I'll have to go with the Evelyn Waugh quote on the back of my edition:

"Mr. Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He made a world for us to live in and delight in." ( )

The reader must be warned before reading Wodehouse, ANY Wodehouse. The reader should not be in area where out burst of laughter are frowned upon and the reader should be careful as to what they are doing while reading. For example: I would not attempt to eat, operate electrical or mechanical equipment, or shave while reading. It would be best to find a comfortable chair, sit down and prepare to enjoy one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. ( )

Wodehouse, P. G. Young Men in Spats. 1935. Norton, 2013.
Sentence by sentence, P. G. Wodehouse is the wittiest of writers. In Young Men in Spats, he creates a fantasy upper-class England that blends seamlessly with an equally fantasy Damon Runyon America. Consider this bit of dialogue between Drones Club member Freddie Widgeon (the names say it all) and an inebriated woman talking about her husband, a palooka who “[s]lice him where you like is still baloney.” Hearing her sad tale, Freddie comments:
“I never herd anything so dashed monstrous in my life. May I pat your hand?”
“You bet your lavender spats you many pat my hand.”
“I will,” said Freddie, and did so.
Most of the stories in this collection feature the fatuous members of the Drones Club, whose personalities or lack thereof are epitomized in the descriptors “crumpets, beans, and eggs.” A few are set at a bar called the Angler’s Rest, where the widely traveled Mr. Mulliner, whose auditors are referred to only by their drinks (Small Bass, Pint of Bitter). The best of the stories is “Uncle Fred Flits By,” a Drone’s Club tale that introduces Pongo Twistleton’s Uncle Fred, an old earl who comes to town once or twice a year to spread “sweetness and light,” by which he means, meddle in someone’s romance and get his dependent nephew in trouble. Wodehouse was at the top of his form in the 1930s, and these stories are as funny as ever. ( )

Not a bad collection of Wodehouse stories, but it would be easily forgettable if not for the brilliant “Uncle Fred Flits By”. Unlike almost all of Wodehouse’s protagonists, Uncle Fred is an instigator. He does not cower at nonsensical threats, or suffer to be lead by the nose from one farcical engagement to another. He charges head-first into trouble, and gleefully emerges unscathed at the other end. This story is an entire screwball comedy condensed into a few short pages, and Wodehouse manages to execute it without a single loose end. So much of English humor, Waugh and Wodehouse included, comes from the protagonists (often weak-willed and colorless young men) finding themselves in hot water. This can be frustrating to those accustomed to American-style humor, in which the protagonist is far more active and tends to lead his enemies around by the nose. Daffy Duck is a British protagonist; Bugs Bunny is American. I only wish Uncle Fred had been more widely featured—after a while one longs for someone to put Constance Keeble, or Aunt Agatha, in their places! ( )

A collection of short stories featuring the romantic misadventures of various young men of the Drones Club (or, in several cases, the Angler's Rest). It's all pretty typical Wodehouse: it's frothy and silly, all the stories feel much the same, and ten minutes later it's hard to remember the details of any of them. But while you're reading them, it's impossible to keep the smile off your face.

Good old Wodehouse. Always such a reliable way to combat the dreaded book slump. ( )