GRP Publications

April 1, 2021

Contact: John Dawson (Johndawsonkc@msn.com)

P. G. Wodehouse’s Early Years: His Life and Work 1881–1908

(SUNNYVALE, CA) Today we announce the publication of P. G. Wodehouse’s Early Years: His Life and Work 1881–1908 by John Dawson. This first substantive account of Wodehouse’s childhood and apprentice years as a London journalist features a trove of new research; unpublished photos from family and private collections; a complete transcription of his 1901–1908 work journal; detailed notes on his early works; and a remarkable selection of never-before-published drawings and watercolors of “Plum” and his brothers executed by his mother from 1879 to 1895. The book incorporates new, exclusive commentary by the late scholar Norman Murphy, author of A Wodehouse Handbook. Neil Midkiff’s imaginative book design has resulted in a harmonious integration of pictures and text.


Dawson: “Wodehouse’s boyhood and his early years in London have been underserved and in some respects greatly misapprehended by previous biographers. My hope is that the book will contribute to a new understanding of his life and work, and foster a reconsideration of much of what has been written about his childhood.”

About Wodehouse

P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) is widely regarded as the foremost comic novelist of the twentieth century. His dozens of novels and hundreds of short stories featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster and a hilarious host of others have garnered millions of fans over the world and remain in print today. Also known for his Broadway musical theater collaborations with Jerome Kern, Wodehouse wrote over 300 song lyrics that were praised by Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and many others. In his days as a young London journalist Wodehouse wrote for Punch, the Strand, and a multitude of papers and magazines. During the period covered in P. G. Wodehouse’s Early Years, he wrote his first nine books and over 500 articles, stories, and poems.

Ordering information: Direct from print-on-demand book distributor lulu.com.
550 pages, 6 by 9 inches.
Click to go to lulu.com ordering pages:
Softcover: USD $35
Hardcover: USD $45
Books are printed to order and shipped from presses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Poland, and Australia to minimize shipping costs and delays. Ordering information allows payment in several international currencies.