Something New
1915
P.G. Wodehouse's early gem follows Ashe Marson, a cash-strapped American writer in London whose ambitions have curdled into restless discontent. His solution: a highly unorthodox outdoor exercise routine that involves waving his arms about in public, drawing giggles from passersby. When one of those giggles belongs to Joan Valentine, a striking American fellow expat, Ashe's humiliating morning ritual becomes the unlikely catalyst for everything he's been missing. Joan sees straight through his aimless drifting and challenges him to want something enough to actually go after it. What follows is a sparkling romance complicated by rivalrous misunderstandings and the eternal Wodehousean art of making a fool of oneself in pursuit of happiness. It's Wodehouse doing what he does best: finding the absurd in the sincere and the hilarious in the hopeful.
