P.G. Wodehouse vs. A.A. Milne.

At the Paris Review:

The two men were initially friends: exactly the same age, and both comic writers, they moved in the same circles in 1920s London, playing on the same cricket team and contributing to many of the same publications. In 1928, they even collaborated on the adaptation of Wodehouse’s A Damsel in Distress. By the 1930s, their friendship had cooled somewhat—Wodehouse defenders cite jealousy—but it wasn’t until World War II that things became actively hostile.

Comments

[Wendi Gratz]

Have you read The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne? We read it recently and loved it - very fun and - in some ways - Wodehousian. :-)

[Leila]

I'm positive that we have a copy of it around here somewhere -- I'll have to dig it out! ...I'm suddenly REALLY EXCITED to read it, so thank you!

[Emily]

I had no idea! The characterization of Milne as the disengaged father who wrote saccharine stories for the son he ignored is sadly spot on, and I can understand Milne's extreme reaction to what Wodehouse did, especially since Milne fought in WWI and Wodehouse did not serve.

[Leila]

Yeah, I knew the bare bones of the Wodehouse/WWII controversy, but I'd never run across anything about their friendship or subsequent falling-out! Not a happy story, but a super-interesting one, at any rate!