Young Men in Spats

First UK edition

Young Men in Spats is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 3 April 1936 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then in the United States with a slightly different selection of stories on 24 July 1936 by Doubleday, Doran, New York.[1]

The collection, recounting the adventures of various members of the Drones Club (except for the last one), features many familiar characters from Wodehouse's other writings, including Freddie Widgeon and the irrepressible Mr Mulliner. One story, "Uncle Fred Flits By", features the first appearance of Pongo Twistleton and his Uncle Fred, who would go on to feature in four novels, including two appearances at Blandings Castle.

Contents

  1. "Fate" (Drone Freddie Widgeon)
  2. "Tried in the Furnace" (Drones Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps and Pongo Twistleton)
    • UK: Strand, September 1935
    • US: Cosmopolitan, March 1937
  3. "Trouble Down at Tudsleigh" (Drone Freddie Widgeon)
    • UK: Strand, May 1935
    • US: Cosmopolitan, May 1939
  4. "The Amazing Hat Mystery" (Drones Percy Wimbolt and Nelson Cork)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, August 1933
    • UK: Strand, June 1934
  5. "Good-Bye to All Cats" (Drone Freddie Widgeon)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, November 1934
    • UK: Strand, December 1934
  6. "The Luck of the Stiffhams" (Drone Stiffy Stiffham)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, November 1933
    • UK: Strand, March 1934
  7. "Noblesse Oblige" (Drone Freddie Widgeon)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, September 1934
    • UK: Strand, November 1934
  8. "Uncle Fred Flits By" (Drone Pongo Twistleton, Uncle Fred)
    • US: Redbook, July 1935
    • UK: Strand, December 1935
  9. "Archibald and the Masses" (Drone Archibald Mulliner, told by Mr Mulliner)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, August 1935
    • UK: Strand, February 1936
  10. "The Code of the Mulliners" (Drone Archibald Mulliner, told by Mr Mulliner)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, February 1935
    • UK: Strand, April 1935
  11. "The Fiery Wooing of Mordred" (non-Drone story told by Mr Mulliner)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, December 1934
    • UK: Strand, February 1935

The US edition contains a slightly different selection of stories from the UK version. "Tried in the Furnace" and "Trouble Down At Tudsleigh" had not previously appeared in the US, and were held back so they could garner greater income from magazine sales. (Both stories eventually appeared in Cosmopolitan.) These two stories were accordingly replaced by three Oldest Member golf stories, "There's Always Golf", "The Letter of the Law", and "Farewell to Legs". These three Oldest Member stories had all appeared in US magazines in early 1936; they all later appeared in the UK in Lord Emsworth and Others (1937). After their Cosmopolitan appearances, "Tried in the Furnace" was included in the US-only collection The Crime Wave at Blandings (1937), and "Trouble Down at Tudsleigh" was included in the US edition of Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (1940).

See also

References and sources

References
  1. ↑ McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and Heineman, J.H. (1990) P.G. Wodehouse: A comprehensive bibliography and checklist. New York: James H. Heineman, pp. 70-71. ISBN 087008125X
Sources

External links