You Know Me Al

      The publication of You Know Me Al brought instant fame to Ring         Lardner (1885-1933), one of the great American humorists of this century.         Considered the satirist's greatest work, the book is a collection of letters         from 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 baseball         players Lardner had covered for years as a newspaper reporter following         the exploits of Chicago's Cubs and White Sox. Readers instantly recognized         in Jack the full range of human foibles. This universality accounts for         the enduring appeal of You Know Me Al.       "Ring Lardner is the idol of professional humorists and of plenty         of other people, too."         -- E. B. White       "His work is a contribution of genuine and permanent value to the         national literature."         -- H. L. Mencken       "Mr. Lardner . . . lets Jack Keefe the baseball player cut out his         own outline until the figure of the foolish, boastful, innocent athlete         lives with us."         -- Virginia Woolf