In the snug bar-parlour of the Angler's Rest, Mr. Mulliner settles in with hot scotch and lemon, ready to unfold the most magnificent lies about his spectacular relatives. He isn't lying, of course. These truly are his family: his nephew George, whose desperate attempts to cure a crippling stammer involve accosting strangers on trains, leading to equations with a Scottish terrier and a misunderstanding about the word 'phosphorescent.' His brother Wilfred, whose scientific experiments yield Buck-U-Uppo, a tonic designed to give elephants the courage to face tigers. When administered to a shy young curate, the results are catastrophic and hilarious. There is cousin James, the detective writer whose cottage proves more haunted than anything he could invent, and Isadore Zinzinheimer, Hollywood mogul and architect of cinematic catastrophes. Wodehouse deploys his signature technique: treating utterly preposterous situations with the gravity of a nature documentary, letting the absurdity speak for itself through meticulous comic prose. The stories escalate toward lunatic climaxes while maintaining a perfectly straight face. This is escapism at its purest: gentle, affectionate, and devastatingly funny.
