The publication of You Know Me Al brought instant fame to RingLardner (1885-1933), one of the great American humorists of this century.Considered the satirist's greatest work, the book is a collection of lettersfrom one Jack Keefe, a baseball "busher," to his longtime friend,Al Blanchard, in their midwestern hometown.The voice of Jack Keefe perfectly echoes the vernacular of the baseballplayers Lardner had covered for years as a newspaper reporter followingthe exploits of Chicago's Cubs and White Sox. Readers instantly recognizedin Jack the full range of human foibles. This universality accounts forthe enduring appeal of You Know Me Al."Ring Lardner is the idol of professional humorists and of plentyof other people, too."-- E. B. White"His work is a contribution of genuine and permanent value to thenational literature."-- H. L. Mencken"Mr. Lardner . . . lets Jack Keefe the baseball player cut out hisown outline until the figure of the foolish, boastful, innocent athletelives with us."-- Virginia Woolf
