Wednesday with Wodehouse

When I was a teen, I had a epiphany: I realized that books could be funny. Hilarious. Hysterical. Laugh-out loud so that you disturb other people in the room funny.

Okay, okay, maybe this isn't a huge shock to you, but to me, it was an amazing revelation and the oracle of this inspiration was an Englishman named Pelham, colloquially known as PG Wodehouse. 

I marveled at his technique, the side-splitting one-liners, the ridiculous situations, the hilarious conversations, and the breathless pace of his novels. I still hope, one day, to write something that will work half as well as his worst book.

If you haven't read his books, you have my sympathies and I urge you strongly to correct this neglect in your education. If you haven't seen Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's version of his Jeeves and Wooster, do yourself a favor, and watch it today. In the meantime, why not check out some these quotes? And when you're done, let me know: which author opened your eyes to a completely different way to write/read?

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