Wake Up, Sir!: A Novel - Softcover

Colson Whitehead author of John Henry Days A hilarious journey into one man's labyrinthine neuroses, with day trips to compulsion and delusion. The perfect gift for anyone who has ever imagined having a manservant. A. M. Homes author of Music for Torching Wake Up, Sir! takes on the big themes -- the homosexual question, the Jewish question, the great American novel question, and more -- in this witty, wild romp about a somewhat disturbed young writer. Comic and incredibly accurate: if anyone ever wanted to know what a writer has to endure in order to produce, Jonathan Ames has made it perfectly clear. Wake Up, Sir! is bound to delight. Sarah Vowell author of The Partly Cloudy Patriot Very funny and altogether elegant, this tale of an endearing drunk and his unflappable manservant is a love story of sorts, but with an American twist. Here, a valet is just a friend one pays.

WAKE UP, SIR! is an homage to the novels and stories of P.G. Wodehouse. It is the story of a young alcoholic man, Alan Blair, and his valet, Jeeves. Now this Jeeves is not the same Jeeves as featured in Wodehouse - the fact that he possesses the same name is simply a mad coincidence. But, there is something curious about young Alan's valet - is he really there? Is he a mirage, a fantasy, an alcoholic hallucination, an invisible friend? Or does he really exist (as much as anyone can exist in fiction)? Regardless, Jeeves is there in one way or another as Ames brilliantly mimics the structure of many Wodehouse adventures. Instead of visiting a country estate, Alan and Jeeves go to an artist colony where Alan hopes to finish his novel, quit his drinking and possibly fall in love - three reasonable things for anyone to want ...whether attended to by a valet or not.