Yes! You asked ‘em and I’m answering ‘em! I still have oodles more questions to get through, so if I still haven’t answered yours, then 1) I’m a horrid beast, and 2) I promise I will, eventually. Among the lovely queries in my recent call for questions, I’ve noticed a few that came up repeatedly — and that also trend pretty high among the other blog comments, tweets, emails and psychic pleas that I receive. Let’s knock ‘em out in one fell swoop, shall we?
You asked: “I’ve never read any PG Wodehouse. Your blog is making me start to suspect this is a very sad fact. But where do I start?!”
A fantastic question that I never get sick of answering! PG Wodehouse is not only (in this reader’s opinion) the shining literary beacon of the interwar period, but the deftest humorist to lay pen to paper in the 20th century. He was also ridiculously prolific, which can make that WO-WU library shelf a trifle intimidating. Here’s where I’d begin if I had the extraordinary fortune of getting to start all over again:
Carry On, Jeeves. The Jeeves and Wooster stories are his best known works, and with good reason. Aristocratic ’20s idler Bertie Wooster is one of the most enduring narrators in English letters: he’s as warm-hearted as he is empty-headed, but goddamn can he turn a phrase. Carry On, Jeeves is the first collection, and stocked with ten of the fruitiest in Wodehouse’s oeuvre. (If you like ‘em, by the way, there are dozens more stories, as well as many Jeeves and Wooster novels. I like these less than the stories, because they’re a bit mean-spirited from me. But this is coming from a girl who has cried repeatedly at a Planters Peanuts commercial, so use your judgment.)
Ukridge. Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a financial giant in his own mind, and the stories revolving around him are laugh-out-loud farces hinging on elaborate cons and ill-fated get-rich-quick schemes. Sublimely ludicrous. This collection features all the best short stories.
Quick Service. Kind of drew this one out of a hat, but it’s my favorite of his stand-alone novels , and one of the most intricate, hilarious farces I’ve ever read. One of the many things I love about Wodehouse’s stories and novels is that they are in many ways formulaic — from the beginning, you know who will end up with whom, and it’s no mystery that everything will end up basically okay — but I can never predict through what ridiculously convoluted means the happy ending will come to pass. Most authors have mastered Chekhov’s gun, but Wodehouse lays out Chekhovs firecrackers: dozens and dozens of small plot details that all tend to go BANG at the same moment.
So there you go, guys. Those are my Wodehouse recommendations. Dude can write the pants off of anyone else who ever lived, and if my humble blog introduces just one like-minded person to his work then, dude, I will be unspeakably happy.
Jason F (and others) asked: “What was the scariest NTKOG to do?”
Socially speaking, the scariest was holding up a poster board sign with Walt Whitman quotes on a street corner for several hours. I’m often very anxious about crossing the line of social acceptability with NTKOGs: there’s a fine line between being outgoing and being perceived as actively (and dangerously!) insane. Plus, I’m a quiet and generally well-received person — it was shocking to have so many people avert their gaze and basically treat me like human garbage for an afternoon. Definitely made me rethink the way I treat canvassers.
On a way less intellectual level, the other one that springs to mind was going rock-climbing. Getting six feet off the ground may not sound intimidating, but I have such a bad fear of heights that I get nervous on staircases. I sort of played it like a joke, but this is the only NTKOG that has made me cry.
Ken O asked: “What has been the least expected change that being TKOG has made to your life?”
I didn’t really expect the blog to change me. When I conceived of the project, I thought of it purely as a writing project with a tiny lifestyle-change hook. But I can tell you right now I’m almost an entirely different person than the girl who registered this domain ten months ago. The most surprising aspect to me is that this has turned into something of a self-help blog.
When I conceived of the idea, I imagined it would be a humor blog filled with bad dates, boozy nights, a little thrill-seeking here and there. I thought it might change the things I do, but certainly didn’t envision it changing who I am. I assumed that, after a few months in Boston, I’d basically rebuild my own life, just in a different setting with a different cast.
It surprised me, then, when people started responding much more to the self-improvement posts than to the humor/adventure posts. It surprised me even more when the self-improvement posts actually started improving my, uh, self — to the point that I now spend a pretty huge chunk of my time actively working on self-improvement. Oh, and never, ever, ever dating — so much for that flippant sex & dating blog I thought I wanted!
David (and others) asked: “Which NTKOG do you feel has impacted you in the most direct and long-standing way?”
There are too many to list them all, but there are a few that jump to mind. In April, I started going to cafes after work to spend a few hours a day on my writing; now I’d be lost if I didn’t spent twenty or so hours a week in cafes or libraries, trying to Make Words Happen. Although I mostly live in the Boston Public Library now, ’cause it’s free, literary, and ice-cold on summer days.
I’ve become a lot more comfortable talking to strangers and, in retail situations, asking (very nicely) for exactly what I want. Turns out people can be incredibly nice to you, when you let them. I also make a much, much bigger effort to be very nice to strangers, even when they’re pushing my dang buttons. I’m not at all a gentle person by nature, and this is the first time in my life I’ve made a very active effort to quell my angerball.
The last huge change is that I’m significantly less uncomfortable when doing something weird or unorthodox in public. I dance or sing along with my iPod on the streets when I’m moved to; I’ve asked out many, many strangers; I canoodle in public with my stuffed elephant. I’ve become unspeakably eccentric and, you know what? Nobody’s given me a hard time about it.
That’s TKOG in a nutshell: I work harder; I’m nicer; I’m way, way, way weirder. From where I stand, these all seem like pretty darn good things to be!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
As a fairly recent and, I’m afraid, sporadic NTKOG reader, I had no idea of the history.
This makes is just that much cooler.
I also love Wodehouse and would like to further recommend listening to any or all via books-on-tape (or CD). The guy who narrates them does wonderful takes on Bertie and Jeeves.
PS — Do you also love Saki?
I incorporated relevant bits of Wodehouse into an essay in high school but never actually bothered to read any, inspired now, thanks!
is it too late to ask a question that is creepy not because it’s particularly personal (after all, it’s not about the ex or feelings), but because it’s so minute? no? okay. why men’s rainbow flip flops? i love flip flops. i think they’re great. (i wear reefs, but might make my next pair rainbow.) but why men’s?
Sandy dear, have you ever heard of “Big Foot?”
I’m a new reader but I already have a bit of a blog crush- you love PG Wodehouse, and love the idea of reading about someone else doing bonkers things so that I can enjoy them without making a fool of myself. Thanks!
Big thanks for the answer – I’m not bothered about it taking a while because all the “easy questions” I might have asked had already gone when I asked one, so I thought I might as well ask a hard one you’d want to think about before answering.
Also sidebar – I’d never been as keen on Wodehouse as you are, but will be investigating Ukridge now, cos he sounds more my sort of character than Jeeves and Worcester are!
Sidebar to sidebar – If you’re never read any Saki, then IMO he’s a less talented humourist (as are many of us, as a novelist friend of mine found out when he tried to write a J&W with the serial number filed off), but IMO a better writer than Wodehouse.
I was strolling through one of my local libraries today intending to only pick up more soundtracks to groove to while doing homework, as well as pick up a book I need for a summer class. I can’t help but stop and look at the displays libraries make! Lo and behold, Carry On, Jeeves was sitting out on one of them. I remembered Wodehouse from this blog, quickly checked to make sure it was one that was mentioned in this entry (thank you, new iPhone!), and promptly checked it out. So.. just writing to let you know that I, having never read PG Wodehouse, have allowed myself to be influenced by you. Hope I can find time in between homework assignments to pick it up.
YES! I’m so pumped! I hope you enjoy it!
Did you know that “Featherstonehaugh” is actually pronounced “Fainshaw” in England? You probably did… but it still makes me laugh…
Whoa, is that a real name slash other general proper noun?! I knew that from the Ukridge context, but had assumed Wodehouse made up the silly name and pronunciation to lampoon other counterintuitive British pronunciations!