Piccadilly Jim

By: P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

It takes a lot of effort for Jimmy Crocker to become Piccadilly Jim – nights on the town roistering, headlines in the gossip columns, a string of broken hearts and breaches of promise. Eventually he becomes rather good at it and manages to go to pieces with his eyes open. But no sooner has Jimmy cut a wild swathe through fashionable London than his terrifying Aunt Nesta decides he must mend his ways. He then falls in love with the girl he has hurt most of all, and after that things get complicated.

In a dizzying plot, impersonations pile on impersonations so that (for reasons that will become clear, we promise) Jimmy ends up having to pretend he’s himself. Does he deserve a happy ending? Listen and find out.

©Copyright © by the Trustees of the Wodehouse Estate. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGo

Delightful P.G.Wodehouse plot & J.Cecil narration

I can warmly recommend this stand-alone novel by P.G. Wodehouse. As a big fan of the Jeeves & Wooster series who made the author familiar to me, I have since looked into more of his works here on Audible. If you are looking for a first book to start your Wodehouse journey with, the begin with this one (or 'Somehing Fresh). Written in a rich and wonderfully witty language, the plot builds up and thinkens all the way, while Jonathan Cecil manages once again to bring all the characters to life with his various voices and dialects. This one can be enjoyed many times over.

fast paced and twisty

I listened to this 2x in 2 months! It twists
and turns moreso than his others. Pure fun, remodeled a bathroom first listen, worked a puzzle the second time. Fav character Jim of course!

But I Thought We Were Here to Have Fun...

There’s a sharp division of opinion about Wodehouse’s earlier, one-off novels like A Gentleman of Leisure, The Girl on the Boat and Piccadilly Jim. I enjoy them, while all the critics nit-pick and fault-find. “There is far too much disguising and false-naming for even faint credibility” writes Richard Usborne. “At one stage Jimmy Crocker, pretending to be the son of English butler Bayliss, has to pretend to be Jimmy Crocker to fool his father”. Honestly, I don’t recall that. Even more honestly, I don't care. Wodehouse once described his books as "musical comedies without music". My experience of that genre of entertainment has taught me that the more madcap, the less plausible, the better.

In fact, I’ll add to Usborne's charge sheet: Jimmy, an American, is supposed to be the Englishman Algernon Bayliss (where’s his accent?); if he and Ann Chester ever got Mrs. Pett’s son Ogden to that dog’s hospital on Long Island, how long before New York’s finest (and / or the FBI) found him? I reiterate: I don’t care. Wodehouse insulates me from the jolts of life’s potholes. And Miss Trimble, that almost-too-capable employee of the International Detective Agency, is one of my favorite secondary Wodehouse creations (she hates men and yet spends her off hours reading Schopenhauer). After that, who needs credibility, faint or otherwise?

I’ve always enjoyed Frederick Davidson’s reading of this one and would never have tried Jonathan Cecil’s fine performance had it not been for Audible Plus.

Enjoyable.

I particularly liked that the personalities of the main characters were more nuanced, and had more layers or sides to them. His use of language was as usual clever and yet humorous. Will definitely listen to this again.

Just Fun

Mr. Wodehouse had such unique talent. His writing is delightfully rich with words one does not expect. In PJ we cross continents, learn the differences between cricket and baseball all while subterfuge and a budding romance develop. Pure escapism and I adore it.

Best Woodhouse Book I Have ‘Read’ Yet

I’ve listened to a lot of PG Woodhouse books on Audible including most of the Jeeves and Wooster books, but I think this is my favorite of all of them. It could be because it’s a good story, but it could be because it was a welcome break from that dreary dismal classic A Portrait of Dorian Grey which I have been trudging through with some difficulty. I was feeling depressed by such a terrible story, but Piccadilly Jim picked me right up and I’m feeling fine again.

The master of the imposter folly strikes again

Wonderful Wodehouse comedy full of the usual types of characters, narrated to perfection as always by Jonathan Cecil - the gold standard of Wodehouse narration.

PICCADILLY JIM RIDES AGAIN !

JONATHAN CECIL RUNS THE BASES FOR A HOME RUN IN THIS FANTASTICALLY HILARIOUS NOVEL BY THE WORLD'S MASTER OF LITERARY SPORT

I NOMINATE PG WODEHOUSE FOR THE COVETED INK POT AWARD !

WE ARE ENCHANTED BY THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD, THE SOURCE OF ALL ZANIC WILDNESS, THE SOURCE OF ALL LITERARY FUN, THE INIMITABLE AND AUTHENTICALLY HONORABLE
PG WODEHOUSE

PICCADILLY JIM
IS ONE OF PG'S FINEST NOVELS

IT'S HARD TO MAKE THAT CLAIM AS I BELIEVE ALL OF PG'S NOVELS ARE FAR FAR ABOVE THE EXEMPLARY MARK

MR WODEHOUSE'S ABILITY TO CREATE CHARACTERS OUT OF OF STRANDS OF SPIDER WEBS MAGIC AND STARDUST SHINES THROUGH IN THIS NOVEL

THE READER IS TAKEN ON A ROLLICKING ROLLER COASTER RIDE OF RIOTOUS PROPORTIONS

KEEP THE NAMES STRAIGHT AND YOU'LL HAVE A GREAT TIME

KEEP THE ANTICS STRAIGHT AND YOU'LL HAVE AN EVEN BETTER TIME

OR DON'T BOTHER TO KEEP ANY OF IT STRAIGHT AND JUST ENJOY LISTENING TO PG'S IMAGINATION RUN WILD AND JONATHAN CECIL'S WONDERFUL AND INSPIRED CHARACTER CREATIONS AND NARRATION

JONATHAN'S INFLECTIONS AND ABILITY TO CREATE THE SUITABLE VOICE FOR THE MANY VARYING CHARACTERS IS LIKE TAKING A MASTER'S CLASS AT UNIVERSITY

I HAD SO MUCH FUN LISTENING TO THIS BOOK, AND I WAS SO SORRY WHEN THE LAST CHAPTER CONCLUDED

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I'VE READ, CORRECTION LISTENED TO THIS BOOK, BOTH TIMES HELD ME IN AWE OF THE AUTHORS BRILLIANCE

THANK YOU SOURCE ENERGY FOR THE GIFTS THAT PG WODEHOUSE AND JONATHAN CECIL ARE ..

WITH GENUINE HEARTFELT THANKS I SAY,
NEVER LESS OF IT, ALWAYS
MORE OF IT MORE OF IT !!

CAN THE SOAPY STUFF AND GET ONTO ONE OF PG WODEHOUSE'S
BESTEST ..

PICCADILLY JIM, A FIVE STAR BOOK

REVIEWED BY DAVID HENRY, ONE OF PG'S MOST DEVOTED FANS

♥️

Another fun Wodehouse!

I really enjoy discovering Wodehouse's other characters beside Jeeves and Wooster. This was a fun one!

Still as fresh.. still as relevant..

This was my first Wodehouse book and boy did I enjoy it.. it almost seems like the guy looks at you smugly with a sparkling wink and knows that you are going to enjoy this one ..