Laughing Gas by WODEHOUSE, P.G. (1881-1975)

London: Herbert Jenkins, 1936. [Comic novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.312; [8], adverts. Publisher's red cloth with black titles, top edge red, illustrated dust-wrapper priced 7/6. Bright and clean inside, edges a little dusty/spotted, jacket is bright with small chip at crown and a few resulting creases tears to rear panel, two tiny archival strips to reverse side. A fresh-looking, pleasing copy. Very good. Set in Hollywood in the 1930s, Laughing Gas is a typically Wodehousian look at the film industry. The particular target is child film stars, with whom, by a bizarre mix-up triggered by inhaling nitrus oxide while in the dentist's chair, the protagonist is body-switched. Joey Cooley, Wodehouse's child-star, is forced to subsist on a diet of dried prunes, is effectively held under house arrest, and is kidnapped. McIlvaine 156a. Ex-Julian Roberts Fine Books, with their previous book slip tucked in.