crowley and Aziraphale. The angel and demon make a memorable duo with Crowley’s cynical barbs match up with Aziraphale’s idealistic naïve quips. Their scenes together make them more like a comedy team and less like sworn enemies on the battle between God and Satan.

Funniest Quotes:

Crowley There’s this big mountain, see a mile high, at the end of the universe and once every thousand years there’s this bird-

Aziraphale: The same bird every thousand years?

Crowley: The same bird

Aziraphale: Bloody ancient bird

C: Okay and every thousand years this bird flies-

A: -limps

C: -Flies all the way back to the mountain to sharpen its beak

A: Hold on you can’t do that. Between here and there there’s loads of-buggerall dear boy,

C: But it ges there anyway

A: How

C: It doesn’t matter.

A: It could use a spaceship.

C: Yeah if you like. So this bird-

A: Only it is the end of the universe we’re talking about, it would be one of those spaceships where the descendants who get out at the other end. You have to tell your descendants ‘When you get to the Mountain, you have to-‘You have to-What do they have to do?:

C:-Sharpen its beak to fly on the mountain and then it flies back-

A:-in the spaceship?”

C:And after a thousand years it goes and does it again

A: Seems like a lot of effort just to sharpen a beak.

C: Listen when the point is when the bird has worn down to nothing right then…then you still won’t have  finished watching the Sound of Music!!”

4.  The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde-Wilde’s comedy of manners is a terrific witty play filled with mistaken identity and silly situations. Jack Worthing, a young English-man-about town creates a separate identity, Ernest to propose to Gwendolyn Fairfax. Things get more complicated when Jack’s friend, Algernon Moncrief also adopts the Ernest persona to propose to Jack’s niece, Cecily Cardew. The situations and dialogue make this play one of the funniest of all time.

Funniest Quotes:

Algernon: What you really are is a Bunburyist. I was quite right in saying you were a Bunburyist. You are one of the most advanced Bunburyist I know.

Jack: What on earth do you mean?

Algernon: You have invented a very useful young brother called Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as you like. I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose. Bunbury is perfectly invaluable. If it wasn’t for Bunbury’s extraordinary bad health, for instance, I wouldn’t be able to dine with, you at Willis’ tonight, for I have been really engaged to Aunt Augusta for more than a week.

J: I haven’t asked you to dine with me anywhere tonight.

A: I know. You are absurdly careless about sending out invitations. It is very foolish of you. Nothing annoys people so much as not receiving invitations.

 

3. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare-Shakespeare was known just as much for his comedies as his tragedies and A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the best of them. Through fairies, four silly lovers, and an even sillier group of actors, Shakespeare sent up love stories in which couples are separated by parental circumstances.

The playwright used the lovers’ fickle nature as the boys are easily swayed to fall in love with different girls, as well as the actors’ production of Pyramus and Thisbe to parody such stories including his own Romeo and Juliet. The highlight is Puck, King Oberon’s jester who controls the events and mocks them by providing commentary to the audience.

Funniest Quotes:

 Puck has some very well-known monologues. His two best ones are

Puck (describes mortals most accurately):

 Captain of our fairy band

 Helena is here at hand

 And the youth mistook by me

 Pleading for a lover’s fee

 Shall we their fond pageants see?

 Lord what fools these mortals be!

Puck (one of the best apologies for a thin plot)

If we shadows have offended

Think but this and all is mended

That you have but slumbre’d here

While these visions did appear

And this weak and idle theme

No more yielding but a dream

Gentles, do not reprimand

If you pardon we will mend

And, as I’m an honest Puck

If we have unearned luck

Now to scrape the serpent’s tongue

We will make amends ere long;

Else the Puck a liar call;

So, good night unto you all

Give me your hands, if we be friends.
And Robin shall restore amends."

2. The Portable Dorothy Parker-Parker was considered the Queen of the Vicious Circle AKA The Algonquin Round Table, a group of actors, writers, columnists, and wits that tried to outdo each other with barbs and pranks. Parker was undoubtedly one of the funniest women of all time.

Her poems and short stories including, “Big Blonde” are dark, but filled with lines that mock romance and reason with a clever wit that finds humor in dark situations. Many of her characters are surrounded by conflicts like broken hearts, attempted suicide, racism, class distinction, and infidelity. However, there is a cynical humor  and situational irony in  Parker's stories such as "Too Bad" or "The Bolt Behind the Blue" in which other characters observe the protagonist in  a seemingly perfect enviable moment after the protagonist just bore their souls in an uncomfortable way in private. Parker's characters laugh so they don't cry.

Parker was also known for her reviews and literary criticisms. She often had a clever line to describe a book or a performance that she didn’t like such as writing "Theodore Dreiser ought to write nicer",or  her description of A.A. Milne’s House at Pooh Corner: “Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up.” Parker said out loud, what many reviewers probably wanted to say but often said it more memorable and made it more original.

Favorite Quotes From her poems:

“My own dear love, he is strong and true

And he cares not what comes after.

His words ring sweet as a chime of gold.

And his eyes are lit with laughter

He is jubilant  as a flag unfurled-

Oh a girl, she’d not forget him

My  own dear love, he is all my world-

And I wish I’d never met him

My, he’s mad and my love, he’s fleet

And a wild young wood-thing bore him

The ways are fair to his roaming feet,

And the skies are sunlit for him.

As sharply sweet to my hear he seems

As the fragrance of acacia

My own dear love, he is all my dreams-

And I wish he were in Asia

My love runs like a day in June,

And he makes no friends of sorrows.

He’ll tread his galloping rigadoon

In the pathway of the morrows,

He’ll live his days where the sunbeams start,

Nor could storm or wind uproot him.

My own dear love he is all my heart-

And I wish somebody’d shoot him.”

From her reviews (on The Glass Key by Dashielll Hammett.) "It is true that had the literary lads got past those names and cracked the pages, they would have found the plots to be so many  nuisances; confusion into madness as in The Red Harvest; fanciful to nausea as in The Maltese Falcon; or as in the case of the newly published The Glass Key, so tired that even this reviewer, who infancy was let drop by a nurse with the result that she has ever since then been fascinated by amateur coin tricks, was able to guess the identity of the murderer by the middle of the book."

 

1.The World of Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse-I always say that Wodehouse’s anthology is

the cure for what ails you. Every page is filled with hilarious situations usually involving upper-class twit, Bertie Wooster and his love-lorn friends all soliciting the help of Bertie’s valet, Jeeves. The plots are clever filled with madcap situations such as when Bertie finds himself unwittingly engaged to a horrible domineering woman. (The only way out is to convince her psychiatrist father that Bertie is mad).

Wodehouse’s writing and Bertie’s narration stands out. Bertie constantly waffles in his description, misquotes or forgets literary quotes, and makes a fool of himself when he tries to command Jeeves but often acquiesces in the end (usually involving Bertie’s fashion faux pas or Jeeves’ desire to travel). Many of the passages are laugh-out-loud hilarious even after multiple readings and are perfect for a beautiful spring day or a not-so-beautiful stressful winter day or any day that isn’t so beautiful or not-so-beautiful.

Favorite Quotes: From the original story, “Jeeves Takes Charge,” Bertie (after Jeeves tells him that he doesn’t approve of a checked suit that Bertie has selected): “Again there was that kind of rummy something in his manner. It was the way he said it, don’t you know. He didn’t like the suit. I pulled myself together to assert myself. Something seemed to tell me that, unless I was jolly careful and nipped this lad in the bud, he would be starting to boss me. He had the aspect of a distinctly resolute blighter.

Well, I wasn’t going to have any of that sort of thing, by Jove! I’d seen many cases of fellows who had become perfect slaves to their valets. I remember poor old Aubrey Fothergill telling me with absolute tears in his eyes-poor chap!-one night at the club, that he had been compelled to give up a pair of brown shoes simply because Meekyn, his man, disapproved of them. You have to keep these fellows in their place, don’t you know. You have to work the good old iron-hand-in-the-velvet glove wheeze. If you give them a what’s-its-name., they take a thingummy.”

Bertie (later after Jeeves has helped him out of an obstacle): “Oh Jeeves, about that checked suit.

Jeeves: Yes sir?

Bertie: Is it really frost?

J: A trifle too bizarre in my opinion.

B: But lots of fellow asked me who my tailor is.

J: Doubtless in order to avoid him, sir.

B: He’s supposed to be one of the best men in London!

J: I am saying nothing against his moral character, sir.

B: All right Jeeves, you know. Give the bally thing away to somebody.

J: Thank you, sir. I gave it to the under-gardener last night. A little more tea, sir?”