Penguin Random House Edits P.G. Wodehouse's Novels to Remove "Unacceptable" Sentences

Wodehouse, who died in 1975, is most known for writing nearly 90 books, with his work typically regarded as the funniest in English.

on Apr 18, 2023

Penguin Random House Edits P.G. Wodehouse's Novels to Remove "Unacceptable" Sentences

P. G. Wodehouse's novels have been edited by Penguin Random House to eliminate sentences judged "unacceptable."

Wodehouse joins a growing list of notable authors, both dead and alive, whose works have been altered by sensitive readers, including Roald Dahl, R. L. Stine, and Agatha Christie. According to the Telegraph, Penguin Random House, which recently caved to some extent on the Dahl cuts, has produced new copies of the Jeeves stories with trigger warnings.

"Please be aware that this book was published in the 1930s and contains language, themes, and characterizations that you may find outdated," the disclaimer on the first pages of the 2023 reprint of Thank You, Jeeves reads.

It goes on to say that the adjustments do not affect the tale. Right Ho, Jeeves 2022 has also been modified and includes the same notice.

Wodehouse, who died in 1975, is most known for writing nearly 90 books, with his work typically regarded as the funniest in English. The Bertie Wooster and Reginald Jeeves tales revolve around the indolent upper-class gentleman Bertie Wooster and his cunning servant Reginald Jeeves.

The stories inspired the well-known British sitcom Jeeves and Wooster, starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. The show aired on ITV in the 1990s.

Throughout the works, racial slurs have been avoided. In Right Ho, Jeeves, a racial phrase used to designate a "minstrel of the old school," has been eliminated. Numerous terminology has been eliminated or altered in Thank You, Jeeves, whose storyline is based on the performance of a minstrel group, both in character speech and in Bertie Wooster's first-person narration.

Summer Lightning, Uncle Dynamite, and the story collection The Inimitable Jeeves are among the other Wodehouse novels that have been edited.