In 1916 Lardner published his first book of short stories, “[You Know Me, Al]?,” which was written in the form of letters written by a bush league baseball player to a friend back home. Like most of Lardner’s stories, it employed satire to show the stupidity and cupidity of a certain type of athlete. Lardner went on to write such well-known stories as “Haircut,” “Some Like Them Cold,” “The Golden Honeymoon,” “Alibi Ike,” and “A Day in the Life of Conrad Green.”
Lardner also had a lifelong fascination with the theatre, though his only success was “[June Moon]?,” a comedy co-written with Broadway veteran [George S. Kaufman]?. He did write a series of brief nonsense plays which poked fun at the conventions of the theatre using zany, offbeat humor and outrageous, impossible stage directions.
Lardner was a close friend of [F. Scott Fitzgerald]? and other writers of the [Jazz Age]?, and he was published by Fitzgerald’s editor, [Maxwell Perkins]?. Lardner never wrote a novel, but is considered by many to be one of America’s best writers of the short story.