A Slice of Life (short story)

Last updated
"A Slice of Life"
by P. G. Wodehouse
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher Strand (UK)
Liberty (US)
Media typePrint (Magazine)
Publication dateAugust 1926 (UK)
7 August 1926 (US)

"A Slice of Life" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in the UK in 1926 in The Strand Magazine , and appeared almost simultaneously in Liberty in the United States. [1] It also appears in the collection Meet Mr. Mulliner . [2] The main character in this story, Wilfred Mulliner, plays off-stage parts in "Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo".

Contents

Plot

Wilfred Mulliner, the inventor of Mulliner's Magic Marvels, a set or creams and lotions that help "alleviate the many ills to which the flesh is heir", falls in love with Angela Purdue and recommends Mulliner's Raven Gypsy Face-Cream to help her keep her sunburn on. Angela fears that her guardian, Sir Jasper ffinch-ffarrowmere, will not approve of the marriage and her fears seem to be realized when the guardian arrives at Wilfred's home with a message from Angela calling the engagement off. Wilfred suspects the work of the dastardly baronet and being a man of action sets forth for Yorkshire where the baronet lives at ffinch Hall and, while wandering around the grounds at night, he hears a woman sobbing.

Within a week, Wilfred enters the house as a valet (he bribes Sir Jasper's valet and replaces him as his cousin) disguised in a red wig and blue spectacles. Soon after entering the house he follows Sir Jasper carry a tray of food to a room at the top of the house. Convinced that Angela is being held in the room against her will, he resolves to rescue her but is unable to find a key in the baronet's room and has no idea how to get hold of it. Over the next few days, he worries, loses weight, and Sir Jasper, who has a weight problem of his own (he can't lose it) decides to get an indoor Turkish cabinet bath inside which he gets stuck.

"First, I must have the key." Wilfred demands the key to Angela's room as the price for releasing the baronet. "Give me the key, you Fiend," he cries. "ffiend," corrects Sir Jasper, automatically. To Wilfred's surprise, it turns out that the key is not with the baronet but with Angela. She refuses to let him in because his suntan cream has turned her piebald.

To cut a long story short, Mulliner's Snow of the Mountains Lotion fixes the piebald-ness, Mulliner's Reduc-O takes care of Sir Jasper's weight problem, Mulliner's Ease-o relieves the butler's lumbago, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Publication history

The story was illustrated by Charles Crombie in the Strand. [3] Wallace Morgan illustrated the story in Liberty. [4] "A Slice of Life" was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (US) in June 1955. [5]

The 1932 collection Nothing But Wodehouse, edited by Ogden Nash and published in the US by Doubleday, Doran & Company, included the story. [6] "A Slice of Life" was collected in the Mulliner Omnibus, published by Herbert Jenkins in the UK in 1935, and in the second edition titled The World of Mr. Mulliner, published by Barrie & Jenkins in 1972. [7] It was included in the 1960 collection The Most of P. G. Wodehouse, published by Simon and Schuster, New York. [8]

Adaptations

The story was adapted for radio in 2002 as part of a series with Richard Griffiths as Mr Mulliner. The cast also included Matilda Ziegler as Miss Postlethwaite, Angela, and a cook, Peter Acre as a Port and Sir Jasper, Martin Hyder as a Light Ale and Jenkins, David Timson as a Pint of Stout and Murgatroyd, and Tom George as a Small Bitter and Wilfred. It first aired on BBC Radio 4 on 4 December 2002. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Lord Emsworth and Others</i> 1937 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

Lord Emsworth and Others is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 19 March 1937 by Herbert Jenkins, London; it was not published in the United States. The Crime Wave at Blandings, which was published on 25 June 1937 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, is a very different collection, sharing only three of its seven titles with the UK book. Penguin Books published a UK edition of The Crime Wave at Blandings in 1966. The stories in both books had all previously appeared in both British and American magazines.

Mr. Mulliner is a fictional character from the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Mr. Mulliner is a loquacious pub raconteur who, no matter what the topic of conversation, can find an appropriate story about a member of his family to match it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. G. Wodehouse bibliography</span>

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, was a prolific English author, humorist and scriptwriter. After being educated at Dulwich College, to which he remained devoted all his life, he was employed by a bank, but disliked the work and wrote magazine pieces in his spare time. In 1902 he published his first novel, The Pothunters, set at the fictional public school of St. Austin's; his early stories continued the school theme. He also used the school setting in his short story collections, which started in 1903 with the publication of Tales of St. Austin's.

<i>Blandings Castle and Elsewhere</i> 1935 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

Blandings Castle and Elsewhere is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 12 April 1935 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and, as Blandings Castle, in the United States on 20 September 1935 by Doubleday Doran, New York. All the stories had previously appeared in Strand Magazine (UK) and all except the last in various US magazines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Few Quick Ones</span> 1959 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

A Few Quick Ones is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States on 13 April 1959 by Simon & Schuster, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 26 June 1959 by Herbert Jenkins, London. The first US edition dust jacket was designed by Paul Bacon. The book's title comes from the informal phrase "a quick one", which is British slang for an alcoholic drink consumed quickly.

<i>Eggs, Beans and Crumpets</i> 1940 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

Eggs, Beans and Crumpets is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on April 26, 1940 by Herbert Jenkins, London, then with a slightly different content in the United States on May 10, 1940 by Doubleday, Doran, New York.

<i>Mr Mulliner Speaking</i> 1929 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

Mr Mulliner Speaking is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on April 30, 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the United States on February 21, 1930 by Doubleday, Doran. The stories were originally published in magazines in the UK and the US between 1924 and 1929.

<i>Meet Mr Mulliner</i> 1927 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

Meet Mr. Mulliner is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in the United Kingdom on 27 September 1927 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the United States on 2 March 1928 by Doubleday, Doran. The short stories were originally published in magazines, mainly The Strand Magazine in the UK and Liberty in the US.

<i>Mulliner Nights</i> 1933 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

Mulliner Nights is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in the United Kingdom on 17 January 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the United States on 15 February 1933 by Doubleday, Doran. The stories in the collection were originally published in magazines in the UK and the US between 1930 and 1932.

<i>Young Men in Spats</i> 1936 short story collection by P.G. Wodehouse

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.

"Strychnine in the Soup" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in the US in The American Magazine in December 1931, and in the UK in The Strand Magazine in March 1932. It also appears in the collection Mulliner Nights (1933).

"Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in the United States by Liberty Magazine on September 4, 1926 and in the United Kingdom in The Strand in November 1926. It was collected in Meet Mr. Mulliner (1927).

"Best Seller" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in the US in Cosmopolitan in June 1930, and in the UK in The Strand Magazine in July 1930. The Cosmopolitan version of the story does not include Mr Mulliner. The Mulliner version of the story was included in the collection Mulliner Nights (1933).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Smile That Wins</span> 1931 short story by P. G. Wodehouse

"The Smile That Wins" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in the United States, in the October 1931 issue of The American Magazine. It was subsequently published in the United Kingdom in the February 1932 issue of The Strand Magazine. It was collected in Mulliner Nights (1933).

"The Truth About George" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in July 1926 in Strand Magazine, and appeared almost simultaneously in Liberty in the United States. It also appears in the collection Meet Mr. Mulliner.

"The Bishop's Move" is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in August 1927 in Liberty in the United States, and in September 1927 in The Strand Magazine in the UK. It also appears in the collection Meet Mr. Mulliner.

"Honeysuckle Cottage" is a short story by the British author P. G. Wodehouse. The story was first published in the 24 January 1925 issue of the Saturday Evening Post in the United States, and in the February 1925 issue of the Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom.

"Jeeves and the Greasy Bird" is a short story by English humorist P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. The story was published in Playboy magazine in the United States in December 1965, and in Argosy magazine in the United Kingdom in January 1967. The story was also included in the 1966 collection Plum Pie.

"George and Alfred" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse and a Mr. Mulliner story. It was published in Playboy magazine in the US in January 1967. The story was also included in the 1966 collection Plum Pie.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Midkiff, Neil (3 July 2019). "The Wodehouse short stories". Madame Eulalie. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  2. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 53–54, A38.
  3. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 185, D133.128.
  4. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 151, D36.8.
  5. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 152, D39.1.
  6. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 113–114, B2.
  7. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 115–116, B5.
  8. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 120–121, B12.
  9. ↑ "Meet Mr Mulliner". BBC Genome. BBC. 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
Sources
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.