Laughing Gas

This Wodehouse farce follows the adventures of Reggie Havershot, a light-headed British earl sent to Hollywood to keep his cousin from marrying a gold digger. Along the way, Reggie meets ingenues, agents, temperance leaders and a conceited child star named Joey Cooley. When Reggie and Joey both visit the dentist and inhale laughing gas, their souls get switched, a twist that leads to complications. Wodehouse's Ping-Pong dialogue needs a livelier, lighter reading than Simon Prebble's approach. The book's comic caricatures also invite broader vocal characterizations. Prebble is more successful with the novel's description and narration. G.H. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine