Bachelors Anonymous

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This novel has an amusing premise - a band of bachelors who form a support network for men who are on the brink of proposing to females. The main character of the book is a man who has been married numerous times because he feels uncomfortable when there are silences in the conversation with an unmarried female companion. To break this awkward silence and to open a minefield of discussion, he proposes to them. He is on the brink of falling into this trap again and that is where the book begins. Despite this promisingly amusing beginning, the book does not succeed in holding the reader's attention. You are glad that it's all finally over, as the book struggles laboriously to its all-too-distant end.

Rating:
Summary: Ivor Llewellyn Tries to Avoid Another Marital Disaster!
Review: You may remember Ivor Llewellyn from The Plot That Thickened. He is the tough-minded movie mogul who turns into putty whenever he's around a woman. What's even more surprising, he is inclined to propose marriage to even the most unsuitable female . . . just to fill in gaps in the conversation. He's been through five marriages so far. His awful marriage to Grayce ended in The Plot That Thickened.

Now, Llewellyn is a single again, and his divorce lawyer is trying to help him avoid another disaster. Mr. Ephraim Trout of Trout, Wapshott and Edelstein tells Llewellyn that Trout has avoided matrimony by relying on a little circle of friends that call themselves Bachelors Anonymous, an organization inspired by the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. They dissuade their fellows from proposing when the urge strikes and sometimes even take stronger action.

But Llewellyn is about to go to London where there is no such organization. Trout proposes that he introduce Llewellyn to a law firm there in order to find a lawyer to play that role. Llewellyn agrees.

At the same time, the imperious Vera Dalrymple is in the process of ruining a new play, Cousin Angela, for its playwright, Joe Pickering. Inadvertently, Joe makes a good impression on Llewellyn by tossing him from the stage door when he arrives ready to propose to Vera. So through his lawyer friend, Joe gets the job of protecting Llewellyn from proposals.

But there's a complication, Joe has become smitten with a remarkable young woman, Miss Sally Fitch. Her life has taken a turn for the better when she inherits some money and a great apartment from a former employer . . . conditioned on not smoking for two years. A female private detective comes to live with her to make sure that she isn't smoking.

Will Llewellyn avoid Vera's clutches? Will Joe and Sally find each other? Will Sally get her money?

You'll have to read the book to find out, but the trail is a twisted and hilarious one.

Anyone who liked The Plot That Thickened will be delighted with this book. The premises are extreme, but if you can swallow them they take you into some fun territory.

P.G. Wodehouse once said that you could write about life as it is or as musical comedy without the music. He preferred the latter, and perhaps none of his books better captures that wonderful comic perspective as Bachelors Anonymous does.

I would have rated the book higher, but I think that those who haven't read other P.G. Wodehouse books might find this one a little extreme in its characters and plots . . . and that might make suspending disbelief harder. For me, though, this is a five-star laugh!!

After you finish, think about where you could accomplish more if your friends helped you. Then, ask for that help!

Rating:
Summary: Ivor Llewellyn Tries to Avoid Another Marital Disaster!
Review: You may remember Ivor Llewellyn from The Plot That Thickened. He is the tough-minded movie mogul who turns into putty whenever he's around a woman. What's even more surprising, he is inclined to propose marriage to even the most unsuitable female . . . just to fill in gaps in the conversation. He's been through five marriages so far. His awful marriage to Grayce ended in The Plot That Thickened.

Now, Llewellyn is a single again, and his divorce lawyer is trying to help him avoid another disaster. Mr. Ephraim Trout of Trout, Wapshott and Edelstein tells Llewellyn that Trout has avoided matrimony by relying on a little circle of friends that call themselves Bachelors Anonymous, an organization inspired by the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. They dissuade their fellows from proposing when the urge strikes and sometimes even take stronger action.

But Llewellyn is about to go to London where there is no such organization. Trout proposes that he introduce Llewellyn to a law firm there in order to find a lawyer to play that role. Llewellyn agrees.

At the same time, the imperious Vera Dalrymple is in the process of ruining a new play, Cousin Angela, for its playwright, Joe Pickering. Inadvertently, Joe makes a good impression on Llewellyn by tossing him from the stage door when he arrives ready to propose to Vera. So through his lawyer friend, Joe gets the job of protecting Llewellyn from proposals.

But there's a complication, Joe has become smitten with a remarkable young woman, Miss Sally Fitch. Her life has taken a turn for the better when she inherits some money and a great apartment from a former employer . . . conditioned on not smoking for two years. A female private detective comes to live with her to make sure that she isn't smoking.

Will Llewellyn avoid Vera's clutches? Will Joe and Sally find each other? Will Sally get her money?

You'll have to read the book to find out, but the trail is a twisted and hilarious one.

Anyone who liked The Plot That Thickened will be delighted with this book. The premises are extreme, but if you can swallow them they take you into some fun territory.

P.G. Wodehouse once said that you could write about life as it is or as musical comedy without the music. He preferred the latter, and perhaps none of his books better captures that wonderful comic perspective as Bachelors Anonymous does.

I would have rated the book higher, but I think that those who haven't read other P.G. Wodehouse books might find this one a little extreme in its characters and plots . . . and that might make suspending disbelief harder. For me, though, this is a five-star laugh!!

After you finish, think about where you could accomplish more if your friends helped you. Then, ask for that help!