While I own this Kindle book, I actually listened to it via the Librivox recording. I sampled both of the recordings of this novel that Librivox has, started off with version 2 and ended up switching to this recording (I guess you could call it version 1). Neither of them were top-notch but both were pretty good single narrator recordings. I just found that in version 2, the narrator had a habit of pausing that disconcerted me.

For comments about the plot, see my review of the Kindle book.
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Maybe 3.5 stars. While I enjoyed this early Wodehouse, it was more realistic satire than the zaniness I am used to in his more famous books! The tongue-in-cheek commentary about love versus money would make a great film I think (and Wodehouse did write some good Hollywood scripts).

While I own this Kindle book, I actually listened to it via the Librivox recording. ( )

A book I downloaded a while ago from Project Gutenberg. Classic Wodehouse exaggerated characters including an aunt into eugenics and sterile environments for children. Essentially the novel is a love story between the daughter of a millionaire and a bohemian artist, with some conflict and an eventual positive conclusion.

Some amusing phrasing that made me smile, but also a bit long-winded in places. Great to read once, recommended to fans of Wodehouse, but not as an introduction to this author.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-coming-of-bill-by-pg-wodehouse.... ( )

It's a bit more serious than the usual Wodehouse, although that's not saying much. ( )

This book was originally published in 1920, before the stock market crash and the Lindbergh kidnapping; things become less humorous when they really happen. It is very different from all the other Wodehouse books I've read. As in another Wodehouse story, kidnapping a young child seems to be the perfect way to unite a couple, but, in this case, it is to re-unite them, not bring them together in the first place.

Two people who have fallen in love at first sight marry near the beginning of the story instead of at the end. The second half of the book centers around their baby, Bill. There are marital problems, characters with speaking parts actually die, a child is kidnapped, and more---including a failed expedition to find gold! I was reminded of some of the 1930s movies where the young man marries, only to discover that his wife is not what he thought she was; in these movies, however, he realizes that another woman, who has been a good friend all along, is his true soulmate and they live happily ever after. Aha! What's different about this book is that the two main characters change and grow!

There is a boxing coach who acts as an Elijah character: he recommends that the young couple marry before her father can forbid the marriage and is the mastermind behind the kidnapping scheme. The realization at the end that hard work is better than riches is rather like Candide's saying, we must cultivate our garden. ( )