Simply wonderful. Although I enjoy biographies and memoirs, until now I hadn't read any letter collections. This long, well-assembled and well-annotated collection made for an intimate look at one of my very favorite authors.

One of things I found most intriguing is that, even into his final years, he regularly mentioned the trouble he had "getting plots". For such a prolific author, this came as the biggest surprise to me as I was reading.

I already knew he was an animal lover, but it was still delightful to see how often he referred to his pets and those of others in his letters, asking for updates on "the Pug" or trying to win someone over to dachshunds.

His letters to his step-daughter were among the most entertaining of the bunch, and his devotion to his wife throughout their 61 years of marriage was beautifully portrayed; he wrote her love letters until the end.

Not every letter portrays him in his best light. The man wasn't perfect. He obsessed over money, he criticized other writers, some of them his friends, and he didn't take criticism well (he also encouraged his fellow writers, wrote fan mail to some of them and regularly sent money to fellow author William Townend). This to me just makes the collection as a whole ring true.

As the book drew to close and I was reading through the last letters he wrote in his life, I found myself mourning a person who died when I was only five and years away from even hearing about him.

This was a fabulous representation of Wodehouse's life and relationships and a complete joy to read. ( )

It isn't very easy to see why this book needs to exist: there are already at least five good Wodehouse biographies (all of which I've read and most of which are cluttering up my shelves...). The 2004 one by Robert McCrum, who must have had access to just about every relevant source that is ever likely to become available, seems likely to remain definitive for the foreseeable future. And there's also a fairly comprehensive edition of Wodehouse letters edited by Frances Donaldson in 1990. So there doesn't seem to be very much of a gap to be filled by a combined letters-and-bio book.

Nevertheless, the result is quite attractive. Ratcliffe hasn't unearthed any sensational new material, but there are one or two minor insights that were new to me, at least — like the idea that all those strong-minded female characters who are former Edwardian showgirls (e.g. Sue Brown in the Blandings stories) must owe something to Wodehouse's wife Ethel, who was a hoofer in her younger days.

But the main reason you read a book like this is to enjoy Wodehouse's voice as a letter-writer. It's something he was — unsurprisingly — very good at, but don't expect to see him with his guard down. He is almost always busy performing the role of "P.G. Wodehouse", even in letters to very old friends. Super-sharp when it comes to matters of writing technique or literary finance, clowning around and making fun of himself when things start getting emotional. It was fun to see a few bits of professional bitchiness that were presumably edited out of earlier books (On Kingsley Amis in 1954: "I should imagine he is one of those young men whom I dislike so much. They very seldom amount to anything in the long run"). And lots of very acute bits of analysis of other people's books and shows, and a very funny take-down of Cole Porter as lyricist.

It was also fun to learn that Arthur Ransome wrote to Wodehouse to tell him that he had named his latest yacht after Lottie Blossom, the alligator-toting heroine of The luck of the Bodkins, his and his wife's favourite character in fiction. Wodehouse replied to thank him, saying that twenty years on, LOTB was still his favourite — I'd agree with that, even though there are plenty of other letters in the collection in which Wodehouse describes quite different books as "the best thing I've ever done"! He doesn't say anything about whether he knew Ransome's books, sadly.

As so often with this kind of book it's not so much the professional as the personal that grabs you: seeing the lovely letters Wodehouse wrote to his step-daughter at school, and to his grandchildren later on, was really quite something (although I think most of those were in the Donaldson book as well). Writing to his grandson in England in 1946, when he was stuck in Paris and very uncertain about the future, he has still taken the time to read The sword in the stone because someone had just told him about it (it came out very shortly before the war) and tells the boy how much fun it is ("do ask Daddy to get it for you as a present from me").

You don't need this book, and it's a good 5cm of shelf-space you'll never see again, but if you're a Wodehouse fan you may well enjoy it. ( )

This biography of P.G. Wodehouse taught me a lot of things I didn't know about the British author. His life was more interesting than I had realized. I like that he always had a lot of animals, and he and his family even watched other people's pets a lot.

Wodehouse wrote lyrics for many Broadway and West End musicals besides his many short stories and novels. I liked how it was mostly letters that he sent to people. ( )

having come to Wodehouse late , this was a fascinating introduction to the author best known for his creations Jeeves and Blandings Castle

it appears he is also known for his apparent or at least alleged tacit support of the nazis ( perhaps they are not quite as bad as suggested stance)

he comes across as a man who was insecure personally, and concerned as to his financial fortunes ( not that he appeared to want to be wealthy for the sake of it, rather that he thought he genuinely needed more than his "guaranteed " income would deliver

this must be the curse of any one who lives on their wits , or last book, play. musical , song or whatever

despite all of this he ha brought immense happiness to many people thought his writings

and as Stephen Fry describes his writing ( my recollection, check actual quote) " one does not analyse writing such as this , one but basks in the dappled sunshine of its brilliance" ( )