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
