In the early decades of the twentieth century, newspaperman and humorist Ring Lardner (1885-1933) made America laugh with his hilarious depictions of odd characters in the sporting world, Tin Pan Alley, and Hollywood. His first great success was You Know Me Al, a fictional series of letters from a popular baseball hero to his friend, slyly revealing the letter writer as a crude, conceited, semiliterate, self-deceiving boob.
The letters, created while Lardner was writing a sports column for The Chicago Tribune, first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post and were later published in book form in 1918. You Know Me Al reveals Lardner as a satirical master at the peak of his form: a fine albeit misanthropic storyteller with a superb feel for the niceties of characters and speech and a sure instinct for provoking laughter.
