The John Lardner Reader

This collection marks the return to print of John Lardner, one of Americas press box giants, a classic stylist whose wry humor and tireless reporting helped elevate sportswriting to art. The brilliant W. C. Heinz called Lardner the best of us. This book shows why. Lardner applied his singular touch not only to his eras iconsJoe Louis, Ted Williams, Satchel Paigebut to the scamps, eccentrics, hustlers, and con men in the shadow of sports. Whether in snappy columns or leisurely magazine pieces, Lardner held sport of every description up to the light, forever changing the way people wrote, read, and thought about their heroes, from superstars to scrappers. These forty-nine pieces represent sportswriting at the top of its game.