Best Short Stories La

There aren't many American authors who have the kind of literary voice Lardner does. It's not the mincing New York literary voice that pollutes most American literature. It's the voice of common people; ordinary Americans with ordinary lives -the types of people who go to baseball games. The nearest comparable author I can think of is Mark Twain, who wrote for a much different era. Like ordinary Americans (and Twain), Lardner has a sublime sense of the ridiculous, and a sort of cheerfully cruel realism. My favorite short story, "Some Like Them Cold," written as a series of love notes, long before anyone invented the prim word, "dysfunctional."

Lardner's voice is distinctive, and it cuts through all the noise in your life until all you hear are his characters speaking, telling their stories as best they know how, their dialect as real and immediate as it was when these stories were first written. Imagine Dorothy Parker covering the World Series, Oscar Wilde at a bridge club in suburbia, Dave Barry on the slow train from Chicago to New York. The only difference is in Lardner's restraint: his characters, when ridiculous, never fail to remind that to laugh at them is to laugh at ourselves as well, a fact which can be comforting and disconcerting at the same time.Best of the collection: "Alibi Ike," "Liberty Hall," "There Are Smiles," "The Anniversary."

As a young boy, Hemmingway signed his first fiction "Ring Lardner Jr." (this was long before there was a Ring Lardner Jr.) Read Ring Sr's short fiction and see why young Hemmingway admired him so much. Lardner is one of the trancendent talents America has ever produced. His stories are rich in pathos and punchlines. Nobody is funnier in print, and nobody knew the human condition better. Read him once, and you'll read Lardner for life. My personal favorites "Haircut" and "Albi Ike".

Let's just face it, Ring Lardner was the greatest writer ever. "You Know Me Al" did stink, but these short stories prove that there was no one better. He had emotion and character and plot and his stories are the best.

I was pleasantly surprised with this collection of short stories by Ring Lardner. Lardner creates characters who are so easy to relate with. I found myself just wanting to read the entire collection in one night. Each story had its own unique style and presence. The stories were extremely witty and Lardner has a gift for making real life situations seem hilarious. I would definitely recommend Ring Lardner to anyone who likes literature. Lardner is the kind of guy that you wish you could call up and talk t