Ring W. Lardner / Ring WLardner
Ring Lardner first burst upon the literary scene with his greatest popular success, 'You Know Me Al'. A sportswriter by trade, Lardner had a superb ear for regional peculiarities in speech and was loved for his sense of humor. Funny, sarcastic, sometimes bitter but always ironic, Lardner understood Americans-- their desires, their dreams, and their disappointments. Contained in 'Haircut and Other Stories' are some of Lardner’s best-known pieces: 'Haircut', 'Alibi Ike', 'The Love Nest', 'Zone of Quiet', and 'Champion'. Through these pages pass con men; an opinionated small-town barber; a nurse who chatters on and on, much to the chagrin of her charges; baseball players who have excuses for everything; and boxers who try to make it in the fight game. Published in 'The Saturday Evening Post', 'Collier’s' and 'Vanity Fair', Lardner enjoyed great success and was heralded as a singular talent by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, H. L. Mencken, and Virginia Woolf. 'Haircut and Other Stories' is a celebration of people and of America, and is a must for anyone interested in classic American fiction.