P. G. Wodehouse is about to have his first "authorised" biography. The novelist Robert McCrum has been approached by the Wodehouse estate to write "Plum's" official Life for Penguin. He will have access to Wodehouse's papers and, he says, a free hand in what he writes.
"I asked: 'What happens if I turn up that he was a bigamist?' and they said: 'We'll have to play it by ear.' Obviously the war is the big problem area," he says. "I have preliminary views on that, but it's unlikely the question of his collaboration will be settled exactly: it comes down to his naivety--or treachery, depending on your point of view. He is said to be the Prime Minister's favourite author, so no doubt it'll have to go through Millbank," he jokes. McCrum, who is starting with a read-through of the 120 or so novels and short story collections, is expected to deliver a manuscript in about three years. That's a formidable task, given that he works full-time as literary editor of the Observer, but he has no plans to take a sabbatical.