Author:P.G. Wodehouse

Do Butlers Burgle Banks? (1968) features Mike Bond, the hitherto fortunate owner of Bond's Bank, who finds himself in a spot of trouble so serious that he wants someone to burgle the bank before the trustees inspect it. Fortunately for him, Horace Appleby, currently posing as his butler, is on hand to oblige. For Horace is, in fact, not a butler at all but the best sort of American gangster, prudently concealing himself in an English country house while hiding from his rivals. Looking for peace and safety, Horace is to discover before long that the hot-spots of New York are a whole lot more restful than the English countryside. This is the lightest of light comedies, a Wodehousian soufflé from his later years.
"Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in."
—— EVELYN WAUGH"He exhausts superlatives"
—— STEPHEN FRY"Pure word music"
—— DOUGLAS ADAMS"The Everyman edition promises to be a splendid celebration of the divine Plum"
—— THE INDEPENDENT"The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare"
—— EVENING STANDARD"A handsome, collectable hardback edition"
—— Lynne Truss , THE TIMESIn a literary world which is so often either relaxed into the flabby indifference of review-speak, or corseted into position with the strings and eyelets of critical jargon, James Wood's tone is invaluable
—— Robert MacFarlane , Times Literary SupplementHe is one of literature's true lovers, and his deeply felt, contentious essays are thrilling in their reach and moral seriousness
—— Susan SontagJames Wood is an authentic literary critic, very rare in this bad time. One can dissent gently from his judgements but he is always urgent, lucid, and interesting
—— Harold BloomThe mysteries are never tainted by explanation, merely beautifully described, delivering a hypnotic read
—— Times Higher Education Supplement'For sheer love of a thumping narrative, the novel delivers gloriously-Inventive, alluring' David Mitchell
—— Guardian'Murakami's most addictive fix to date'
—— Independent'Engrossing and wildly inventive'
—— Times Literary SupplementTop marks. Fantastic
—— HeatLovely
—— Daily TelegraphMoving and intelligent
—— IndependentMagnetic, unpretentious and bursting with one-liners
—— CosmopolitanFans of chick-lit will understand when I say that this is a book you simply disappear into
—— Sunday Telegraph