Letters From Ring Lardner

The collection also contains an autograph [n.d.] for Glen Walton Blodgett and an article, 1937 Marcg 5, by H. B. Pettee on Ring Lardner clipped from "Reading & Collecting."

Ring Lardner, America's great humorist and shortstory writer, began his career as a sports writer. Because of his interest in baseball, he began putting stories in his newspaper column that were purportedly written by unlettered athletes. Lardner, who had an excellent ear for dialogue, actually wrote these stories in the voice of the fictional rookie ballplayer Jack Keefe, a White Sox pitcher, who writes letters to his friend Al Blanchard back home in Bedford, Indiana. Several streams of American comic tradition merge in You Know Me Al: the comic letter, the wisecrack, the braggart character, the use of sporting vocabulary and fractured English as a means to apologetics. This collection of short stories revealed Lardner's talent for the sports idiom he made famous. Usually cynical and pessimistic, his stories are peopled by ordinary characters. Lardner often used his own experiences as the model or inspiration for the fiction he wrote.

Not only examining the writings of a critically neglected American novelist of the early 20th century, this study also uses Ring Lardner both as the basis for a theoretical inquiry into language and literature, and as a study of men and masculinity at the turn of the century.

"An anthology of journalist Ring Lardner's writings on sports and other nonfiction topics that collects works that have been mostly unavailable for decades"--

An annotated and copiously illustrated edition of the 24 short stories published between 1914 and 1919 by Ring Lardner, which include the stories collected later and known as "You know me, Al."

This collection brings together twenty-one of Lardner’s best pieces, including the six Jack Keefe stories that comprise You Know Me, Al, as well as such familiar favorites as “Alibi Ike,” “Some Like Them Cold,” and “Guillible’s Travels.” For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

In Ring Lardner's 'You Know Me Al: A Busher's Letters', readers are immersed in the world of minor league baseball through the correspondence of Jack Keefe, a young pitcher navigating his way through the challenges and triumphs of his career. Lardner's epistolary style captures the authentic voice of a naive and often boastful narrator, offering a satirical yet poignant exploration of the American Dream and the complexities of ambition and self-deception. Set against the backdrop of the early 20th century, this novel showcases Lardner's unique blend of humor and social commentary, making it a timeless classic in American literature. Through Keefe's letters, Lardner sheds light on the struggles and aspirations of the working-class athlete, inviting readers to reflect on themes of identity, success, and self-awareness. Recommended for those interested in sports literature, American realism, and the psychology of ambition.

This collection of fiction by writer, critic and sports editor Ring Lardner celebrates the American pastime of baseball.