PSMITH IN THE CITY

Much of the humor of Wodehouse’s novel depends on the incongruity of placing monocle and lavender glove-wearing Psmith in the mundane world of a bank. Though Davidson does a good job in creating a properly persnickety voice for Psmith, Davidson may retain too much of this same fussiness in the narration, which requires a straightforward rendering to preserve the contrast of Psmith out of his element. Otherwise, Davidson distinguishes the characters quite well, especially Bickersdyke, the all-business bank manager. (A trivia note for Wodehouse fans: though the later novel, LEAVE IT TO PSMITH, mentions that the “p” is silent, a glance at the text of this earlier book shows that Wodehouse seems to have initially had a different idea about the pronunciation: The protagonist and the narrator refer to him as “Psmith”; most other characters call him “Smith.” Davidson’s reading correctly follows the text to a “p.”) G.H. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV/DEC 96]