This is the most unusual Wodehouse that I have read, with characters that are far removed from the worlds of Jeeves and Blandings. That's what makes it so enjoyable, since the hero falls into one adventure after another and each is so different from what you would read in another more popular Wodehouse. But it's the ending that really got me, as our hero is left hanging. So unlike Wodehouse and yet so much fun! I was very pleased to find this free for my Kindle at Project Gutenberg. It's very early Wodehouse; six short stories that, apparently, appeared in magazine form. I had not realised until I started the second one that they all feature the same man - the rather hapless Roland Bleke, who appears first as a nervous 22-year-old clerk. Bizarrely, we meet Roland when he is asking his boss for a salary decrease... he has apparently promised to marry his girlfriend when his salary reaches a certain level, so wants to ensure that it does not. Unfortunately for perhaps the only man in England who had no desire to rich, Roland finds himself the unexpected winner of more money than he has ever had before, and thus in the clutches of his greedy potential in-laws... The story ends as he makes his dramatic escape, and the second episode begins when he finds himself in a completely new location, taken in - in both senses - by a speculating and somewhat fraudulent businessman. It's not up to the standard of the wonderful Jeeves, but I can see hints of Bertie Wooster foreshadowed. The plots are cleverly unlikely, the caricatured minor characters excellent, and the overall book very enjoyable. Particularly since it was free.
What do You think about A Man Of Means (1991)?
Found the humor tedious, but nevertheless a fine example of Wodehouse style and humor.
—marisaerin
Chronicling the many adventures of Roland, in Wodehouse's humourous style...
—dezirae
