This is sort of like Jeeves and Wooster but from Jeeves point of view, although Jeeves is a bit smarter than Ruggles. Perhaps 'Frazier Crane' would be a better comparison.
Ruggles is forced to go to america and deal with the lack of social distinctions. Its a pretty funny social comedy with Ruggles stuck between various factions and social classes.
The story certainly never went where i expected and Ruggles denseness to some of what was going on around him was always humorous.
It definitely improved as it went along as some of the early chapters were a bit of a slog to get through. I'm personally not much of a Wodehouse fan but if you like that sort of thing you'll probably like this too, i mean to say even more then i did, what what! ( )

The 1935 movie with Charles Laughton (and, in a bit of fortuitous casting, Charlie Ruggles as the Honorable George) is pretty near perfect, but the 1915 book is subtler and a touch less sentimental, and it has more jokes. In fact, it's consistently hilarious, which is a remarkable feat for a book that (truth be told) is twice as long as it has to be. I was amazed at the author's ability to carry off an extended work with a blinkered and somewhat unreliable narrator, making clear what's really going on between the lines.

The book was originally serialized in the Saturday Evening Post, so it's particularly easy to put down and pick up again over a few nights. Watch for the word "snarky," which shows up more than once, several decades before one could have imagined. ( )

Cute idea and a nice bit of popular culture from bygone days, but it went on a bit too long for me. I would have enjoyed it more had it been a bit tighter. It got very repetitive in plot points once Ruggles got to Red Gap. I enjoyed it up to that point, but then it just got way too bogged down. Ruggles was a great character though and I enjoyed watching his awakening. ( )

W 235. ( )