Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.

com

Best Seller
The most famous of these are the many short stories and
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION novels featuring Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves.
Wodehouse also frequently references musical and literary
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF P.G. WODEHOUSE works; in “Best Seller,” he mentions Richard Wagner’s opera
Though born in England, Wodehouse spent the first two years Tannhäuser. Wodehouse’s language play and absurdist humor
of his life in Hong Kong, where his father was a British were influenced by the Victorian theatrical partnership Gilbert
magistrate. When he was two, his parents shipped him back to and Sullivan, whose comic operas include Pirates of Penzance
England, where he was cared for by a nanny until he was old and H.M.S. Pinafore.
enough for boarding school—a common practice for well-off
British families who lived in the colonies. The family’s
KEY FACTS
deteriorating financial situation prevented Wodehouse from
attending university. He got a job as a banker but did not like • Full Title: Best Seller
the work and eventually resigned to pursue a career as a writer. • When Written: 1930
In addition to his stories and novels, Wodehouse wrote for
• Where Written: London, England
Broadway, making frequent trips to New York. Early in World
War II, Wodehouse was captured by the Germans during a visit • When Published: 1930
to France. While imprisoned, he agreed to make radio programs • Literary Period: Modernism
to be broadcast to the United States and the United Kingdom. • Genre: Humorous Short Fiction
The content of the broadcasts was not political, but there was a • Setting: The Angler’s Rest, a pub in an unspecified English
significant backlash in the UK, where many considered his village; London
actions treasonous. He never faced any official charges, but • Climax: Evangeline suffers an emotional breakdown,
after his release, he settled permanently in the States and believing she will never be able to write enough to fulfill her
never returned to the UK. During his life, some serious literary obligations.
figures considered Wodehouse’s work frivolous, but others,
• Antagonist: Jno. Henderson Banks
including W.H. Auden and Evelyn Waugh, praised it highly.
Today, he is widely considered one of the best comic writers of • Point of View: Third-person omniscient
the twentieth century.
EXTRA CREDIT
HISTORICAL CONTEXT Orwell’s Intervention. In response to accusations that
Wodehouse had collaborated with the Nazis, George Orwell
“Best Seller” was published just after the stock market crash of
(the author of Animal Farm and 1984) wrote an essay titled “In
1929, at the beginning of the Great Depression. Many writers
Defense of P.G. Wodehouse.” The essay analyzes some of the
at the time still were trying to come to terms with the
key features of Wodehouse’s work and concludes that
unprecedented death and destruction of World War I, which
Wodehouse’s actions—though perhaps politically
had ended just eleven years earlier. At the same time, British
naïve—should not be construed as treasonous.
colonies were advocating for independence, and the political
ideologies of communism and fascism were gaining traction in
Europe. None of this turmoil appears to affect Wodehouse’s Not Welcome Here. When Wodehouse wrote “Best Seller,”
characters, however, who seem to exist in an idealized, escapist English social etiquette still prevented women from entering
version of Edwardian England. pubs. Apart from the barmaid, Miss Postlethwaite, Mr.
Mulliner’s audience at the Angler’s Rest would have consisted
entirely of men.
RELATED LITERARY WORKS
“Best Seller” is just one of many short stories featuring Mr.
Mulliner. Each story begins in a pub called the Angler’s Rest, PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
where Mulliner entertains the other patrons with humorous
anecdotes about his various family members. Many of these Miss Postlethwaite, the barmaid of the Angler’s Rest, is so
stories are collected in three volumes: Meet Mr. Mulliner, Mr. moved by the novel she is reading that she attracts the
Mulliner Speaking, and Mulliner Nights. Like the Mulliner stories, attention of the pub’s patrons. Mr. Mulliner, a regular,
most of Wodehouse’s other well-known works are comic pieces recognizes the novel as the work of his niece by marriage,
set in England during the first part of the twentieth century.

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 1

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
Evangeline, and tells the story of how she came to be married married, Evangeline can simply publish them under her name.
to his nephew Egbert. The story ends happily, with Egbert and Evangeline reconciled.
Mr. Mulliner’s narration begins with Egbert at a seaside village,
where he has come to recover from an illness caused by the
strains of his profession: he is an assistant editor who must
CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS
interview female novelists. Egbert meets Evangeline at a picnic
MAJOR CHARACTERS
and falls in love at first sight. Before proposing, however,
Egbert makes sure that she has never written a novel (or a Egbert Mulliner –Egbert, the nephew of narrator Mr. Mulliner,
short story, or poetry, for that matter). She insists she has not is the story’s protagonist. He is an assistant editor with an
and accepts his proposal. aversion to female novelists, whose work he views as clichéd
and badly written. At the beginning of the story, Egbert appears
Unbeknownst to Egbert, Evangeline is so inspired by her
to be somewhat fragile; his contact with female novelists is
feelings for her fiancé that she proceeds to write a romantic
enough to make him ill, yet this fragility is understood by and
novel. When she tells Egbert what she has done and reads the
arouses the sympathy of his fellow male editors. While
book to him, he struggles to hide his distress. Her writing is
recovering at the seaside, he falls in love with Evangeline and
both terrible and autobiographical: Egbert’s proposal has been
proposes to her. Ironically, Egbert’s words and actions as the
included word for word, and he can’t believe that he ever
relationship develops are just as clichéd and overwrought as
uttered “polluted the air with such frightful horse-radish.”
the novels he despises, and it quickly becomes apparent that he
Evangeline’s publisher is focusing on promoting a different, is less sophisticated than he would like believe. When
more salacious book, but their marketing efforts are undercut Evangeline writes a successful novel inspired by their
by an abrupt shift in fickle popular taste. Readers have grown relationship, Egbert is mortified. When she proceeds to spend a
tired of sex and want wholesome love stories. As a result, great deal of time with her agent, Jno. Henderson Banks, he
Evangeline’s novel becomes a best seller. becomes jealous and demands that she stop seeing him.
Evangeline is unsure of herself at first, but she quickly grows Initially, his tone is imperious; as Evangeline’s fiancé, he expects
more comfortable with her success. She writes letters to her her to obey him. But when she refuses, he becomes much less
fans and gives lectures instead of spending time with Egbert. domineering and begs her to do as he asks. It’s too late,
She employs a handsome literary agent named Jno. Henderson however, and Evangeline breaks off the engagement. This
Banks, and she begins to turn down Egbert’s invitations so that rejection changes Egbert: he can now interview even the most
she can go out for meals and to the theater with her agent. sentimental of novelists without becoming ill. Nonetheless, he
Egbert, jealous, demands that she stop seeing Banks. She is still in love with Evangeline, and when she asks for his help
refuses and breaks off their engagement. meeting her contractual obligations at the end of the story, he
enthusiastically suggests passing off his own work under her
Egbert is heartbroken. In order to cope with his grief, he
name. This revelation that Egbert himself once had aspirations
focuses on his work. His experiences have made him tougher,
as a novelist suggests once again that, beneath his façade, he is
and he is no longer too fragile to interview female novelists. He
just as sentimental as the female novelists he claims to hate.
wins his boss’s approval by taking on especially difficult tasks,
such as interviewing an author who has driven one of his fellow Evangeline P Pembury
embury – Egbert’s fiancée, Evangeline, inspired
editors mad. by her love for him, writes a novel. It’s horrible—at once
unoriginal and poorly written—but becomes a best seller
Eventually, Egbert is assigned to interview his ex-fiancée,
nonetheless. At first, Evangeline isn’t sure how to handle her
Evangeline Pembury. He hides his emotion as he arrives at
success—she stammers when a reporter comes to interview
Evangeline’s home, and the two exchange formal greetings as if
her, for instance—yet she quickly learns to enjoy her fame. She
they are strangers. Egbert begins his interview, and
gives lectures, sends letters to her fans, and learns to use
Evangeline’s answers are unenthusiastic until Egbert asks how
highbrow jargon to describe her work. She also begins to spend
her novel’s sequel is coming along. Then she breaks into tears.
a great deal of time with her agent, Jno. Henderson Banks.
Egbert moves to comfort her and asks the cause of her distress.
When Egbert objects to this, she breaks off the engagement,
Evangeline explains that her agent has committed her to making it clear that she is not willing to conform to the role he
publish numerous short stories and serials. She has already has in mind for her. However, it turns out that although
been given an advance, but she has realized she hates writing Evangeline enjoys being a literary celebrity, she doesn’t actually
and can’t figure out what to write about, so she doesn’t see how like writing. She panics when she realizes she doesn’t have it in
she can fulfill her contractual obligations. Egbert has a solution: her to produce the additional stories for which she has been
he himself is a failed author, and he has three novels and twenty paid in advance. When Egbert comes to interview her for the
stories that he never was able to publish. Once they are magazine at which he is an editor, she initially greets him with
cool formality. Still, it’s clear that she has feelings for him, and

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 2

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
her distress eventually gets the better of her. She throws interviews. Furthermore, Mulliner is a failed novelist who
herself melodramatically onto the sofa and breaks into tears, possesses all of the negative qualities that he ascribes to female
showing that despite her pose of literary sophistication, she authors (namely, vanity and delusional ambitions to seek
remains absurdly sentimental. She explains her predicament, literary fame with no real talent), so his ideas about female
and Egbert offers to solve the problem by allowing her to novelists seem actually to have little to do with
publish his work under her name. She accepts at once, and the women—instead, they hold a mirror to his own flaws and his
story ends with the two lovers reconciled. threatened ego, showing his insecurity.
Jno. Henderson Banks – Evangeline’s literary agent, Banks is At the story’s beginning, Mulliner’s health is suffering,
handsome, fashionable, and overly reverential toward his apparently due to the toll that interviewing silly female
female clients. Egbert becomes jealous when Evangeline begins novelists has taken. He claims that their relentless
to spend much of her time with Banks. It is Banks who arranges sentimentality and clichés (listening to them discuss their “Art
for Evangeline’s work to appear in forthcoming magazines, and their Ideals” and seeing them in “the cozy corners of
prompting her horrified realization that she lacks the drive and boudoirs, being kind to dogs and happiest among flowers”)
talent to produce the stories she is contractually obligated to have nearly driven him to an early death. In describing this, the
write. narrator’s tone is tongue-in-cheek (“The strain of interviewing
Mr
Mr.. Mulliner – Egbert Mulliner’s uncle. Upon learning that Miss female novelists takes a toll on the physique of all but the very
Postlethwaite is reading Rue for Remembrance, he tells the story hardiest”), but the other characters do not mock Mulliner’s
of Egbert and Evangeline to the other patrons at the Angler’s fragility—his coworkers and even his doctor take his “illness”
Rest. It’s clear from his narration of Egbert and Evangeline’s seriously, prescribing rest in a seaside town to “augment the
story that he finds their sentimentality silly. However, he also red corpuscles” in Mulliner’s bloodstream. Therefore, even as
seems fond of them—he mentions that he has a particular the narrator’s tone presents Mulliner’s suffering as silly and
interest in Evangeline’s work, and he brings the story to a overwrought, the story depicts a world in which men take
happy conclusion. themselves and their feelings quite seriously while dismissing
successful women for allegedly being overly attuned to
emotion.
MINOR CHARACTERS
Wodehouse deepens the hypocrisy of his male characters by
Miss PPostleth
ostlethwaite
waite – The barmaid at the Angler’s Rest.
suggesting that the alleged sentimentality of female novelists
Overcome by emotion while reading Rue for Remembrance, she
(the same sentimentality that wounds the men so deeply) is
sniffles, drawing the attention of Mr. Mulliner and the other actually a stereotype projected onto women by male writers
patrons. Miss Postlethwaite represents the reading public, like Mulliner. This is clearest at the end of the story when
whose fickle and sentimental tastes determine which books are Mulliner interviews his ex-fiancée, Evangeline Pembury, the
commercially successful. writer of a best-selling romance novel. Instead of asking about
her writing (questions to which she might have interesting or
unexpected responses), he asks pointed and trite personal
THEMES questions—“Are you fond of dogs?” or “You are happiest among
In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color- your flowers, no doubt?”—to which Evangeline responds with
coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes nonchalance. While Mulliner accuses female novelists of
occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have thinking only in clichés, this moment makes clear that it’s
a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in Mulliner himself who lacks the imagination to ask Evangeline a
black and white. question that might invite an original response.
Further suggesting that female novelists are unfairly maligned
THE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN for their alleged sentimentality, Wodehouse alludes
periodically to the fact that the public wants sentimentality:
Egbert Mulliner, the protagonist of “Best Seller,”
after all, it’s the public that makes sentimental novels best
has one “pet aversion”: female novelists. As an
sellers. The effect of public demand is clear when Mulliner
assistant editor at The Weekly Booklover, Mulliner
claims that his publication’s readers want a picture of
has to interview the female authors of best-selling novels, a
Evangeline with a dog (a sentimental and clichéd way to
task that drains and humiliates him because he sees literary
photograph a female novelist). It’s not Evangeline herself, then,
women as vain, haughty, and delusional, and he considers their
who loves dogs enough to want to be pictured with them;
work unworthy. Mulliner would like to believe that his
instead, she must fulfill the expectations of the public in order
condescending attitude is the result of his superior taste, but as
to please them and continue to profit from her book.
the story progresses, readers begin to see that Mulliner himself
is imposing his own stereotypes on the female writers he

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 3

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
While Evangeline is clearly not the sentimental, silly person When the narrator interjects humor, however, the
that literary men believe her to be, Wodehouse suggests that sentimentality seems suddenly ridiculous. The two characters
this characterization might fit the same literary men who are standing on a pier together on a quiet moonlit night, a scene
dismiss her. For example, Mulliner’s marriage proposal to that evokes those of the popular romance novels Egbert so
Evangeline appears verbatim in her novel and, upon reading it, distinctly loathes. They hear the sound of the town band
Mulliner is mortified that he ever “polluted the air with such playing part of Tannhäuser, an opera about romantic love, only
frightful horse-radish.” Clearly Mulliner’s own words are right for the music to become “somewhat impeded by the second
at home in the types of novels he despises. Furthermore, the trombone, who had got his music-sheets mixed and was playing
end of the story reveals that Mulliner himself wrote a few ‘The Wedding of the Painted Doll.’” The incongruent trombone
sentimental novels that he tried and failed to publish. This punctuates the lovers’ sincere conversation, highlighting the
suggests that his highbrow literary taste disguises his silliness of the way love is portrayed in popular literature.
lackluster capabilities as a writer, and also that the best-selling, Wodehouse punctures romantic expectations yet again as
lowbrow novels that the public sees as being the province of Egbert prepares to ask Evangeline a question “very near to his
silly women are also written by men. Ironically, it’s not until heart,” his voice husky and his body “strangely breathless.” The
Mulliner tries to publish the novels under his famous fiancée’s strong suggestion is that he is about to ask her to marry him. It
name that he finds success. The story therefore inverts the turns out, however, that he is about to ask whether she has
centuries-old phenomenon of a woman seeking literary ever written a novel—an objectively absurd thing to get so
recognition by publishing under a man’s name; here, a failed worked up about, and a bait and switch that makes the
male author uses his fiancée’s name to achieve his once subsequent fervent expression of love feel all the more
inaccessible dream of becoming a published author. overwrought. Here, it is a social convention—the ritual of the
While Wodehouse generally punctures the male literary marriage proposal—that is made to look ridiculous.
delusion that female authors are silly and a drain on literature, Similarly, the description of Evangeline’s suffering near the end
he himself sometimes seems to believe his male characters’ of the story is played for laughs. Evangeline cries “a Niagara of
own misogynistic ideas. After all, the story ends with Mulliner tears” and flings herself onto the sofa, experiencing “an ecstasy
saving Evangeline from writer’s block by giving her his of grief.” The narrator’s description of her emotional distress is
unpublished manuscripts—the implication being that hilariously over the top. She literally chews the scenery (in the
Evangeline would have been ruined had she not been able to form of a sofa cushion), and she gulps “like a bull-pup
pass off Mulliner’s talents as her own. Furthermore, the swallowing a chunk of steak.” Just as Wodehouse undercuts the
barmaid at the beginning of the story, Miss Postlethwaite, is seriousness of Egbert and Evangeline’s conversation on the
reading the sequel to Evangeline’s novel (which Mulliner wrote pier, he uses an absurd simile to highlight the silliness of
and published under Evangeline’s name), and she claims that Evangeline’s clichéd and melodramatic performance of grief.
this novel (Mulliner’s) is even better than the first
Although the narrator clearly thinks the main characters’
(Evangeline’s). “It lays the soul of Woman bare as with a scalpel,”
conventional sentimentality is silly, his sense of humor is good-
she says, which seems to be a female fan affirming that
natured rather than viciously satirical. Egbert’s uncle Mr.
Mulliner’s condescending and silly ideas about women actually
Mulliner, who is telling the story, says that he has “a particular
reflect the truth.
interest” in Evangeline’s work, suggesting that he cares enough
about his niece and nephew to follow their achievements.
THE ABSURDITY OF ROMANTIC Writers often use descriptions of characters in pain as a way to
CONVENTIONS elicit sympathy, and giving readers direct access to the
Wodehouse’s humor highlights the ridiculousness characters’ emotions further heightens this effect. By the
of the social and literary conventions of romantic beginning of the final scene, when Egbert arrives at
love. In moments of heightened emotion, Egbert and Evangeline’s home to find her looking “drawn” and “care-worn,”
Evangeline play out the traditional roles of characters in a it’s obvious that the narrator is rooting for these characters
grand romance. However, each time their emotions swell, the even as he pokes fun at the way their relationship follows the
narrator undercuts them with a moment of absurdity for comic conventions of sentimental romantic novels. Wodehouse also
effect. While this humor pokes fun at the characters’ gives his characters a happy ending—Egbert and Evangeline
sentimentality and mindless adherence to social conventions, find a way to solve their problems, and in the final lines, they
the narrator seems fond of Egbert and Evangeline despite his express their love for one another. Their silliness, then, does
condescending tone. Even as Wodehouse pokes fun at his not seem to have any lasting negative consequences.
characters, he makes them likeable. Wodehouse uses humor to demonstrate the ridiculousness of
In the first scene with Egbert and Evangeline, the setting is romantic conventions both on the page and in society more
romantic, and Egbert seems nearly paralyzed by emotion. generally. The narrator repeatedly develops an atmosphere of

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 4

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
romance and heightened emotion only to deflate it—with what appears at first glance to be serious social commentary
hilarious results. His characters are made to look silly on nearly about popular novels turns out to be a marketing ploy. Leading
every page. At the same time, Wodehouse depicts his up to the publication of a romance novel titled Offal, publishers
characters sympathetically (if also condescendingly); their have arranged to have a newspaper discussion titled “The
silliness is presented as an amusing foible rather than a major Growing Menace of the Sex Motive in Fiction: Is There to be no
character flaw. Limit.” Ostensibly, this is a criticism of Offal and novels like it,
but in fact it is intended to boost sales.
HIGHBROW VERSUS LOWBROW ART Wodehouse also lumps popular novels together with more
Throughout the story, the narrator presents experimental or “literary” works. Egbert’s editor, for instance,
popular novels—and particularly novels written and sends him to “the No Man’s Land of Bloomsbury” to gather
enjoyed by women—as frivolous and information for a column. Bloomsbury was known at the time
unsophisticated. The reading public is portrayed as fickle, and as the home of a group of artists that included Virginia Woolf,
popular taste as sentimental and clichéd. However, Wodehouse whose novels were considered avant-garde. It also was the
also gently mocks authors who have grand artistic aspirations. location of the publishing company Faber & Faber, which was
Finally, he bemoans the fact that poor popular taste and a well known for printing Modernist poetry and criticism.
profit-driven publishing industry make it difficult for high art to Wodehouse, then, is placing novelists from Bloomsbury on the
succeed. same footing as Evangeline, as columns about both are
published in the same magazine. This is a reminder that even
The narrator clearly believes that popular novels are formulaic
though “serious” writers may look down on popular novelists,
and that the public’s taste is unreliable at best. At the beginning
highbrow and lowbrow literature are part of the same
of the story, the “sensitive barmaid” Miss Postlethwaite is
industry—one driven by commercial concerns.
deeply moved as she reads Rue for Remembrance, the novel that
Egbert wrote and has encouraged Evangeline to pass off as her By catering to popular tastes in order to increase profits, the
own. The scene that has brought her to tears is full of the publishing industry dissuades young writers from creating high
clichés of popular romance novels, as the protagonist’s love art and forces them to seek more mundane employment.
interest has just left her “standing tight-lipped and dry-eyed in Continually shifting popular tastes cause “powerful young
the moonlight outside the old Manor.” Miss Postlethwaite acts novelists to seek employment as junior clerks in wholesale
as a stand-in for the audience here; her sentimental tastes grocery firms.” Although Egbert derides poorly written popular
reflect those of the general public. novels, he is part of an industry that appears actively to inhibit
the creation and dissemination of higher quality art.
Wodehouse also emphasizes the fickleness of popular taste
(“these swift, unheralded changes of the public mind”). Readers While Wodehouse mocks the lowbrow preferences of the
seemingly are guided by their whims and emotions rather than general reading public, he also satirizes the literary pretensions
any sophisticated sense of aesthetic value. Indeed, the of so-called serious authors. Wodehouse himself, as a comedic
narrative makes it clear that the success of popular novels has writer, wasn’t always taken seriously by the literary elite, so it’s
nothing to do with artistic merit—despite its best-seller status, not surprising that he takes a jab at them here. Wodehouse
Evangeline’s novel is poorly written and autobiographical, further suggests that both lowbrow and highbrow works are
suggesting a lack both literary talent and creativity. (In Egbert’s part of a publishing industry that privileges commercial success
opinion, it’s a “horrid, indecent production.”) over literary quality. As a result, the literary environment as a
whole discourages the creation of high art.
At the same time, Wodehouse makes fun of writers who make
grand claims about the value of their work. The female
novelists Egbert interviews all want to talk about “Art and their SYMBOLS
Ideals.” These novelists want to seem highbrow and
sophisticated, but, at least to Egbert, their ideals are actually Symbols appear in blue text throughout the Summary and
just as clichéd and predictable as their novels. Wodehouse also Analysis sections of this LitChart.
mocks “sensitive artists,” stating that while they might like to be
seen as inspired souls and certainly like making money, they
don’t actually like writing very much. The narrator observes, “It DOGS AND FLOWERS
is not the being paid money in advance that jars the sensitive Wodehouse uses dogs and flowers to symbolize
artist: it is the having to work.” the clichéd sentimentality that is expected of
Highbrow or lowbrow, the story suggests, all writers are part of female novelists in the story. When first describing Egbert’s job
a publishing industry driven by economic gain, which makes it as an assistant editor frequently tasked with interviewing
nearly impossible for high-quality art to succeed. For example, female novelists, the narrator specifically notes that Egbert
“had watched them being kind to dogs and happiest among

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 5

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
their flowers”—in his mind, moments that serve to epitomize
their silly emotionality in comparison with more serious (and, Postlethwaite thinks this clichéd novel accurately portrays
it’s clearly implied, male) authors. Egbert despises these “the soul of Woman” suggests that Wodehouse may at least
novelists because of this tendency toward romance and lack of partially share this misogynistic view.
originality. Dogs and flowers appear again at the end of the
story when Egbert interviews his ex-fiancée, Evangeline, whom
he views as lacking any literary talent whatsoever. In this scene, From far away in the distance came the faint strains of the
however, Egbert is the one who brings up both objects in his town band, as it picked its way through the Star of Eve
questions, and Evangeline provides the expected responses song from Tannhäuser—somewhat impeded by the second
without seeming very interested. This suggests that it is Egbert trombone, who had got his music-sheets mixed and was playing
himself who projects certain stereotypes onto the female “The Wedding of the Painted Doll.”
novelists he despises; he doesn’t consider the possibility that
they might have something more interesting to say about their
writing, and instead falls back upon a distinctly sentimental line Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner, Evangeline Pembury
of questioning. By employing this symbol in two different
Related Themes:
contexts, Wodehouse shows that sentimentality is not an
intrinsic trait of women writers but rather an expectation
Page Number: 165
created by social convention and popular literary tastes.
Explanation and Analysis
Egbert and Evangeline are standing together on a moonlit
QUO
QUOTES
TES pier, and it seems that Egbert is about to propose. Music
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the swells in the distance, further contributing to the romantic
Overlook Press edition of Mulliner Nights published in 2003. atmosphere. A song from Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser is an
appropriate choice, as one of its main themes is the
redemptive power of love. This clichéd scene would not be
Best Seller Quotes out of place in a popular romantic novel—until a confused
“’Slovely,” said Miss Postlethwaite. “It lays the soul of trombonist playing a jaunty Broadway tune completely kills
Woman bare as with a scalpel.” the mood. This abrupt shift from the sentimental to the
absurd is typical of Wodehouse’s comic style. Here, the
Related Characters: Miss Postlethwaite (speaker), Egbert humor serves to highlight the ridiculousness of the way
Mulliner, Evangeline Pembury, Mr. Mulliner romantic love is portrayed in popular culture.

Related Themes:
For six months, week in and week out, Egbert Mulliner had
Page Number: 164 been listening to female novelists talking about Art and
Explanation and Analysis their Ideals. He had seen them in cosy corners in their boudoirs,
had watched them being kind to dogs and happiest when
In the opening scene, Miss Postlethwaite, the barmaid at among their flowers. And one morning the proprietor of The
the Angler’s Rest, is overcome with emotion while reading a Booklover, finding the young man sitting at his desk with little
novel. She sniffles, attracting the attention of Mr. Mulliner,
flecks of foam about his mouth and muttering over and over
who recognizes the book as Rue for Remembrance and asks
again in a dull, toneless voice the words, “Aurelia McGoggin, she
what she thinks of it. This is Miss Postlethwaite’s response. draws her inspiration from the scent of white lilies!” had taken
Miss Postlethwaite’s taste in novels mirrors that of the him straight off to a specialist.
general public. Rue for Remembrance, despite being
sentimental and unoriginal, is a best seller, so it’s clear that
Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner
popular demand is not an indication of artistic quality. It also
is significant that Miss Postlethwaite frames her Related Themes:
appreciation for the book in terms of gender. Egbert
Mulliner, who wrote the novel and published it under his
Related Symbols:
wife’s name, makes it clear throughout the story that he
thinks women are silly and sentimental. The fact that Miss

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 6

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com

Page Number: 166 Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner, Evangeline Pembury

Explanation and Analysis Related Themes:

Egbert has to interview female novelists as part of his job,
Page Number: 170
which he considers an onerous task. These authors aren’t
very original, as far as Egbert is concerned; all of the Explanation and Analysis
interviews revolve around the same few sentimental Unaware of Egbert’s dislike of female novelists, Evangeline
clichés. Their fascination with dogs and flowers, in is so inspired by their romance that she writes a novel
particular, is emblematic of the way they conform to a shortly after his proposal, and the next time they’re
gendered stereotype. together, she reads it to him. He hides his horrified reaction
The effect of the interviews on Egbert’s health obviously is but is mortified to find that the novel is not only terrible but
exaggerated, and the narrator’s tone is tongue-in-cheek. also distinctly autobiographical. When he hears the words
However, his boss takes his overwrought reaction seriously of his own proposal read back to him, Egbert is appalled; his
and takes him to a specialist. In this world, then, men’s proposal is right at home on the page, revealing his own
feelings are treated seriously even as female novelists are words to have been just as sentimental and clichéd as the
derided for their supposedly excessive sentiment. popular novels he despises. Egbert’s horror thus indicates
that his aversion to female novelists may be based on his
own insecurity: he is afraid that he himself might possess all
Everyone has his pet aversion. Some dislike slugs, others of the negative qualities he attributes to female writers.
cockroaches. Egbert Mulliner disliked female novelists.

Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner It is these swift, unheralded changes of the public mind
which make publishers stick straws in their hair and
Related Themes: powerful young novelists rush round to the wholesale grocery
firms to ask if the berth of junior clerk is still open.
Page Number: 167

Explanation and Analysis Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner, Evangeline Pembury

Before he proposes to Evangeline, Egbert feels the need to Related Themes:
make sure that she has never written a novel. This, the
narrator explains, is because Egbert has a “pet aversion” to Page Number: 172
female novelists. It is only after Evangeline has assured him
that she has never written so much as a poem that Egbert Explanation and Analysis
confesses his love. Just before the publication of Evangeline’s novel, there is a
A fear of slugs or cockroaches is not necessarily uncommon, dramatic shift in public tastes. Readers previously wanted
which makes Egbert’s aversion to female writers seem all stories focused on sex, but now they crave wholesome
the more strange and irrational (and adds to the moment’s stories of romantic love. As a result, Evangeline’s novel is a
humor). At the same time, comparing female novelists to smashing commercial success.
slugs and cockroaches, even as a joke, implies that women’s Readers, the story suggests, are fickle, and their tastes are
attempts to create art are revolting on a visceral level. Thus, based on momentary whims rather than artistic value. Of
even as Wodehouse shows that Egbert’s attitude toward course, the publishing industry wants to give the public
women writers is silly, he appears to share some of his whatever it wants, as that’s the only way to make a profit.
character’s misogyny. Unfortunately, this means that writers with real talent can’t
get their work published, and they have to find more
mundane ways to support themselves. The implication is
As for his proposal, that was inserted verbatim; and, as he that the publishing industry, by focusing on profit above all
listened, Egbert shuddered to think that he could have else, actively prevents the production and dissemination of
polluted the air with such frightful horse-radish. highbrow literature.

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 7

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
“Am I a serf?” demanded Evangeline. “A what?” said Egbert.
“A serf. A slave. A peon. A creature subservient to your Egbert’s colleagues mad—another example of how this
lightest whim.” Ebert considered the point. “No,” he said. “I world supports Egbert’s ridiculous notions about women
shouldn’t think so.” “No,” said Evangeline. “I am not. And I refuse and also reveals how fragile men seem to be when faced
to allow you to dictate to me in the choice of my friends.” with female novelists’ alleged sentimentality.
It’s important to note the literary significance of
Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner, Evangeline Pembury Bloomsbury. It was the home of avant-garde feminist
(speaker), Jno. Henderson Banks novelist Virginia Woolf, and it also was the location of Faber
& Faber, a well-known publisher of highbrow poetry.
Related Themes: Egbert’s magazine doesn’t appear to make a distinction
between highbrow literature from Bloomsbury and
Page Number: 177 lowbrow popular novels. This again shows that the
publishing industry is more concerned with sales numbers
Explanation and Analysis than literary quality—and that all authors, regardless of
Following her novel’s success, Evangeline acquires a literary merit, are ultimately subject to the whims of that industry.
agent named Jno. Henderson Banks, who happens to be
suave and handsome. Egbert becomes jealous and demands
that Evangeline stop seeing Banks. By asking Egbert
“Oh, quite,” said Evangeline. “I will send out for a dog. I love
whether he considers her a serf, Evangeline makes clear the
dogs—and flowers.” “You are happiest among your flowers,
extent to which Egbert expects her to conform to a
no doubt?” “On the whole, yes.” “You sometimes think they are
stereotypically subservient feminine role. The fact that
the souls of little children who have died in their innocence?”
Egbert has to take a moment to consider her point is
“Frequently.”
humorous, but it also shows that he hasn’t actually thought
through his silly ideas about women. He might not be willing
to call her a slave explicitly when it comes down to it, but he Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner, Evangeline Pembury
certainly expected her to comply with his demand. Her
refusal demonstrates that she is not the subservient Related Themes:
creature he has imagined her to be.
Related Symbols:

Page Number: 181

When a column on “Myrtle Bootle Among Her Books” was
required, it was Egbert whom he sent to the No Man’s Explanation and Analysis
Land of Bloomsbury. When young Eustace Johnson, a novice When Egbert is assigned to interview his ex-fiancée, he
who ought never to have been entrusted with such a doesn’t ask about her writing. Instead, he asks a series of
dangerous commission, was found walking round in circles and trite personal questions. He specifically prompts her to say
bumping his head against the railings of Regent’s Park after something about how much she loves dogs and
twenty minutes with Laura La Motte Grindlay, the great sex flowers—the same sentimental clichés that he claims to
novelist, it was Egbert who was flung into the breach. abhor. Egbert’s leading questions show that he has already
decided how Evangeline will answer based on his
Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner, Evangeline Pembury preconceptions about female novelists; he doesn’t give her
an opportunity to talk about anything that would challenge
Related Themes: his negative view of women writers.
Evangeline obligingly provides the expected answers to his
Page Number: 178
questions, but she doesn’t seem very interested, and it’s
Explanation and Analysis clear that she is simply performing a role. She doesn’t have a
dog, but she’s willing to send out for one so that he can take
After Evangeline rejects him, Egbert becomes tougher and
a picture, and in response to his prompt about flowers being
able to handle the strain of interviewing female novelists.
the souls of little children, she offers only the dry one-liner,
Egbert’s boss takes advantage of Egbert’s newfound
“Frequently.” Her lack of interest indicates that she doesn’t
strength by giving him especially difficult assignments,
including an interview with an author who has driven one of

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 8

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com

actually conform to Egbert’s idea of a sentimental female Explanation and Analysis

novelist.
Evangeline’s agent has arranged for her to publish
numerous stories and serials, but although she has been
happy to play the public role of a famous author, she has
Evangeline’s “Oh, Egbert!” had been accompanied by a realized she hates writing and doesn’t think she’ll ever be
Niagara of tears. She had flung herself on the sofa and was able to fulfill her contractual obligations. She has been paid
now chewing the cushion in an ecstasy of grief. She gulped like a in advance, and she doesn’t know what to do. The narrator’s
bull-pup swallowing a chunk of steak. wry observation emphasizes the primarily financial
motivations of the publishing industry: producing
Related Characters: Evangeline Pembury (speaker), Egbert something worthwhile isn’t important to many writers as
Mulliner long as they’re getting paid. This comment also mocks
authors who like to think of themselves as “sensitive
Related Themes: artists”; Wodehouse clearly doesn’t think highbrow literary
pretensions are any guarantee of artistic quality.
Page Number: 182

Explanation and Analysis

“Before I saw the light, I, too, used to write stearine bilge
Evangeline has been paid in advance to write a number of
just like ‘Parted Ways.’”
stories and novels, but she has discovered that she doesn’t
actually like writing, and she can’t think of anything to write.
She feels trapped, and when Egbert asks how her second Related Characters: Egbert Mulliner (speaker), Evangeline
novel is coming, she breaks into tears. Pembury
It’s easy to imagine the protagonist of a sentimental novel
Related Themes:
crying a Niagara of tears and throwing herself onto a
sofa—the image is a cliché. However, Evangeline’s display of
Page Number: 185
emotion is completely out of proportion to the situation,
and Wodehouse highlights the absurdity of this literary Explanation and Analysis
convention by taking it to such a ridiculous extreme. Egbert, despite his professed hatred of female novelists,
Evangeline literally chews the scenery, and after the turns out to be a failed author of exactly the kind of
narrator has compared her to a dog gobbling a steak, it’s sentimental novels he claims to despise. He has written
impossible to continue imagining her as a figure in some three novels and dozens of short stories but has never been
grand romance. able to find a publisher, and he solves Evangeline’s dilemma
by allowing her to pass his work off as her own.
Egbert’s failed writing career makes it clear that clichéd
It is not the being paid money in advance that jars the popular novels are not solely the province of women; men
sensitive artist: it is the having to work. write them too. Furthermore, he refers to his own writing as
“bilge,” suggesting that his aversion to female novelists
Related Characters: Evangeline Pembury doesn’t actually have much to do with women. Rather, he
sees his own flaws as a writer reflected in female novelists’
Related Themes: alleged unoriginality and sentimentality, which threatens his
fragile ego.
Page Number: 184

©2018 LitCharts LLC v.006 www.LitCharts.com Page 9

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com

SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

BEST SELLER
The sudden sob of Miss Postlethwaite, the barmaid at the The scene Miss Postlethwaite describes is a cliché of romantic
Angler’s Rest, interrupts the silence of the pub. She has been novels, and her reaction is comically emotional. Miss Postlethwaite
moved to tears by the novel she is reading, explaining that a is a stand-in for the reading public, and the implication is that
man has just gone to India and left his beloved alone outside a popular lowbrow tastes are trite and sentimental. Miss
moonlit manor. Her anguish attracts the attention of Mr. Postlethwaite also explicitly links her sentimentality to her gender,
Mulliner, a regular at the Angler’s Rest, who recognizes the bolstering a stereotype that will be reasserted throughout the
novel and asks what Miss Postlethwaite thinks of it. She says it story—that is, that women as sensitive and dramatic. Finally, that
“lays the soul of Woman bare as with a scalpel.” In fact, she says, she’s reading the novel’s sequel suggests she’s actually reading
the book—which is a sequel of sorts—is even better than its words penned by Egbert, not Evangeline,
predecessor.

Mr. Mulliner notes that he has a particular interest in the Mr. Mulliner’s interest in the novel shows that he cares about his
novel’s author, Evangeline Pembury, who is his niece by nephew and niece enough to follow their achievements, indicating
marriage. He offers to tell the story of how Evangeline came to that his mockery of their silliness is good-natured rather than
be married to his nephew Egbert. viciously satirical.

Mr. Mulliner’s narration begins with Egbert and Evangeline The moonlit setting is a romantic cliché that echoes the novel Miss
standing on a pier in the moonlight. A breathless Egbert is Postlethwaite had earlier been reading. Wagner’s Tannhäuser is an
preparing to ask an important question that he has tried and opera about romantic love, which further enhances the mood.
failed to broach many times before. The night is still, and across Egbert’s trepidation makes it seem that he is about to propose. The
the water the couple can hear a band nearby playing the Star of incongruent trombone humorously undercuts the lovers’
Eve song from the opera Tannhauser. One of the trombone conversation, highlighting the silliness of the way love is portrayed
players has gotten his sheet music confused, however, and is in popular culture.
playing the “The Wedding of the Painted Doll.”

Egbert had recently come to this seaside village in order to The sentimentality and clichés of women novelists—as symbolized
recover from poor health brought on by the strains of his by the image of dogs and flowers—has taken a toll on Egbert’s
profession as an assistant editor—a well-recognized health. Even though the tone suggests that Egbert’s suffering is
“Dangerous Trade.” Egbert frequently interviews female overwrought, his doctor takes his illness seriously. The story thus
novelists, all of whom want to talk about “Art and their Ideals” depicts a world in which men take their own feelings seriously while
and how much they love dogs and flowers. This task would take dismissing women for supposedly being excessively emotional—a
“its toll on the physique of all but the very hardiest” and caused hypocrisy that adds to the tale’s comedic tone.
Egbert to have a nervous breakdown. A specialist prescribed
rest in order to “augment the red corpuscles.” During his
recovery, Egbert met Evangeline at a picnic. He fell in love with
her the moment he saw her.

©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 10

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
On the pier, Egbert does not immediately propose but instead The bait-and-switch from the serious question of marriage to the
asks with some trepidation whether Evangeline has ever trivial question of whether Evangeline has written a novel makes the
written a novel; his “pet aversion” is a distinct dislike for female conventions of romantic love seem all the more ridiculous. Egbert’s
novelists. A surprised Evangeline assures him that she has absurd “aversion” further demonstrates his sexist views about
not—nor, she says in response to his subsequent questions, has female novelists.
she written a short story or poems. A newly joyous Egbert
professes his love and proposes, and she accepts.

Evangeline, inspired by her feelings for Egbert, writes a novel Evangeline’s novel is clichéd and sentimental in exactly the ways
titled Parted Ways. The next time she and Egbert are together, Egbert despises. However, the fact that Egbert’s own words are
she reveals what she has done, not realizing how he will react. “frightful horse-radish” makes it clear that this kind of silliness is not
He manages to hide his horror as she reads her work to him. a specifically female trait—Egbert is just as sentimental as the
The book is awful—he considers it “a horrid, indecent female novelists he derides. In fact, his hatred of female novelists
production.” Even worse, it’s autobiographical, and Egbert finds may be based on his fear that he himself is sentimental and
that his proposal has been included verbatim. As he hears her unoriginal. The mention of the cost of publishing, meanwhile,
read it, he can’t believe that he ever uttered “such frightful introduces the idea that commercial concerns dictate which novels
horse-radish.” For a moment, Egbert consoles himself with the reach the public.
thought that Evangeline may not be able to find a publisher, but
then she announces that she plans to pay the cost of
publication herself.

Evangeline’s publisher is focusing its marketing efforts on a Ostensibly, the series of newspaper articles is a serious criticism of
different book titled Offal. As part of this promotion, the lowbrow novels like Offal, but in fact it is intended to boost sales:
publisher has arranged for a series of newspaper articles titled even apparently intellectual writing is part of a profit-driven
“The Growing Menace of the Sex Motive in Fiction.” However, industry. Using capital letters to describe the plots of popular novels
these marketing efforts fall flat due to a sudden change in emphasizes that they are formulaic, and the sudden change in
popular taste. Up until now, readers have wanted “scarlet tales popular taste shows that readers are guided by their whims rather
of Men Who Did and Women Who Shouldn’t Have Done but than any sophisticated sense of artistic merit. Publishers cater to
Who Took a Pop at It.” But now it seems they want wholesome the public’s poor and unpredictable taste in order to sell books.
love rather than sexual passion. The fickleness of readers Consequently, it is impossible for highbrow art—the work of
makes “powerful young novelists rush round to the wholesale “powerful young novelists”—to succeed.
grocery firms to ask if the berth of junior clerk is still open.” As a
result of the public’s newfound interest in wholesome
romances, Evangeline’s novel is a massive commercial success.
There is speculation in the press about it being adapted into “a
play, a musical comedy, and a talking picture.”

Egbert is distressed that Evangeline’s success seems to be Evangeline’s use of highbrow jargon to describe her poorly-written,
changing her. She is unsure of herself at first, but she quickly unoriginal novel satirizes the pretentiousness of some so-called
grows to like talking to the press, and she says her writing is serious authors. As a comedic writer, Wodehouse himself was used
“rhythmical rather than architectural” and claims that she to the literary elite not taking him seriously, so it’s not surprising
inclines “to the school of the surrealists.” She no longer wants that he retaliates here by mocking them.
to spend time with Egbert; instead, she writes letters to her
fans and gives lectures.

©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 11

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
To make matters worse, Evangeline now has a literary agent, Egbert’s demand suggests that he has indeed imagined Evangeline
Jno. Henderson Banks, who is handsome, snappily dressed, and as a “subservient creature,” and reflects his broader sexism. Her
excessively referential toward his female clients. Egbert is angry response demonstrates that she is not entirely willing to play
jealous of Banks and demands that Evangeline stop seeing him. the stereotypical female role he has assigned to her.
She becomes angry and asks if Egbert thinks she is “a
subservient creature.” He drops his imperious tone and pleads
with her, but she feels insulted and breaks off their
engagement with a bitter laugh.

Egbert is heartbroken. To cope with his grief, he throws himself Bloomsbury was the home of a group of artists including the avant-
into his work. His experiences have hardened him, and his garde novelist Virginia Woolf. It also was the location of Faber &
health now can withstand interviews with female novelists. He Faber, a publisher known for printing highbrow poetry and criticism.
impresses his boss by taking on particularly difficult tasks, such Wodehouse places these highbrow writers on the same level as
as visiting “the No Man’s Land of Bloomsbury” and interviewing popular novelists, as columns about both are published in the same
a novelist who reduced one of Egbert’s colleagues to “walking magazine, to show that highbrow and lowbrow literature are part of
round in circles and bumping his head against the railings of the same industry. The comically exaggerated dangers of Egbert’s
Regent’s Park.” profession again show that men take their own feelings seriously
while dismissing the allegedly excessive emotions of women.

Egbert is assigned to interview none other than his ex-fiancée, Egbert and Evangeline’s misery elicits sympathy: the reader is
Evangeline Pembury. Arriving in her sitting-room, he feels a supposed to root for these characters despite their silliness, which is
pang of emotion, but he hides it. Egbert and Evangeline greet typical of Wodehouse’s good-natured humor. This time, it is Egbert
each another formally, as if they are strangers. Egbert notices who brings up dogs and flowers. Evangeline’s rote responses suggest
that she seems “drawn” and “care-worn” but doesn’t mention it. that she doesn’t actually care about these sentimental questions,
He begins his interview with a series of standard questions: which makes it clear that Egbert himself is the one projecting the
“Are you fond of dogs, Miss Pembury?” “You are happiest stereotype of sentimentality onto female novelists.
among your flowers, no doubt?” She provides the expected
answers without seeming very interested, and she offers to
“send out for a dog” so that Egbert can take her picture with it.

Evangeline’s answers continue to be perfunctory until Egbert Evangeline’s display of grief is comically disproportionate to the
asks how her novel’s sequel is progressing. In response, she situation. The humor again highlights the silliness of the way
breaks into tears and flings herself onto the sofa, where she romance is portrayed in popular novels.
chews a cushion “in an ecstasy of grief” and gulps “like a bull-
pup swallowing a chunk of steak.” Egbert is deeply moved by
this display and goes to comfort her.

Evangeline explains that Jno. Henderson Banks has arranged Although Evangeline was happy to play the public role of a
for her to publish serials and short stories in numerous successful novelist, she doesn’t like writing and isn’t very good at it.
magazines. She has been paid in advance, but she doesn’t think The narrator’s remark about “sensitive artists” skewers authors who
she will be able to meet her contractual obligations, because like to be seen as inspired artists (and certainly like to be paid) but
she has decided that she hates writing and doesn’t know what are not actually capable of creating high art.
to write about. Egbert advises her to cash the checks and
spend the money anyway. (In an aside, the narrator, Mr.
Mulliner, wryly observes, “It is not the being paid money in
advance that jars the sensitive artist: it is the having to work.”)

©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 12

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
Egbert has a solution to Evangeline’s predicament: he tells her Egbert’s own writing is just as sentimental and unoriginal as that of
that she doesn’t have to write anymore, because he himself is a the female novelists he claims to despise. Ironically, his novels are
failed author who used to write the same kind of “stearine only successful once he publishes them under Evangeline’s name,
bilge.” He has three novels and twenty stories for which he inverting the common historical practice of women writing under
never found a publisher, and after Egbert and Evangeline are men’s names so that their work will be taken seriously. At the same
married, she will be free to pass them off as her own. Egbert time, the fact that Egbert has to rescue Evangeline from her writer’s
and Evangeline once again declare their love, sighing block suggests that Wodehouse may share some of his characters’
rapturously and saying one another’s names. misogynistic ideas. The story’s happy ending again shows that
Wodehouse’s mockery is relatively gentle, as the characters’ silliness
is ultimately a minor flaw without any long-term consequences.

©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 13

 Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com

HOW T
TO
O CITE
To cite this LitChart:

MLA
Marcuson, Tim. "Best Seller." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 20 Oct 2018.
Web. 20 Oct 2018.

CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Marcuson, Tim. "Best Seller." LitCharts LLC, October 20, 2018.
Retrieved October 20, 2018. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/best-
seller.

To cite any of the quotes from Best Seller covered in the Quotes
section of this LitChart:

MLA
Wodehouse, P.G.. Best Seller. Overlook Press. 2003.

CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Wodehouse, P.G.. Best Seller. New York: Overlook Press. 2003.

©2018 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 14