''Cocktail Time'' is a

comic novel A comic novel is a novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's literar ...

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

, first published in the United Kingdom on 20 June 1958 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on 24 July 1958 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York. A condensed version of the story was originally published in the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In ...

'' (US) in one issue in April 1958.McIlvaine (1990), A81, p. 93. It is the third novel to feature Frederick Twistleton, Earl of Ickenham, better known as

Uncle Fred Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in comedic short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961. An energetic and mischievous ol ...

Plot

The story begins as Uncle Fred knocks off Sir Raymond Bastable’s top hat with a Brazil nut fired through the window of the

Drones Club The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British humorist P. G. Wodehouse. It is a gentlemen's club in London. Many of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members. Various memb ...

from a catapult. Sir Raymond assumes that the culprit was a young Drone, but is unsure how to respond, knowing that a letter to the Times would open him to ridicule, especially as he is about to stand for Parliament. Uncle Fred suggests writing a novel exposing the iniquities of the younger generation. The eventual novel, “Cocktail Time”, which Bastable publishes under a pseudonym, becomes a succès de scandale after being condemned by a bishop. Afraid of being unmasked as the author, Bastable allows his ne’er-do-well nephew Cosmo Wisdom to take the credit, and the royalties, of the book. With his friend Gordon “Oily” Carlisle, and Carlisle's wife Gertie, Cosmo plots to blackmail Bastable, and writes a letter revealing the true author of “Cocktail Time”. Much of the rest of the book is concerned with various characters’ attempts to get hold of the letter. The action moves to Dovetail Hammer, Berks, where Uncle Fred is staying with his godson Johnny Pearce. Johnny is in love with Belinda Farringdon, but needs £500 in order to marry her. Uncle Fred resolves to help, but for the time being is more concerned with retrieving the letter. It so happens that Sir Raymond Bastable is also living in Dovetail Hammer, with his sister Phoebe Wisdom, Cosmo’s mother, and Sir Raymond’s butler, Albert Peasemarch (who is secretly in love with Phoebe), as tenants of Johnny Pearce. Oily travels to Dovetail Hammer and attempts to blackmail Sir Raymond, but Uncle Fred manages to extract the letter by posing as Inspector Jervis of the Yard. He then blackmails Bastable into treating Phoebe more kindly by keeping the letter himself. Cosmo and Bastable discover that the movie rights of the book could be worth a fortune. Cosmo changes his mind, deciding that he’d like to be the author of "Cocktail Time" after all. Needing the letter back, Cosmo proceeds to Dovetail Hammer. Oily Uncle Fred unwisely gives the letter to Albert Peasemarch for safekeeping. However, while drunk, Peasemarch reveals the letter's location to Cosmo. As Cosmo retrieves the letter, Oily and Gertie attack him, knocking him out and steal the letter. She and Oily hide it in an imitation walnut cabinet, which is taken away to be auctioned. However, Uncle Fred finds the letter and removes it, allowing Oily and Cosmo to bid against each other fiercely. Uncle Fred extracts £500 from Sir Raymond in return for the letter, which he gives to Johnny, allowing Johnny to marry Belinda. Sir Raymond gets the movie rights to “Cocktail Time”, and marries his longtime admirer Barbara Crowe, while Albert marries Phoebe.

Publication history

''Cocktail Time'' was published in April 1958 in the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' magazine with illustrations by

Al Parker Al Parker (born Andrew Robert Okun; June 25, 1952 – August 17, 1992) was a gay American porn star, producer, and director. He died from complications of AIDS at the age of 40. Early career Parker was born in Natick, Massachusetts. After arri ...

. One other Wodehouse story was published in the ''Ladies' Home Journal'', '' The Return of Jeeves'', in 1954. The illustration on the first US edition dust jacket was by Robert Shore. The story was included in the collection ''The World of Uncle Fred'', published in August 1983 by Hutchinson, London.McIlvaine (1990), pp. 127–128, B28.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

Cocktail Time (list of characters, synopsis)
P. G. Wodehouse bibliography (in English), The Russian Wodehouse Society {{P. G. Wodehouse Novels by P. G. Wodehouse 1958 British novels British comedy novels Novels set in Berkshire Herbert Jenkins books Works originally published in Ladies' Home Journal