Young Men in Spats, by P.G. Wodehouse

The last book I reviewed left me convinced we're all about to die, so this week I wanted something soothing—and soothing, for me, usually means P.G. Wodehouse. I picked up a copy of Young Men in Spats, a collection of Drones Club, Mulliner, and Uncle Fred short stories, and, while definitely not the author's most impressive work, it did its anxiety-reducing job.

Wodehouse's best work is usually found in his short stories featuring repeat characters. (He rarely bothered with enough plot to sustain his full-length novels, and most of his standalone short stories are pretty interchangeable.) Sadly, several of the stories in this collection fall into the “forgettable one-off” camp, although there are few standouts, including “Tried in the Furnace”, “The Code of the Mulliners”, and the utterly glorious “Uncle Fred Flits By”. All of these are widely available in other collections, however, so you'd be well-advised to see if you can find them elsewhere for less money before shelling out $13.95 for this particular volume.