4.5*

Great fun in this Wodehouse novel about NY theater business. If only this had been narrated by Jonathan Cecil, it might have been a 5*! Not that Simon Vance's narration was bad (far from it!). ( )

“Barmy in Wonderland” revolves around a new play, which doesn’t provide this talented author with the best scenes or amusing moments of conflict you’d expect if, like me, you’ve read most of his novels. At times, I found it annoying when it should’ve been funny.

While this isn’t a Wodehouse classic, it’s still worth a read. ( )

Great fun in this Wodehouse novel about NY theater business. If only this had been narrated by Jonathan Cecil, it might have been a 5*! Not that Simon Vance's narration was bad (far from it!). ( )

I am a huge fan of Wodehouse. What makes him so great is not his plotting, or even the characters, but the arch manner in which he approaches the story. I don't think there is any humorist more adept at turning an otherwise mundane situation into farce, or finding just the exact way to find the maximum comedy in the description of any person or thing. I am constantly amazed at how well Wodehouse's humor stands the test of time. The strength of "Barmy" is a witty female love interest whom the reader himself can easily fall in love with. The dialogue in one scene alone is worth the price of the book, that is, when Barmy first meets his love interest. In all the "meet cute" movies Holywood has churned out, no couiple has ever met cuter--or funnier. ( )

Although Cyrill Fotheringay-Phipps, fondly known as Barmy, only consulted a fortune-teller to take the weight off his feet, it did seem as though the old crystal ball had had an eyeful. Had he not met 'Dinty', the fair girl to end all fair girls, and was he not about to enrich the Broadway theatrical scene?
But while Barmy was rising his hat to Gypsy Sybill, fate was aiming a nasty jolt at the solar plexus...