| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.70
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Old Reliable for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.70, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
A Charming and frothy light comedy which is also a sharp satire on Hollywood mores. Pure Wodehouse.
Product Description
Following the death of Carmen Flores, the lubricious Mexican star, Adela Cork buys her Hollywood house. Hoping to escape from the domineering Adela, her brother-in-law Smedley, who has lived with her since losing his money, searches the house for Carmen's legendary lost diary, in the belief that its scorching revelations about the sex life of her fellow stars will make him millions. He is helped and hindered by a safe-blowing butler, a pompous movie mogul, a posse of unemployed scriptwriters, and the redoubtable Adela herself. Fortunately, Adela's sister, 'Bill' Shannon, not for nothing nicknamed 'the Old Reliable', is on hand to ensure a satisfactory outcome. A light comedy which is also a sharp satire on Hollywood mores.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wilhelmina `Bill' Shannon ex staff writer of Ikey Llewellyn's film company Superba-Llewellyn is ghost writing her sister Adela's memoirs. Adela Shannon was a star of the silver screen who is living in what was the Hollywood home of torrid film star Carmen Flore, who was known to have kept a diary. Smedley Cork, whom Bill is devoted to, and the ex safe cracker butler, Phipps, are both searching for this diary conscious of the money it could fetch from a gossip magazine.
Also on the premises are Adela Shannon's niece Kay and her two suitors, Jack Davenport, whom Kay loves but Adela does not, and Lord Topham, whom Adela loves but Kay does not.
I think we all know how it's going to end up but as ever with Wodehouse the chase is better than the kill. If only every thing in life was as reliable as a Wodehouse plot conclusion.
Also on the premises are Adela Shannon's niece Kay and her two suitors, Jack Davenport, whom Kay loves but Adela does not, and Lord Topham, whom Adela loves but Kay does not.
I think we all know how it's going to end up but as ever with Wodehouse the chase is better than the kill. If only every thing in life was as reliable as a Wodehouse plot conclusion.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Old Billy was right
8 Feb 2008
While best known for his novels featuring Jeeves and Wooster, P.G. Wodehouse demonstrates his comic genius throughout all of his novels, and that genius is on constant display throughout "The Old Reliable". The tale is a laugh-out-loud funny look at a few poor down-and-out souls in Hollywood desperate to get their hands on some money to get themselves back on their feet. And since everyone turns to Wilhelmina "Bill" Shannon to solve all of their problems, she has garnered the title nickname, the Old Reliable, for her quick thinking and ingenious plans.
Bill Shannon is down on her luck, having been fired from the Hollywood production firm she worked for, forced to live with her sister (former silent screen star and loaded widow Adela Shannon). She pays for her room and board by writing her sister's dull memoirs and trying to think of ways she can get back on her feet. Smedley Cork, Adela's brother-in-law has spent all of his money and must rely upon his sister-in-law for his keep which leads to a very boring existence. Joe Davenport, Bill's former colleague who was also recently fired, wants desperately to marry Bill's niece, if only he had some money and if only she would ever say yes to his proposals. When Smedley finds a diary belonging to the sensational star who used to live in Adela's mansion, everyone believes their problems are solved, and that the sale of the diary will make all of their dreams come true. But not if Adela and a certain sneaky former safeblowing English butler have anything to say about it.
"The Old Reliable" is a short, fast-paced read, full of Wodehouse's trademark wit and humor. The narrative is peppered with Hollywood references and quotes from Shakespeare. Readers will recognize some plot elements from other Wodehouse novels, but will still enjoy the "what else could possibly happen" scenes that Wodehouse concocts in an effort to make a happy and entertaining ending for everyone involved, except perhaps Adela.
Bill Shannon is down on her luck, having been fired from the Hollywood production firm she worked for, forced to live with her sister (former silent screen star and loaded widow Adela Shannon). She pays for her room and board by writing her sister's dull memoirs and trying to think of ways she can get back on her feet. Smedley Cork, Adela's brother-in-law has spent all of his money and must rely upon his sister-in-law for his keep which leads to a very boring existence. Joe Davenport, Bill's former colleague who was also recently fired, wants desperately to marry Bill's niece, if only he had some money and if only she would ever say yes to his proposals. When Smedley finds a diary belonging to the sensational star who used to live in Adela's mansion, everyone believes their problems are solved, and that the sale of the diary will make all of their dreams come true. But not if Adela and a certain sneaky former safeblowing English butler have anything to say about it.
"The Old Reliable" is a short, fast-paced read, full of Wodehouse's trademark wit and humor. The narrative is peppered with Hollywood references and quotes from Shakespeare. Readers will recognize some plot elements from other Wodehouse novels, but will still enjoy the "what else could possibly happen" scenes that Wodehouse concocts in an effort to make a happy and entertaining ending for everyone involved, except perhaps Adela.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Amazing Bill
24 Jun 1998
Format:Hardcover
I finished this book in two sittings - I had to have my dinner in between. As in each of his books, PGW weaves a clever plot into the tale, full of twists and turns. There is then the usual lot - boy proposed to girl, girl rejects him, girl accepts him in the end. As I read this book as the fifth of a collection of five complete novels of Wodehouse, I could find lot of similar points between the various stories. A scheming butler, girl accepts boy after feeling sorry for him... the same stuff I had read before. This reduced my impression of Wodehouse, but nevertheless, he continues to be my favorite writer. The central character, The Old Reliable, 'Bill' Shannon is a woman on amazing intelligence. She outwits the plotting, double crossing butler, gets two true lovers together, outbosses her overbearing sister and manages to get thirty thousand dollars for her to-be-husband and herself. A tale set in Early Hollywood, where everyone and anyone aspires to be an actor, where money is the keystone of life. Read on!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Wodehouse antics in sunny California
10 Nov 2008
Format:Hardcover
When P G Wodehouse's stories are mentioned most readers think of Jeeves and Wooster, stately English houses set in the countryside. The Hollywood home of an aging silent film star does not spring to mind but in this most unlikely setting Wodehouse has managed to create his own special sort of madness. Populating this mansion was the owner, Adela, her unfortunate brother-in-law who she had to support, her long suffering, but reliable, sister Wilhelmina (Bill), who was writing Adela's memoirs and supervising the staff, the butler Phipps. When Adela's niece, Kay and Bill's former protege Joe arrive complications begin to abound involving a missing diary, a shady past and more than one romance.
Wodehouse has managed to transport a bit of his own slapstick version of England as it never was to early Hollywood with his familiar results. As always the plot is deliciously complicated, full of unlikely but fortuitous coincidences and happy endings. Even without Jeeves or a stately English estate this is a delightful addition to the Wodehouse canon that any fan will not want to miss.
Wodehouse has managed to transport a bit of his own slapstick version of England as it never was to early Hollywood with his familiar results. As always the plot is deliciously complicated, full of unlikely but fortuitous coincidences and happy endings. Even without Jeeves or a stately English estate this is a delightful addition to the Wodehouse canon that any fan will not want to miss.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
