Character guide

Psmith

major

Also known as Mr. Waring Psmith, Waring, the Three Pointers Psmith

Psmith arrives at the Cosy Moments office as an acting subeditor and promptly treats a delegation of outraged contributors like a mildly amusing social call, dusting the editorial chair before sinking into it. His languid wit and unflappable courtesy conceal a taste for mischief and a genuine appetite for a fight worth having. When the paper's mild-mannered content gives way to a tenement exposé, he becomes the calm, needling center of a campaign that makes powerful enemies.

Billy Windsor

major

Also known as William Windsor, Willie, Comrade Windsor

Billy is a former cub reporter with a newspaperman's hard-won knowledge that there are two New Yorks, and his tenement series has put him on the wrong side of the second one. Wary of strangers and quick to bristle when the subject of his crusade comes up, he is nonetheless game for the fight. His partnership with the unflappable Psmith gives the campaign its moral seriousness and its nerve.

Bat Jarvis

supporting

Also known as Mr. Jarvis, Comrade Jarvis, the great Bat

Bat Jarvis rules a corner of the New York underworld but spends his quieter hours exchanging tips on treating fits in kittens. When Parker tries to enlist him against the Cosy Moments men, the arrangement takes an unexpected turn, and Bat turns up in Psmith's office trading information and covering the door with his revolver. His blend of menace and domestic tenderness makes him one of the book's most disarming supporting figures.

Pugsy Maloney

supporting

Also known as Master Maloney, Master Pugsy Maloney

Master Maloney runs errands and announces visitors, but his real vocation is spectating: he perches on a soapbox like a dramatic critic at a premiere, reluctant to leave when a rough house seems imminent. He is an earnest student of East Side theatre and knows a good scene when he sees one. His running commentary and stubborn refusal to be shooed away give the office its comic chorus.

Mr. J. Fillken Wilberfloss

supporting

Also known as Mr. Wilberfloss, Wilberfloss, Comrade Wilberfloss

Wilberfloss presides over Cosy Moments with self-importance and a horror of anything that might ruin its genteel reputation. His absence lets Psmith and Billy transform the paper, and his return to find it ballyragging contributors and hunting slum landlords is a shock to every editorial instinct he has. When he learns that the seeming nonentity before him actually owns the journal, his distress is both comic and pointed: editorships like his are not easy to replace.

Kid Brady

supporting

Also known as Brady, Comrade Brady, the Kid

The Kid has a passion for seeing his name in print and a grievance against papers that rewrite his prose into Addisonian English, so Psmith's offer of page four wins him outright. His weekly installments, complete with moody portrait and the challenge 'Jimmy Garvin must meet this boy,' give Cosy Moments its sporting blood and its growing readership. Grateful and game, he becomes one of the paper's most loyal hands when the fight turns literal.

Stewart Waring

supporting

Also known as Mr. Stewart Waring, Mr. Waring, The Waring

A slum landlord and political boss whose Pleasant Street tenements Psmith's paper means to expose, he arrives to shut the campaign down and finds his usual methods useless.

Comrade Parker

supporting

Also known as Parker, Mr. Francis Parker, Francis Parker, Mr. Parker

Sleek in his dude suit and shiny shoes, this hired operator first carries Waring's warning to the Cosy Moments office, then returns with a revolver and a taxicab.

Mike

supporting

Psmith's old English friend, newly arrived in New York, whose easy intimacy lets him read the seriousness beneath Psmith's airy manner as the tenement fight turns dangerous.

B. Henderson Asher

minor

Also known as Mr. Asher, Mr. B. Henderson Asher, Asher, Comrade Asher

A lawyer who advises Psmith on legal matters regarding the tenement campaign.

Gooch

minor

Also known as Comrade Gooch, Mr. Gooch

The office boy at Cosy Moments who is replaced by Pugsy.

Mr. Robert Coston

minor

Also known as Mr. Coston, Nigger

A boxer and friend of Kid Brady who helps in the fight against the gangs.

Comrade Repetto

minor

Also known as Mr. Repetto, Jack Repetto, Jack

A member of the Groome Street gang who becomes a cat specialist ally.

Luella Granville Waterman

minor

Also known as Luella, Waterman, Mr. Waterman

A society woman who is secretly involved with Waring's political schemes.

Spider Reilly

minor

Also known as de Spider, Mr. Reilly

Leader of the Table Hill gang who clashes with Bat Jarvis.

Wheeler

minor

Also known as Mr. Wheeler

A reporter for a rival newspaper who covers the tenement story.

Dude Dawson

minor

A member of the Table Hill gang involved in the gang warfare.

Long Otto

minor

Also known as Mr. Otto, Mr. Long Otto, Comrade Otto, Otto

A tall member of the Groome Street gang who becomes a cat specialist.

Mr. Wolmann

minor

Also known as Energetic Mr. Wolmann, Cyclone Al Wolmann, Cyclone Al, Al, Freddie

A boxer and associate of Kid Brady who helps in the campaign.

Rev. Edwin T. Philpotts

minor

Also known as the Rev. Philpotts, Philpotts

A clergyman who appears briefly in a social scene.

Comrade Maloney

minor

Also known as Maloney

Pugsy's father and a member of the Groome Street gang who assists Psmith.

Comrade Jackson

minor

Also known as Jackson

A reporter on the Cosy Moments staff who supports Psmith's reforms.

Sam

minor

Also known as One Sam

A member of the Table Hill gang who opposes Psmith's group.

Mr. Dawson

minor

Also known as the unsuspecting Mr. Dawson

A detective hired by Waring to shadow Psmith.

Mr. Smith

minor

Also known as Smith

A minor character who appears briefly at the Gardenia restaurant.

Jimmy Garvin

minor

Also known as Jimmy

A member of the Groome Street gang who participates in the battles.

Mr. Benjamin White

minor

Also known as Mr. White, Comrade White

A reporter who joins the Cosy Moments staff briefly.

Battling Jack Benson

minor

Also known as Benson, Jack

A boxer who fights Kid Brady in a key match.

Gum

minor

A member of the Groome Street gang who assists in the cat specialist gathering.

Eddie Wood

minor

Also known as friend Eddie Wood

A friend of Psmith's from England who appears briefly in New York.

Mexican Joe

minor

Also known as Joe

A member of the Table Hill gang mentioned in the gang conflicts.

Mrs. Julia Burdett Parslow

minor

A society woman who hosts a party attended by Psmith.

Willie Harvey

minor

Also known as Billy

A young newsboy and friend of Pugsy Maloney.

Comrade Spaghetti

minor

A member of the Groome Street gang with a distinctive nickname.

Swifty Bob

minor

A member of the Table Hill gang involved in the street battles.

Pat Harrigan

minor

Also known as Pat

A policeman who appears during the tenement disturbances.

Patsy Milligan

minor

Also known as Patrick

A member of the Groome Street gang who helps in the fight.

Tommy Goodley

minor

Also known as Thomas

A young man who appears briefly in the tenement district.

Martin Kelly

minor

Also known as Martin

A resident of the tenements who speaks with Psmith.