A PELICAN AT BLANDINGS

Here’s another non-Jeeves comedy by the master. Blandings Castle, scene of many stories, is once again populated by irascible, forgetful, peevish, elderly characters and their wandering, impulsive, ne’er-do-well young relatives, with friends of each group abounding and servants, too. The usual misunderstandings involving theft and young love put the castle in a constant humorous uproar. Frederick Davidson has narrated other Wodehouse titles and many other books, and his faintly sardonic, cultured British approach is adequate, if unspectacular. While all his young women have the same vapid, breathy voices, he’s quite successful with the males young and old, who rasp and mutter and fumble about nicely. D.R.W. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 00]