The Man Upstairs and Other Stories

By: P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Webster's Dictionary gives the meaning of the word "miasma" as "an infection floating in the air; a deadly exhalation". And in the opinion of Mr. Robert Ferguson, that description, though perhaps a little too flattering, on the whole summed up Master Roland Bean pretty satisfactorily. Until the previous day, Master Bean had served Mr. Ferguson in the capacity of office-boy. But there was that about Master Bean which made it practically impossible for anyone to employ him for long.

Included in this collection are 19 of Wodehouse's classic pre-World War II stories.

Public Domain (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Timelessly funny....[Davidson] is wry, British and almost drawling, and one supposes that this is pretty much how Wodehouse himself would sound." (AudioFile)

Wodehouse Becoming Wodehouse

I’ve steered clear of this collection because the critics, those police constables of the intellect, have always said, “Nothing to see here; pass along please, pass along”. Take Richard Usborne:

“Nineteen early short stories, some fairly good, some fairly bad. Most of them were written in America for the American pulps… The Good Angel is the first story with a strong butler part (and some very ill-informed comings and goings of a shooting party at an English country house). Rollo and Wilson…are a foretaste of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. Sally…is a foretaste of Stiffy Byng. In Alcala has strands of autobiography in it; its sentimentality is remarkably gooey…”

Faint praise indeed. And, after The Code of the Woosters or Uncle Fred in the Springtime, certainly nothing one would dare to venture a credit upon. But for the man who has savored three quarters of the Wodehouse canon, the foretastes aren’t all sour. Obviously, these stories shouldn’t be your introduction to Sir Pelham, but after you’ve scaled the heights of his achievement, it’s fun to see how he got there.

Figures of speech Wodehouse would use for the rest of his life do handsprings everywhere. Later plot devices make their trial gallop. Plum’s unerring ear for dialogue, and his gift for painting a character with a few deft strokes, are already in full flower. And every story—except "In Alcala" which, to be fair to Mr. Usborne, is well up in the Rosy M. Banks class—is dished out with Plum’s trademark gentle humor that never descends to the satirical. He may have shunned humanity, but Wodehouse certainly liked people.

Finally, Frederick Davidson, that prince of Wodehouse readers, turns in his usual marvelous, nuanced performance. Hats off to Audible for making this available to members—and saving me the agony of committing that credit.

Love the stories and the narrorator

Would you listen to The Man Upstairs and Other Stories again? Why?

Yes. Frederick Davidson is an amazing reader and for me was the original voice of Bertie, though I think that some listeners prefer Jonathan Cecil (who is also amazing, but different).

Who was your favorite character and why?

Bertie and Clarence.

What does Frederick Davidson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He knows how to pause and hold for effect.

If you could take any character from The Man Upstairs and Other Stories out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Bertie of course.

Could not understand the reader

What did you like best about The Man Upstairs and Other Stories ? What did you like least?

Love P.G. Wodehouse. Have read many of his stories.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Never got that far

How could the performance have been better?

Let me preface this by saying that I have hearing loss and have difficulties with certain accents, particularly British. I cope quite well. I have never come across something that was completely unintelligible. After forty-five minutes and several stories, I gave up.

Was The Man Upstairs and Other Stories worth the listening time?

n/a

Any additional comments?

n/a

Can’t stand the reader

Can’t stand the reader. Stories are dumb. Not worth the time returning if possible. Nope

Early Wodehouse

Fun stories (if several similar plots of romance). You can discern Wodehouse hitting his stride and crafting his style. The updated story near the end of a little known Knight of the Roundtable is a gem, and reminiscent of (years later) Sir Terry Pratchett.

The sing-songy quality of the narrator won’t be to everyone’s liking, but it seems to suit this high-flown, early Wodehouse style in particular, with its often complex sentence structures and indirect references.

Last story was kid of sad But good overall

The last story was rather sad not what you would expect from a PG Wodehouse Because your favorite girl and your favorite guy were in love with each other but they didn't get married Even though the guy asked the girl to get married and the girl thought he didn't actually love her And that she was just a" Broadway dream"And they were both sad and lonely I read PG Wodehouse because they are funny but this was just kind of sad Not to say that it was overly sad it was just because that's not what you were expecting and a PG Wodehouse But overall it was very good the last 1 just was just kind of yeah Sad

what a horrible narator

I love Wodehouse's stories, but could not continue listening due to the ghastly narator.

Funny and engaging

I loved all the stories. They were all short funny and entertaining. Couldn't stop listening.

wow!

Fun short stories. Great narrator. A man writing love stories in 1914. With humor-lots of it. Definitely a good listen. Don't miss it!

Beyond Bertie Wooster

It turns out that Wodehouse can write clever, witty, imaginative stories, full of Wooster-type humor with an amazing variety of people an situations.