Indiscretions of Archie

First UK edition

Indiscretions of Archie is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on February 14, 1921 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on July 15, 1921 by George H. Doran, New York.^[1]

The book was adapted from a series of short stories, originally serialised in the Strand in the UK, between March 1920 and February 1921, and, all except one, in Cosmopolitan in the US between May 1920 and February 1921. The stories were rewritten and reorganised to create a more flowing novel form. The one story that was not published in Cosmopolitan, "Strange Experience of an Artist's Model", was collected in Wodehouse on Crime (1981) under the title "Indiscretions of Archie".

Contents

The original story titles and publication dates were as follows:

• "The Man Who Married an Hotel"
  • UK: Strand, March 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, May 1920

• "Archie and the Sausage Chappie"
  • UK: Strand, April 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, June 1920 (as "The Sausage Chappie")

• "Dear Old Squiffy"
  • UK: Strand, May 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, July 1920

• "Doing Father a Bit of Good"
  • UK: Strand, June 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, August 1920

• "Paving the Way for Mabel"
  • UK: Strand, July 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, September 1920

• "Washy Makes His Presence Felt"
  • UK: Strand, August 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, October 1920

• "A Room at the Hermitage"
  • UK: Strand, September 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, November 1920 (as "A Bit of All Right")

• "First Aid For Looney Biddle"
  • UK: Strand, October 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, December 1920

• "Mother's Knee"
  • UK: Strand, November 1920
  • US: Cosmopolitan, January 1921

• "Strange Experience of an Artist's Model"
  • UK: Strand, January 1921

• "The Wigmore Venus"
  • UK: Strand, February 1921
  • US: Cosmopolitan, February 1921

Plot summary

The book tells the story of impoverished, embarrassment-prone Drone Archibald "Archie" Moffam (pronounced "Moom"), and his difficult relationship with art-collecting, hotel-owning millionaire father-in-law Daniel Brewster, father of Archie's new bride Lucille. Archie's attempts to ingratiate himself with Brewster only get him further into trouble.

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Indiscretions of Archie

• The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with numerous book covers and a list of characters
• Indiscretions of Archie at Project Gutenberg