HOT WATER

One of the tests of a Wodehouse recording is whether the laughs for the listener come from the comic ingenuity of the text, as well as from the comic impersonations of the reader. Though HOT WATER (1932) features none of the familiar series characters from the Wodehouse books, Jonathan Cecil is such an accomplished, versatile Wodehouse reader he can still be consistently funny in performing this collection of goofs. This time the cast includes an American couple with more jewels than brains, a blustery senator, mismatched lovers, a Bloomsbury novelist, a French playboy, and various safecrackers and con men (with designs on the jewels of the rich American wife). The listening experience is an entertaining collaboration of writer and reader. G.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]