Synopsis
The career of an inept but impetuous baseball pitcher is recorded in letters to a friend
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
In his day, Ring Lardner was a legendary humorist (a job-description he disavowed), and You Know Me Al shows why everyone loved him so. In the letters of Jack Keefe, a bush-league pitcher who finally gets his chance in the majors, Lardner shows not only a faultless ear, but also a keen eye for the amusing details of human folly. Keefe is no comical bumbler--he has talent--but also possesses astonishing naïvete, and a lack of self-awareness that is unerringly hilarious. The busher blames everyone but himself for his failures (a trait that Lardner uses to wonderful comic effect in the story "Alibi Ike"). Still, thanks to Keefe's mixture of hubris and puppy-dog trust, you want to see him come out all right.
Lardner--who played a role in breaking the infamous "Black Sox" scandal of 1919--wrote You Know Me Al while covering pro baseball in the teens; for baseball fans, the book is an intriguing glimpse into the past. Athletes haven't changed much, poor devils. They're just as funny as ever, only richer.
From the Back Cover
"You Know me Al" is a classic of baseball--the game and the community. Jack Keefe, one of literature's greatest characters, is talented, brash, and conceited. Self-assured and imperceptive, impervious to both advice and sarcasm, Keefe rises to the heights, but his inability to learn makes for his undoing. Through a series of letters from this bush-league pitcher to his not-quite-anonymous friend Al, Lardner maintains a balance between the funny and the moving, the pathetic and the glorious.
Nostalgic in its view of pre-World War I America--a time before the "live" ball, a time filled with names like Ty Cobb, Charles Comiskey, Walter Johnson, and Eddie Cicotte--this is not a simple period piece. It is about competition, about the ability to reason, and most of all it is about being human. First published in 1914, "You Know Me Al" says as much to us about ourselves today as it did seventy-five years ago.
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You Know Me, AL [Oct 12, 1984] Lardner, Ring
Seller: Sperry Books, Rollinsford, NH, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. Good cover, smooth spine, tight binding, clean text Prompt, reliable service, shipped next business day. Int'l mailed via first class or priority. Seller Inventory # ypf110066
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You Know Me Al : A Busher's Letters
Published by
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1984
ISBN 10: 0394726340
ISBN 13: 9780394726342
Used
Softcover
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 8029385-75
Stock Image
You Know Me Al : A Busher's Letters
Published by
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1984
ISBN 10: 0394726340
ISBN 13: 9780394726342
Used
Softcover
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 502989-6
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You Know Me, AL
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0394726340I3N00
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You Know Me, AL
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0394726340I3N00
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You Know Me, AL
Seller: Arbor Scout, Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: Used: Very Good. Rebound as HARDCOVER. Ex-library. VG-. Seller Inventory # RH-7PO1-GWAG
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You Know Me, AL
Seller: Callaghan Books South, New Port Richey, FL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 3 out of 5 stars
Trade Paperback. Condition: Good. 2d. Trade paperback, glossy wrappers, color-illustration of baseball player on field front wrapper, white spine and back wrapper lightly soiled, small illustration at center back, 218 pages. Very slightly browned pages. Good. Seller Inventory # 49811