I’d start with The Inimitable Jeeves, the first of the Jeeves series, a collection of interlinked short stories (this was published as just Jeeves in the US originally—look for both titles). My other personal favourite, Right Ho, Jeeves, a novel, is available on Project Gutenberg—http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10554 . My Man Jeeves is also on Gutenberg, which is an early one that was later rewritten as Carry On Jeeves, the second proper Jeeves book and another good ’un.
Other than that, check publication dates. Everything’s good, and pretty much stand-alone, but anything before 1909 is juvenilia. He peaked more-or-less between 1923 (with the first Jeeves stories proper) and 1940 - everything after that is riffing on the same themes. He never really lost it, but became increasingly irrelevant.
Ones usually considered among his best are the Mike & Psmith stories, The Clicking Of Cuthbert, Ukridge, Lord Emsworth And Others, Thank You Jeeves and The Code Of The Woosters, but I’ve read much less than a quarter of his prodigious output, so there may be some very good ones I’ve missed.
Where’s the best place to start with Wodehouse?
I’d start with The Inimitable Jeeves, the first of the Jeeves series, a collection of interlinked short stories (this was published as just Jeeves in the US originally—look for both titles). My other personal favourite, Right Ho, Jeeves, a novel, is available on Project Gutenberg—http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10554 . My Man Jeeves is also on Gutenberg, which is an early one that was later rewritten as Carry On Jeeves, the second proper Jeeves book and another good ’un.
Other than that, check publication dates. Everything’s good, and pretty much stand-alone, but anything before 1909 is juvenilia. He peaked more-or-less between 1923 (with the first Jeeves stories proper) and 1940 - everything after that is riffing on the same themes. He never really lost it, but became increasingly irrelevant.
Ones usually considered among his best are the Mike & Psmith stories, The Clicking Of Cuthbert, Ukridge, Lord Emsworth And Others, Thank You Jeeves and The Code Of The Woosters, but I’ve read much less than a quarter of his prodigious output, so there may be some very good ones I’ve missed.