The Man with Two Left Feet

The Man With Two Left Feet, and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975), first published in the UK on 8 March 1917 by Methuen & Co., London, and in the US on 1 February 1933 by A.L. Burt and Co., New York.[1] All the stories had previously appeared in periodicals, usually The Strand Magazine in the UK and The Red Book Magazine or The Saturday Evening Post in the US.
It is a fairly miscellaneous collection — most of the stories concern relationships, sports and household pets, and do not feature any of Wodehouse's regular characters; one, however, Extricating Young Gussie, is notable for the first appearance in print of two of Wodehouse's best-known characters, Jeeves and his master Bertie Wooster (although Bertie's surname is not given and Jeeves's role is very small), and Bertie's fearsome Aunt Agatha.
Contents
-  Bill the Bloodhound
- US: The Century Magazine, February 1915
- UK: The Strand Magazine, April 1915
 
-  Extricating Young Gussie
- US: The Saturday Evening Post, 18 September, 1915
- UK: The Strand Magazine, January 1916
 
-  Wilton's Holiday
- UK: The Strand Magazine, July 1915
- US: Illustrated Sunday Magazine and Minneapolis Tribune Sunday Magazine, 19 March 1916 (as Wilton's Vacation)
 
-  The Mixer: He Meets a Shy Gentleman
- UK: The Strand Magazine, November 1915
- US: The Red Book Magazine, June 1916 (as A Very Shy Gentleman)
 
-  The Mixer: He Moves in Society
- UK: The Strand Magazine, December 1915
- US: The Red Book Magazine, July 1916 (as Breaking into Society)
 
-  Crowned Heads
- US: The Argosy, June 1914
- UK: Pearson's Magazine, April 1915
 
-  At Geisenheimer's
- US: The Saturday Evening Post, 21 August 1915
- UK: The Strand Magazine, October 1915 (as The Love-r-ly Silver Cup)
 
-  The Making of Mac's
- UK: The Strand Magazine, May 1915
- US: The Red Book Magazine, May 1916 (as The Romance of "Mac's")
 
-  One Touch of Nature
- US: McClure's Magazine, August 1914 (as Brother Fans)
 
-  Black for Luck
- UK: The Strand Magazine, June 1915
- US: The Red Book Magazine, July 1915 (as A Black Cat for Luck)
 
-  The Romance of an Ugly Policeman
- UK: The Strand Magazine, January 1915
- US: Ainslee's Magazine, September 1926
 
-  A Sea of Troubles (A Sea of Trouble in the US edition)
- US: McClure's Magazine, September 1914
- UK: Pearson's Magazine, June 1915
 
-  The Man with Two Left Feet
- US: The Saturday Evening Post, 18 March 1916
- UK: The Strand Magazine, May 1916
 
In the US version of the book, Wilton's Holiday, Crowned Heads and the two-part The Mixer were omitted, and replaced with three other stories, Absent Treatment, Rallying Round Old George and Doing Clarence a Bit of Good, which all feature Reggie Pepper and had all appeared in the UK in My Man Jeeves (1919).
See also
References
- ↑ McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and Heineman, J.H. (1990) P.G. Wodehouse: A comprehensive bibliography and checklist. New York: James H. Heineman, pp. 31–32. ISBN 0-87008125-X.
Sources
- Midkiff, Neil. "The Wodehouse short stories". Retrieved April 27, 2006.
External links
- The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with numerous book covers and a list of characters
- Fantastic Fiction's page, with details of published editions, photos of book covers and links to used copies
- Free eBook of The Man With Two Left Feet at Project Gutenberg
 The Man with Two Left Feet public domain audiobook at LibriVox The Man with Two Left Feet public domain audiobook at LibriVox