Prairie State Books: You Know Me Al (Paperback)

from varielle

I do love baseball and I've always heard that Ring Lardner was a hilarious writer. This fictional collection of letters from an early 20th century bush league baseball player captures the voice of a foolish, vane, moronic athlete. It is the voice of someone with absolutely no self-awareness, who ...

from datrappert

Jack is a picture for the Chicago White Sox, and the story is told in a series of letters to his old friend Al, back in his hometown of Bedford. The slim enjoyment this book provides comes through Al's interactions with Sox owner Charles Comiskey and other real baseball legends, including Ty Cobb...

from jklavanian

As the previous reviewer points out, You Know Me Al is set in the early years of major league baseball, so it was enjoyable reading about that era of train travel, spit balls, etc. Ring Lardner was an inspiration for J.D. Salinger, and you can hear some of Lardner's voice in Salinger's writings.

from martinhughharvey

So this is touted as one of the best baseball books ever written and its pedigree is almost a century old being published in 1915. A thoroughly enjoyable book and somewhat irreverently written. Unusually it consists entirely of letters written by a bush league player who has made it to the majors...