BEA Day 1: Cool books, hot show

It's hot today at BEA. How hot is it? It's so hot that if this were San Diego Comic-Con, the Stormtroopers would be keeling over left and right. It's so hot that if Bahlactus's Friday Night Fights were held on the floor of BEA, both fighters would be dropping into the floor in a pool of sweat. It's so hot that if the Human Torch wandered into your booth, you'd be clustering around him just for the cool relief.

Okay, enough of that.

Seriously, it was busy and humid at the Javits Center for the first day of BookExpo America. It's always busier at BEA when the industry's big trade show is held in New York, the King City of Publishing, but this was more crowded and packed than I have seen it in years, including the last NYC BEA. The crowds poured into the aisles smack-dab at nine AM and never really let up: there were even big crowds right down to the wire at the show's 5 PM closing, a time when the throngs have usually thinned out. I'm sure the masses of people didn't help the Javits's apparently overstrained air conditioner systems, because (as I may have mentioned) it was pretty dang hot at the BEA today. If you stared far, far up in the overhead rafters of the big hall you could see some of the tarps that line the ceiling fluttering, but not much of that coolness was getting down to us on the big blue carpet of the Norton booth, and I do believe it passed eighty on the floor today. We were all pretty sweaty by the end of the day, and believe me, a sweaty bull is not something you want to be close to.

I'll say this: a busy day makes for a fast day. There are people to meet 'n' greet, catalogues and galleys to restock, places to go, people to see, and...one of the nicest perks of BEA, plenty of freebies to get...but like I advised you last year, don't be greedy! Don't grab every book you see, even if they're up for offer. In other words, don't be like this guy, loaded down with four bags of galleys and books a mere fifteen minutes after BEA started:


It was a worthwhile and productive day but I'm going to make this a brief post: my hooves, they are a-mooing, and I'm beat and tired. BEA oughta be fun, and it is, but it's hard, hard work! So sit back, relax, be grateful you're home in your lovely cool home, and imagine room temperatures creeping to eighty and above as you peer at my photos of BEA, Day One:

Everybody who's anybody is coming to the fabulous Norton booth! Why can't you see me? Because I am running underfoot carrying catalogues to and fro:



Fabulous Fantagraphics guy Eric Reynolds glances suspiciously at me as I attempt to take more than one free copy of Unseen Peanuts. I promise I am not going to sell them on eBay, Eric!


One of the best things about BEA is meeting face-to-face people I've only "met" so far over the internet. Here I am shakin' hooves with Dandy Douglas Wolk, the mastermind behind the definitive 52 Pickup blog and author of the amazin'-lookin' forthcoming book Reading Comics:


Douglas gave me a cool promotional postcard for the book (you can see it here on the book's MySpace page). Check out his "Seven Strong Opinions About Comics"...they make a compelling springboard for a different kind of book about comics and I'm very excited to read it when it comes out in July. (I pretty much agree with each of the seven points, but especially number seven: "Also, comics are awesome.") Preach on, brother Douglas!

There are all sorts of events and seminars to go to at BEA. One of these days I will be hosting one on how to blog if you are a cute stuffed animal. (Not for you, Giraffo...I said cute!) In the meantime, why not attend this fine event? I ain't needing any help because me write grammar good, but you may find it entertaining:


Like I said, there are lots of great giveaways and freebies at BEA. But sometimes the sweetest giveaway doesn't have anything to do with books at all! Remember though, don't' be greedy! Filling your pockets or tote bag are frowned upon:


Houghton Mifflin's forthcoming The Best American Comics 2007 features Chris Ware as editor and cover designer:


I love working in the book industry, but now I truly know what I wanna be when I grow up: a world-record balloon sculptor.


Adrian Tomine signs posters at the Drawn and Quarterly booth. Also exciting: a new Moomin collection is coming this fall. Hooray, D+Q!


At a busy BEA, it can be tough bein' a little stuffed bull. So it's especially lovely to meet a new friend just my size!:


I of course had to make a pilgrimage to the graphic novel section of the main floor, dominated by the DC mega-booth. Hey, it's the goshdarn Batman!:


I was taking photos in the DC booth when a booming voice called to me: "Hey, no photos of stuffed animals in the booth!" Far from being a tough security guard, it's actually old pal John Cunningham from DC, and we have a lovely chat for a few moments. I'm jealous of where he works, and we discuss the relative merits of working someplace where you not only get to see all the cool new comics, but also you don't have to wear a necktie to work. Now that's a dream job!

DC was displaying a lot of great upcoming stuff. I was told "this year for sure" on this eagerly awaited-book. We'll see!:


DC also had a great display of forthcoming titles from the Minx line, including some advance mock-ups of books and a nice sampler. I think even I want to read some of these. See, Minx comics aren't just for girls:


Hey, look, comin' this fall: 52: The Novel! I'm interested in this but I imagine the storyline is really truncated. We'll see:


Normally publishers at BEA only display their own books and products, but I think DC is pretty canny here in understanding they are also promoting their characters to booksellers when they set up a couple shelves of forthcoming books from other publishers spotlighting the DCU heroes.


And here's a cool display case of DC Direct action figures and statues. Not a wash bucket (or laundry basket) among them!:


Speaking of which, you may remember last year my lengthy discussion on Marvel's very tiny BEA display in comparison to DC. I'm happy to report their exhibition space, while still overshadowed by DC's, is much bigger and sharper this year. They're part of the big Diamond Comics stretch of booths and have a great slick professional set-up for this BEA:


Marvel had some busy traffic in their booth while I was there: Laurell K. Hamilton was signing copies of her Anita Blake comic to an eager line of fans. There is no truth to the rumor that beefy Marvel security guards were seen escorting Chris Sims to the exit, however.

As usual, Marvel was givin' away free comics (although they couldn't beat DC, who were giving away free copies of the Watchman paperback and the Alex Ross Justice hardcover!):

I'll give Marvel some "much improved" points for giving away The Dark Tower and Anita Blake, not to mention the bookseller-name-recognition of Neil Gaiman with free copies of Eternals #1. But Marvel, you've got to learn that giving away copies of Moon Knight #1 and last year's Free Comic Book Day offering of X-Men/Runaways aren't going to get you any interest from trade booksellers. And what's with that giveaway of Civil War: Opening Shot Sketchbook from over a year ago?

I ranted enough last year, so I'll keep it short here: Marvel, Marvel, Marvel. You have the number one opening weekend of all time for your recent movie. And you've got another massive movie coming out very soon. Why not promote and capitalize on those successes...and characters bookstores will recognize and perceive as ultra-popular...by giving away Spider-Man or Fantastic Four books...why not, especially, the Spidey/FF #1 comic that featured the Silver Surfer? But smart for Marvel, they did have an excellent flier of their top GNs with great sales potential for bookstores, plus a good display of Spidey graphic novels:


So, Marvel, I'll give you a better grade this year on your BEA appearance, but there's still plenty of room for improvement: "6 out of 10, can do better than this."

In addition to Marvel, many of the other big comics companies were well-represented by separate booths or half-booths in the Diamond Comics pavilion. Here's Image:


...plus Virgin, Udon, and a host of others:


Working at BEA can be tiring and hard work. Don't forget to keep your strength up with a hearty luncheon from the food court downstairs! Extra bonus: it's cooler down there. It is even cooler standing next to the hot dog grill than it is upstairs. Also, chocolate-covered peanuts!


Best non-comics book news of the BEA for this little stuffed British mystery fan: like last year, the announcement of a new Dick Francis book got me very excited and thrilled! Looks like he's working with his son Felix now. As many of Dick's books were written with the help of his late wife, I don't mind this development at all, just as long as I get a great horsey mystery out of it. Hooray! I love Dick Francis, If I ever finish my Wodehouse a Week project, maybe I'll do A Dick Francis a Week!:


Best book title of BEA (from Dilbert's Scott Adams):


This picture encyclopedia of DC action figures from Chronicle Books looks really cool!:


My little hooves were really hurty by this time, but I couldn't go back to the Norton booth without stopping off to visit Bully email-pen-pal Gina Gagliano at the First Second booth. Hi Gina! We will come over to play Trivial Pursuit some day, we promise!:


Gina was very kind to give me some ultra-cool stuff, including a beautiful Eddie Campbell Black Diamond Detective Agency poster and the new First Second catalogue. Their Fall list looks amazing—I especially am looking forward to Laika: Earth's First Astronaut (the story of the first Soviet spacedog, with beautiful Tintinesque artwork by Nick Abadzis) and the wonderfully whimsical Robot Dreams by Sara Varon. Great stuff! Here's a photo of me with some of their current books...I'm a big little First Second fan and they are publishing some amazing work. Thanks, Gina!


At last it's five o'clock and the lights dim to remind us to get the heck out, and I trot gratefully out of the sticky hot Javits Center into the sticky hot Manhattan afternoon to begin to long trudge across town back to the Jolly Hotel. I'm tramping wearily up Thirty-Eighth Street when I spot these advertising posters:


After a day like this, I got to agree.

Cow news: The New Moo-tants

Let's read today's newspapers and see if there is any decent cow news, shall we? Oh, here's one:

Mutant cow produces low-fat milk

Mutant cows could soon be providing the world with ready-skimmed milk and butter that spreads straight from the fridge.

Scientists in New Zealand reckon their discovery could help people live healthier lives.

A team of experts is working on getting the herd to produce low-fat milk straight from the cows' udders.

Due to a mutant gene, the animals they are breeding produce milk that contains less fat.

According to the New Zealand Herald, their butter is spreadable without waiting for it to soften like others currently on the market.

The benefits are spreadable butter? Creamier milk? Healthier dairy? Pfui on that, I say. Everybody knows the benefits are now cows can join the X-Men.

Unlike the Fantastic Four, who reject bovine membership application:

BEA Day 0: Books and boxes and bulls (and teamsters, oh my!)

Hullo folks hullo and greetings from BookExpo America 2007, the nation's leading trade and exhibition show for publishers, booksellers, authors, agents, publicists, media, and Nancy Pearl, Action Librarian! All these fine folks and more will converge upon the Enterprise-sized Jacob Javits Center in beautiful west side Manhattan over the next four days to see upcoming books from the big fall holiday season. How important is BEA? Let me put it this way: they even have their own blog.

BEA opens to paid industry members tomorrow, so today is technically "Day Zero"—set-up and installation of display booths on the big main floor for the zillions of publishers and other exhibitors (like Norton, the publisher that yours little stuffed truly help out sometimes to sell books). That means today is a heavy lifting day, so bring your tape gun, Velcro, and extra-strength Advil to help unpack boxes and crates and get ready for the event of a lifetime year! Until BEA 2008 in Los Angeles, of course.

I'll be working in the Norton booth all weekend, so watch out for me underfoot as you pass through—I'm the one darting back and forth between people's shoes restocking free catalogues and giveaway book galleys. When I get back to the lovely Jolly Hotel (the happiest hotel of them all!) I'll try night to log on and blog on (unless I'm really exhausted...believe me, it's hard work!). I'll try to give you the skinny, reporting on trends, events, and humorous giggle-worthy sights from the show floor. Will Marvel Comics learn the lessons I so sternly gave them in my BEA report of last year? Judging from recent events, no, probably not.

In the meantime, here's Bully's Very Special Scrapbook of adventures on Day Zero, unpacking crates, opening boxes, stacking galleys, and just generally havin' so much fun that only a flurry of photographs can capture the sheer glee:

Wearing the proper outfit is very important for an event like BEA. Here my very good friend Miss Carol helps me get dressed for the weekend:


You should really wear work clothes for set-up day, but I just couldn't resist getting dressed up all special 'n' stuff. And look! I have my official BEA badge on!


What's in these boxes? Somebody open 'em up fast so I can see! I would do it myself but I am not allowed to have a box cutter.


Booksellers and publicists will want copies of our Fall catalogue so they can see what we're publishing! I am helping to stock stack and stacks of catalogues in our racks. Come on by and help yourself to one!


Many publishers give away free "advance reading copies" or "galleys," which makes BEA a dandy way to get an early "read" (tee hee) on forthcoming books. Don't be greedy; only take one of each!


More galleys, artfully arranged. I'm making base camp here, and I'll head for the summit in the morning.


Hey, where are the Fantagraphics guys! Hurry up and get here to unpack your boxes! I wanna see the new books!


Much of the heavy lifting and construction is done by trained and licensed teamsters. Here's two of the best! These guys are burly, brawny, and very friendly. Nobody drives forklifts better! Thanks for the dirty jokes, guys!


Uh oh...I think these crates may have vampires in them. Let me go get some garlic before I open 'em.


This crate contains Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Come on out, Harvey! You don't have to hide...Grindhouse wasn't that bad!


I made myself a little fort out of discarded pallets.


More boxes to open! That's pretty much the entire day, in fact. My hooves are aching from carrying boxes like these.


Many booths will have appearances by authors...swing by and meet and greet 'em! These fine authors will appear throughout the weekend at the Norton booth, signing galleys or broadside posters. Please do not ask them to sign their book to "Lucky eBay winner."


We are also giving away these ultra-cool Paul Krugman "Conscience of a Liberal" buttons on neat collector cards to coincide with his new book. I am wearing my special "Conscience of a Little Bull" button. I hope Paul doesn't mind.


Mmmmmmmmm, pie.


Mmmmmmmmm, ravioli!


It had been a long and busy day and my hooves hurt from carrying boxes and books around. Tomorrow: BEA Day 1: when the action really starts!

We've all lived next door to this guy at some point in our lives

Blame? Chris, of course.

You're a mean one, Mister Parker

(Jon, Facedown in the Gutters, liked Christmas a lot.
But your unfriendly neighborhood Spider-Man did not.)

IZ LIKE EATIN TATERCHIPZ

Okay, okay, I'll stop now.

IZ IN UR MEME

Blame Kevin.

All of a sudden I'm channeling Sleestak

Today I gathered up my carefully clipped coupons, got out my little push grocery cart, rolled it down the slope to Seventh Avenue and went grocery shopping. Among other things (Tuna fish! Cinnamon bread! That cereal that comes in the bag and is only $1.99 and tastes as good as the fancy stuff!), I picked up two of my very favorite foodstuff items:


Why, those two things are the very staples of a delicious meal, aren't they? Delicious rich, ice-cold creamy milk and savory, crispy Bac-Os® that give just the right zest and crunch-appeal to a lovely salad. However, as I'm a big fan of reading the small print, I couldn't help noticing the following:

"Milk from real cows"

Um, Cream-O-Land Dairy, what's the alternative? I s'pose they are trying to make a point that either A) this is not biogenetically altered or engineered milk or B) this is not milk from goats, dogs, or chickens, but is this really the best way to phrase it? "Milk from real cows? Why, that's so much better than milk from imaginary cows. Or fictional cows. Or little stuffed cows."

So. I am having milk from real cows for my dinner tonight. And on my salad I will sprinkle only slightly-bacony Bac-Os®. But what's this? Let's have a peek at the side label small print:

"Refrigerate after opening for added freshness and convenience"

Um, I'm all for keeping food fresh, but like Hershey's chocolate syrup (which never lasts more than a couple days around the Bull household anyway), do you really need to put this in the icebox to prevent spoiling? This ain't bacon, folks. These are carbonized bits of fictional pig. If there was ever a need label any item with the words "bacon from non-real pigs", Bac-Os® would be that item. Are these things really gonna spoil if I put them in the pantry? Let's read the list of ingredients:

Defatted Soy Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Water, Salt, Sugar, Artificial and Natural Flavor, Red 40 and Other Color Added, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (Corn, Soy, Wheat).

And below that it says

Contains no meat or animal fat

Well, that's the thing you need to watch out for spoiling, meat and animal fat. Not "admittedly savory but completely artificial pieces of pseudo-bacon that probably have more than one ingredient in common with Lego."

Okay, okay, I'm making a mountain out of a porkchop. You win this round, Betty Crocker: I won't risk fictional trichinosis and I will put my Bac-Os® in the icebox to keep them not only cool but fresh as a daisy in spring. But the full line read

"Refrigerate after opening for added freshness and convenience"

For convenience? Betty, honey, if I want convenience I'll be storing this in my bed so I can get at 'em when I'm hungry at midnight.

Moral of the story: let's eat! And never read fine print.

A Wodehouse a Week #5: Do Butlers Burgle Banks?

'I'll have another go at that book you brought me from the library yesterday.'

'Is it any good? I picked it because I liked the title.'

'Depends on what you call good. It's about a young man named Torquill who's trying to make up his mind whether or not to be psychoanalysed. Sometimes he thinks he will, and then sometimes he thinks he won't.'

'Well, what more can you ask in the way of suspense?'

'I don't want suspense. I want a good honest love story with trembling lips and shining eyes and heaving bosoms, the lot. But the boys aren't writing that story, any more, curse them.'
—from Do Butlers Burgle Banks? by P. G. Wodehouse


I know the question you are all asking: Is that title accurate? Do butlers burgle banks? Short answer: yes. Long answer...

Meet Bond, Michael Bond. (No relation to this one, although the addition of a talking bear would have made this Wodehouse's weirdest one yet.) Mike has a problem. (cue tempoed snare drums.) He's been left custodianship of the prestigious country financial institution Bond's Bank. He's also been left in a bit of a pickle by his late Uncle Hugo, who gleefully embezzled from the bank before inconveniently passing away before our story open. Now the auditors are on their way, his girlfriend Jill is feeling withdrawn from him, and as perfect as the new butler Appleby is, there's something not quite right about him...

This is another late-era Wodehouse (published in 1968); it's not one of his series adventures and while it's plainly set in the same coincidence-laden, love-conquers-all universe world of his other books, there's no sign or hint of the Drone Club or a Mulliner—Do Butlers Burgle Banks? stands on its own. Aside from his usual plot standbys of butlers, country houses, misunderstandings in romance and how the love of a good woman can turn a criminal mind into an upright citizen, this is really more of a caper novel than many of Wodehouse's plots. Mike hits upon the perfect way to solve his problems: if he arranges the burglary of his own bank, then the missing money can be said to have been among the booty the black-hearted criminals decide got away with. Overhearing this plan, Mike's girlfriend Jill (along with Sally, the quintessential Wodehosue heroine name) and his secretary Ada decide to put it into play themselves, performing a heist the exact same night a criminal gang led by Mike's new butler decides to do the same. Nothing ever goes smoothly in the course of true love and capers, now, does it?

As I mentioned last week, Wodehouse books are never short of criminals, but they're almost always either relatively minor crooks who get foiled or swindle themselves in the end, or in the case of Do Butlers Burgle Banks?, criminals who eventually gain if not start out with a heart of gold and the best intentions. This book and its cast of shady underworld types is as close to Damon Runyon as most anything Wodehouse wrote, populated by crooks with names like Smithy, Ferdie the Fly, and Basher Evans, who is described thusly and brilliantly:

There is only one adjective to be applied to Llewellyn 'Basher' Evans, and it was one which would have sprung automatically to the lips of any resident of Hollywood—the adjective colossal. Though he was impressively tall, it was not his cubits that filled the beholder with awe as much as his physical development. Wherever a man could bulge with muscle, he bulged. He even bulged in places where one would not have expected him to bulge. The clothes he wore had presumably been constructed by a tailor, but it was hard to believe that he could have been adequately fitted out by anyone less spacious in his methods than Omar the Tent Maker.

(I've got to add an aside: Microsoft Word "strongly suggests" that the passive voice in that previous sentence should be changed to 'A tailor had presumably constructed the clothes he wore.' I scoff at this. For shame, talking paperclip. To suggest that a soulless widget knows more about the lyric flow of a perfectly-formed paragraph, not to mention the true dimensions of 'Basher' Evans, than Mister P. G. Wodehouse, is exactly what I might expect a creation of the soulless Bill Gates. Pfui on you, Talking Paperclip. Pfui on you, Bill Gates.)

Of course, the preceding para only sets you up for the full extent of Basher's later religious conversion, in which he sees the light and spends the rest of the novel trying to thwart the criminal plans of his former colleagues by following them around and removing temptation in their way, including shutting the bank vault door (with Ada Cootes on the inside).

Despite fully half the recurring characters in this novel being crooks of one sort or another, some repentant, some not, there's no real harm done and everything's forgivable in the end. One of Wodehouse's great strengths is showing us the joy and humor in everyone, from Basher's discovery of that old time religion to career crook Horace Appleby finding true love with Ada Cootes. Even late Uncle Hugo, embezzler who caused all Mike's current woes, has a lovely and typical Wodehousean reason to have pocketed a few hundred thousand pounds from his own bank: because he enjoyed donating it to build public libraries and hospitals and being a beloved figure of the community for doing so:

'He was loved by everybody and wanted to stay loved, and the way to retain that universal esteem was to go on being Wellingford's Lord Bountiful. I supposed he started in a perfectly straightforward way by using his own money, and when that ran out he had to stop being a guardian angel or use other people's. It's the sort of thing that happening all the time. At my prep school there was a boy who was a great favourite with one and all because of the lavish way he stood treats to everyone at the school shop. "What for you, Jones?" it used to be. "And you, Smith? How about another jam sandwich, Robinson?" He didn't seem to care how much he spent. It was only later that it was discovered that for some weeks he had been helping himself right and left to the contents of his schoolmate's pockets. He, too, had probably begun by using his own money, and after it had gone he couldn't face the thought of having to stop being the popular hero.'

'Little beast!'

'Not at all, Gussie. He was quite a good sort. He all liked him, even after the facts were disclosed. He's a member of parliament now.'

'He would be.'

There's something about the bank theft plot, even seen through the cheerful mirror of the Wodehouse world, that lends itself to a movie comedy: this would be a perfect caper picture...Wodehouse's Eleven, maybe? I can see, f'r instance, Hugh Grant and Rowan Atkinson in something like this...toss in, say, Robbie Coltrane or Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis and you've got a film I wouldn't mind seeing. Of course, that sort of picture never seems to take off well in the States, but they do pretty nicely in the UK, don't they? In fact, you could build a pretty good theatre or film script straight from the pages of the book, Wodehouse's dialogue is so fast and dry:

'Shall I smooth your pillow?'

'No.'

'Mix you a cooling drink?'

'No.'

'Or take the dog for a run?'

'He can't run, he's much too fat. He's just had half my breakfast.'

'Got to keep his strength up.'

'I sometimes think he's a tapeworm cunningly disguised as a dachshund.'

See? That's practically Tom Stoppard minus the social commentary. Incidentally, did you notice the complete absence of "he said" and "she said" from that sequence? It's something that Wodehouse does a lot in his extended fast-reply retorts, and I hadn't really noticed it fully until reading Do Butlers Burgle Banks?. Part of it contributes to the script-like appeal of the book, but at the same time you can see, if you know Wodehouse's writing methods, it's all absolutely intentional. Wodehouse's final unfinished book Sunset at Blandings (which I'll probably review in my very last week of this project, ah, way about April 2009) shows several drafts of his writing at work, and how utterly careful and precise he was at editing and revising to get just the right rhythm of words down. If there's no "he said," there's absolutely none needed: not only is his dialogue so careful and clear that you don't get confused about who's saying what, but it figuratively dances off the page with more energy that way, unbound by the restrictions of editorializing. Which is not to say that Wodehouse writes sparely or tightly, oh no. He can ramble with the best of them, but unlike the most of them, you always wind up enjoying the ride. Here's fully half a printed page of dialogue that does really nothing to advance the plot but which is both a lovely portrayal of the two characters as well as a typical Wodehousean free-thought in an elegant waltz:

'You know, a thing I've never understood,' said the General, 'is how fellows could drink champagne out of women's shoes.'

'Did they?'

'In the old days frequently.'

'Yes, now to think of it, I've heard that.'

'Can't have been pleasant.'

'No.'

'Still, there you are.'

'No accounting for tastes.'

'You're right.'

'Takes all sorts to make a word.'

'Exactly. Very well put.'

It is possible, thought not probable, that the conversation might have plumbed even deeper depths, but at this moment Horace appeared again.

Now that's how you do naturalistic decompressed dialogue. Take that, Brian Michael Bendis!

Do Butlers Burgle Banks? is good fun, and the caper plot is different enough to make it distinct from many of his other young-lovers-overcome-adversity plots, It's quite serviceable Wodehouse, although he's not quite the top of his craft in here. There's at least one character (Mike's Aunt Isabel) who, while delightful, doesn't virtually nothing to move the plot forward, and more of a crime for a Wodehouse book, you could excise with without doing a speck of harm to the plot—unthinkable in the best of Wodehouse novels where every single character and the estate pig is absolutely essential to the plot and removing one thread makes the others fall apart without it. Wodehouse also misses a chance to tidy a dangling plot line: early in the book Horace Appleby, the criminal butler, thwarts a pickpocket. As there is a veritable rogues' gallery of crooks working for and against Appleby in the story and the town, it would have been a neat and usual Wodehouse coincidence to set this character to return later and be connected to others—but we never see him again. So, this isn't one I recommend as your first Wodehouse, but it's certainly a lovely and quirky alternative to cleanse the palate between Mulliners or Jeeveses or Blandingseses. And there's plenty of gold in here. How can you dislike a novel that features Mike and Jill cheerfully discussing their almost-certain impending arrest:

'If the slightest thing slips up, I shall do my stretch behind bars.'

'So shall I. But I shan't mind if we're together.'

'I'm afraid we won't be together. Prison's aren't co-ed.'

'Well, we'll have a wonderful time when we both get out.'

I read Do Butlers Burgle Banks? in a Penguin paperback edition with another wonderful Ionicus cover (see above). This is a mid-eighties printing and Penguin has slightly revised the typography on the jacket to reflect a more modern sensibility than the admittedly dated-looking seventies typography on their earlier printings (see, f'r instance, the seventies edition of The Inimitable Jeeves. I also have the book in the Everyman Wodehouse hardcover edition—a copy I bought, my extensive Wodehouse collection notebook tells me, on the table of Blackwell's Books in the Charing Cross Road on my most recent Christmas holiday to London. Ah, wonderful memories, and a great fun souvenir. You can pick up that same hardcover edition by clicking on the Amazon.com box to the right, or hunt and peck around on Amazon for 'other editions' and you'll find several paperbacks available at discount prices from Amazon Marketplace third party booksellers, including the Ionicus Penguin edition. Take it from me...it's worth embezzling a few pounds to do so.

Ten of a Kind: What's Black and White and Red All Over?

(More Ten of a Kind here.)