The Man with Two Left Feet and Other Stories

By: P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

This collection of short stories is a good example of early Wodehouse. It is here that Jeeves makes his first appearance with these unremarkable words: "Mrs. Gregson to see you, sir." Years later, when Jeeves became a household name, Wodehouse said he blushed to think of the off-hand way he had treated the man at their first encounter...In the story "Extricating Young Gussie," we find Bertie Wooster's redoubtable Aunt Agatha "who had an eye like a man-eating fish and had got amoral suasion down to a fine point." The other stories are also fine vintage Wodehouse: the romance between a lovely girl and a would-be playwright, the rivalry between the ugly policeman and Alf the romeo milkman, and the plight of Henry in the title piece, The Man with Two Left Feet, who fell in love with a dance hostess.

Chapters don't cue to the stories

The narration sounds exemplary so far, but I must complain that the six+ hours of audio is divided into ten "Chapters" that don't cue to the stories. There should be 13 short stories, it would be nice if there were 13 "Chapters" and they each cued to the beginning of a story.

The incomparable Fredrick Davidson reading a Wodehouse classic

What a great surprise find! Clever humor in classic Wodehouse style, but it’s Fredrick Davidson’s reading that puts this in my list of among the best audio performances I’ve heard.

Charming!

Different than the author's Blandings Castle and Jeeves stories(as much as I like them) and the narrator Frederick Davidson was perfect! Each story threatened danger but ended happily.

Great lesser known short stories

I thought I had read all the PGD so was happy to find these lesser known charming short stories. Really enjoyed the narrator as well

Includes a dog story, chapter 5

A mixture of variable quality. Some of the love stories were sweet, I enjoyed chapters 6 and 7 more than the rest.
I’m a sucker for any story with a dog. PGW bravely writes a first person narrative of a dog’s life and perspective. Others have attempted similar and I think it is a good measure of an author’s overall ability. Wodehouse ranks well up there. Chapter 5 is a treat.

Written When PGW Was Still Learning to Dance.

As with The Man Upstairs and Other Stories, you don’t want to start your excursion into the world of Wodehouse here. Turn instead to his earliest gems, like Psmith in the City, Something Fresh, Ukridge, The Clicking of Cuthbert or The Inimitable Jeeves; you’ll be getting in on the ground floor of five hilarious, ongoing sagas.

For those of us who’ve already imbibed those, this collection offers different pleasures: glimpses of Wodehouse’s emerging style; surprise at his already well-developed powers of characterization. Collected and published three years after The Man Upstairs, these stories come a tad or two closer to his later achievement. Knowing what he did achieve, it’s fun to hear the apprentice work that got him there. And it sounds even better when Frederick Davidson reads it.

Early Wodehouse, Great for Any Fan

Any fan of Wodehouse must read/listen to these early works. While not as commonly known as his Jeeves and Wooster series, they show the early outlines of the character types that so endear his later works to fans. Listen and enjoy!

Early works of Wodehouse

Coming at this book after having read all of the Jeeves & Wooster stories (including Extricating Young Gussie, which is the second story in this volume), and being of the opinion that the middle novels are Wodehouse's best, I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this collection! I frequently reread the J&W audiobooks to fall asleep, but I almost always skip the short stories as less enjoyable. These short stories are almost universally lovely!

I think my favorite story was At Geisenheimer's. If this were a more modern story, I'd have wondered if Miss Roxborough and Mary weren't going to run away together (I may have to check AO3 to see if anyone has written that alternate ending), but I did enjoy the sweet ending Wodehouse gave us.

The Making of Mac's and Black for Luck both feature rather obnoxious male romantic partners, neither of whom deserve to end up with the girl. But the other stories are generally pretty good. Sometimes, it's not clear whether Wodehouse is really a terrible misogynist or if he just writes sexist characters.

I've always been a fan of Frederick Davidson's Wodehouse narrations, and here I can compare him head-to-head (so to speak) with David Thorn, who is the narrator of the version of Extricating Young Gussie that I already own. Davidson comes out miles ahead! Five stars for Davidson.

Fabulous

Anything by PG Wodehouse is hysterical. All of his stories stand up to the test of time!!

Touching Stories

Unlike some of PGW’s later works, which make me question how he feels about humanity, these short stories have heart and some genuine emotion in them. I am a fan of his wacky literary devices, but here it’s more a matter of showing how people take care of each other. I will probably listen again.