The Man with Two Left Feet

The Man with Two Left Feet is a short story collection with early works by the British-American writer PG Wodehouse , which were written during a stay in the United States and in British and US magazines and journals such as The Strand Magazine or The Saturday Evening Post between 1914 and 1914 Published in 1916 . It was published as a collection on March 8, 1917 by the British publishing house Methuen Publishing.

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The standout story among the short story collection is Extricating Young Gussie , published in 1915. With her, Wodehouse introduced three characters that he repeatedly referred to in later works: The valet Jeeves , probably Wodehouse's best-known character, is mentioned here for the first time, but already shows the unshakable nature that characterize him in later stories:

"Jeeves," I said, "we're going to America on Saturday."

“Very well, sir. Which suit do you want to wear? "

His employer, the easy-going Bertie Wooster and his aunt Agatha , will also be introduced . Aunt Agatha is the reason for the trip to New York because she instructs Bertie, Gussie Mannering-Phipps, to prevent another of her nephews from marrying a girl from New York's vaudeville . Bertie not only fails, but there is also a marriage between the mother who has also rushed to New York and an old vaudeville admirer. Aunt Agatha is already the proverbial respectful relative - the story ends with Bertie's statement that he will probably not be able to venture to England for the next ten years if he wants to escape her anger.

The literary critic and Wodehouse connoisseur Richard Usborne describes the other short stories in the collection as mostly sentimental beginners' pieces. The Mixer story is told from a dog's point of view, another from a cat's point of view. One Touch of Nature is the story of a wealthy American whose status-obsessed wife forces him to live in England but who longs for a baseball game. The Romance of an Ugly Policmen is the story of a pretty kitchen that is falsely accused of theft by her employer and has to serve 30 days in prison. When she is released, the policeman who originally arrested her and fell in love with her is waiting for her.

The individual short stories

The following are the short stories featured in The Man with Two Left Feet and the UK and US magazines which were first published.

• Bill the Bloodhound
  • US: The Century Magazine , February 1915
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , April 1915
• Extricating Young Gussie
  • US: The Saturday Evening Post , September 18, 1915
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , January 1916
• Wilton's Holiday
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , July 1915
  • US: Illustrated Sunday Magazine and Minneapolis Tribune Sunday Magazine , March 19, 1916 (under the title Wilton's Vacation )
• The Mixer: He Meets a Shy Gentleman
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , November 1915
  • US: The Red Book Magazine , June 1916 (under the title A Very Shy Gentleman )
• The Mixer: He Moves in Society
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , December 1915
  • US: The Red Book Magazine , July 1916 (entitled Breaking into Society )
• Crowned heads
  • US: The Argosy , June 1914
  • UK: Pearson's Magazine , April 1915
• At Geisenheimer's
  • US: The Saturday Evening Post , August 21, 1915
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , October 1915 (titled The Love-r-ly Silver Cup )
• The Making of Mac's
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , May 1915
  • US: The Red Book Magazine , May 1916 (under the title The Romance of "Mac's" )
• One Touch of Nature
  • US: McClure's Magazine , August 1914 (under the title Brother Fans )
• Black for Luck
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , June 1915
  • US: The Red Book Magazine , July 1915 (under the title A Black Cat for Luck )
• The Romance of an Ugly Policeman
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , January 1915
  • US: Ainslee's Magazine , September 1926
• A Sea of ​​Troubles
  • US: McClure's | McClure's Magazine , September 1914
  • UK: Pearson's Magazine , June 1915
• The Man with Two Left Feet
  • US: The Saturday Evening Post , March 18, 1916
  • UK: The Strand Magazine , May 1916

literature

• Frances Donaldson: PG Wodehouse: A Biography . London 1982, ISBN 0-297-78105-7 .
• Richard Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. Overlook, Woodstock / NY 2003, ISBN 1-58567-441-9 .

Web links

• Literature by and about PG Wodehouse in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about PG Wodehouse  in the German Digital Library
• Felicitas von Lovenberg: Jeeves had a wooden expression on his face . Review of Woodhouse's work on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his first novel, Frankfurter Allgemeine, September 17, 2002
• Stephen Fry: What ho, My hero PG Wodehouse , The Independent, January 18, 2000

Single receipts

1. ↑ Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 147.
2. ↑ Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 84.
3. ^ Martin H Manser: Dictionary of Allusions . Facts on File, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8160-7105-0 .
4. ↑ Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 148.