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La gran ciudad
The narrator, his wife Ella, and Ella's younger sister, Katie, come into a joint inheritance that, properly invested, will bring them $8,000 a year income. They move from South Bend, Indiana to Riverside Drive in New York City with the aim of finding Katie a well-to-do husband. They know it's only a matter of time and a decent wardrobe—but will their windfall hold out long enough to make it happen?
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1921
About the author
Ring Lardner
269 books105 followersRinggold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.
Father of author Ring Lardner Jr.
Father of author Ring Lardner Jr.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 27, 2020
It reminded me of the works of George V. Hobart--SKIDOO!, GET NEXT!, YOU CAN SEARCH ME. I loved it. I read Lardner's short story "Haircut" in college.
May 8, 2014
Commentatore sportivo e amico di Francis Scott Fitzgerald, con il quale condivise l'editor Maxwell Perkins, Ring Lardner ha scritto sempre e solo racconti, dal tono principalmente satirico o sarcastico, anche se spesso alcuni di questi riguardano lo stesso protagonista e si incatenano tra di loro.
È il caso de “La grande mela”, cinque episodi che narrano della parentesi newyorchese di Finch, un nullafacente, sua moglie, benestante di rendita, e la di lei sorella. Trasferitesi tutti assieme dall'Indiana alla ricerca dell'avventura e del prestigio sociale nella New York che contava all'epoca, si troveranno a fare i conti con tanti vizi, bugie e ben poche virtù (non solo altrui certo).
Romanzo breve o piccola raccolta di racconti che sia, di certo Lardner sa raccontare con estrema leggerezza, non senza per questo risparmiare in spessore narrativo, tra battute scritte alla perfezione e scene al limite della parodia.
http://www.subliminalpop.com/?p=8728
È il caso de “La grande mela”, cinque episodi che narrano della parentesi newyorchese di Finch, un nullafacente, sua moglie, benestante di rendita, e la di lei sorella. Trasferitesi tutti assieme dall'Indiana alla ricerca dell'avventura e del prestigio sociale nella New York che contava all'epoca, si troveranno a fare i conti con tanti vizi, bugie e ben poche virtù (non solo altrui certo).
Romanzo breve o piccola raccolta di racconti che sia, di certo Lardner sa raccontare con estrema leggerezza, non senza per questo risparmiare in spessore narrativo, tra battute scritte alla perfezione e scene al limite della parodia.
http://www.subliminalpop.com/?p=8728
October 22, 2023
Leggero, divertente con il suo tono perennemente canzonatorio è un breve viaggio tutto da gustare nell'America degli anni Venti, quando tutto sembrava ancora possibile...
August 4, 2014
Finito! E' di certo un piccolo capolavoro di stile e ironia.
E un affresco lucido e scanzonato dell'America dei primi decenni del Novecento.
Questa è grande letteratura americana. Qui c'è la vita.
E un affresco lucido e scanzonato dell'America dei primi decenni del Novecento.
Questa è grande letteratura americana. Qui c'è la vita.
July 11, 2023
Well...as a card-carrying member of the grammar police, this book made me wince. It's a dated read of a long ago writer who wrote for laughs. I know he knew better, but the book was intentionally fulllof would of and could of and should of and "give it to the wife and I." Shudder!
The story of two sisters, one married, who inherit some money and figure they'll go off to the big city, leaving much-smaller-town Indiana, to see how the other half live and try to get the single lady married off. She has no shortage of beaus once they arrive in NYC, but something always seems to happen. (And, of course, the husband always knows better than the little women!)
The story of two sisters, one married, who inherit some money and figure they'll go off to the big city, leaving much-smaller-town Indiana, to see how the other half live and try to get the single lady married off. She has no shortage of beaus once they arrive in NYC, but something always seems to happen. (And, of course, the husband always knows better than the little women!)
June 18, 2017
Bottom Line First: I wonder if we have come to expect humor to be rib grabbing when all it need to be is entertaining. The Big Town - How I and the Mrs. go to New York to see life and get Katie a husband is entertaining and enough of a pleasure that I will be seeking out more Ring Lardner.
I had known there was an American writer named Ring Lardner but never focused on him as someone to read. Then I read Dorothy Parker's Constant Reader: 2. This is a collection of reviews and commentary on her times. In several places she is emphatic that Ring Lardner writes some of the best short stories. Following her lead I turned to The Big Town - How I and the Mrs. go to New York to see life and get Katie a husband. This is a short humorous piece about a husband, his wife and Sister-in -Law. These are work a day people living in the then small town of South Bend Indiana. The ladies come into an inheritance. The total sum is sufficient that they could live modestly on the proceeds. It is the wife's idea that they spend as much of this amount as needed to allow them to stay in New Your City long enough to land a well to do husband for sister Kate.
The story becomes something of the comedic misadventures of the three country mice in the big sorta bad big city. Of course they get misdirected on the best deals for apartments and the usual misdirections, and the sister has a tendency to prefer the handsome, not well off for the well to do prospects, but her romances are only scenery for Brother-In_ Law to out scheme, out drink and out gamble the ladies. It is through his gently jaundiced eyes that we get a running commentary on all things, fashionable, and expensive. Mostly the aforesaid are a gyp; but he is good humored and knows just how far he can tweak noses.
This book is not roll on the floor funny. It is a brief relaxing read. In the tradition of Mark Twain and Damon Runyon his characters speak the less than perfect English of their time and class. Lardner does a good job of capturing these accents and expression but he is not Runyon's equal in creating a comic community. This is writing to amuse not shake the rafters.
I had known there was an American writer named Ring Lardner but never focused on him as someone to read. Then I read Dorothy Parker's Constant Reader: 2. This is a collection of reviews and commentary on her times. In several places she is emphatic that Ring Lardner writes some of the best short stories. Following her lead I turned to The Big Town - How I and the Mrs. go to New York to see life and get Katie a husband. This is a short humorous piece about a husband, his wife and Sister-in -Law. These are work a day people living in the then small town of South Bend Indiana. The ladies come into an inheritance. The total sum is sufficient that they could live modestly on the proceeds. It is the wife's idea that they spend as much of this amount as needed to allow them to stay in New Your City long enough to land a well to do husband for sister Kate.
The story becomes something of the comedic misadventures of the three country mice in the big sorta bad big city. Of course they get misdirected on the best deals for apartments and the usual misdirections, and the sister has a tendency to prefer the handsome, not well off for the well to do prospects, but her romances are only scenery for Brother-In_ Law to out scheme, out drink and out gamble the ladies. It is through his gently jaundiced eyes that we get a running commentary on all things, fashionable, and expensive. Mostly the aforesaid are a gyp; but he is good humored and knows just how far he can tweak noses.
This book is not roll on the floor funny. It is a brief relaxing read. In the tradition of Mark Twain and Damon Runyon his characters speak the less than perfect English of their time and class. Lardner does a good job of capturing these accents and expression but he is not Runyon's equal in creating a comic community. This is writing to amuse not shake the rafters.
January 15, 2026
A comedy of errors, told in the voice (and dialect) of a cigar salesman from South Bend, Indiana, whose wife and sister-in-law inherit a bundle from their war-profiteer stepfather and decide to relocate to New York and find a rich husband for the sister-in-law.
The narrative voice is wry, even cynical. The women are 1920s "dames" - there's a bit of a war-of-the-sexes theme, though I got the sense that the narrator's relationship with his wife was a lot stronger than he likes to make out, and that the jibes that he and his sister-in-law trade are at least somewhat affectionate. There are a lot of references to contemporary figures who are mostly forgotten in our day, so having it on an e-reader that can link to Wikipedia will help with context.
They stay in several different places - an expensive hotel, a rented apartment on Riverside Drive, a high-end Long Island boarding house, and last of all a theatrical hotel that's a bit more downmarket, since the income they have from the interest on the money is starting to run low. Everything in New York, at least if you want to move in the circles they want to move in to get a husband for Katie, is viciously expensive. Along the way, they meet a variety of potential suitors, including a Wall Street trader, a rich older man, a daring young aviator, a racehorse owner and a comedian at the Ziegfeld Follies. There's something wrong with all of them, but it's a different thing each time, as is the reason the relationship fails to click. The changes of location and the various characters mean that it isn't just the same try-fail cycle repeated with minor variations, though it definitely has an episodic feel.
The situations and characters are both absurd and believable, and the overall shape of the plot makes sense. It's a solid piece of comedy writing, not as lighthearted as Wodehouse or Jerome - more in the vein of a midwestern 1920s Mark Twain - but, to me at least, amusing and enjoyable. I'll watch out for other books from this author.
The narrative voice is wry, even cynical. The women are 1920s "dames" - there's a bit of a war-of-the-sexes theme, though I got the sense that the narrator's relationship with his wife was a lot stronger than he likes to make out, and that the jibes that he and his sister-in-law trade are at least somewhat affectionate. There are a lot of references to contemporary figures who are mostly forgotten in our day, so having it on an e-reader that can link to Wikipedia will help with context.
They stay in several different places - an expensive hotel, a rented apartment on Riverside Drive, a high-end Long Island boarding house, and last of all a theatrical hotel that's a bit more downmarket, since the income they have from the interest on the money is starting to run low. Everything in New York, at least if you want to move in the circles they want to move in to get a husband for Katie, is viciously expensive. Along the way, they meet a variety of potential suitors, including a Wall Street trader, a rich older man, a daring young aviator, a racehorse owner and a comedian at the Ziegfeld Follies. There's something wrong with all of them, but it's a different thing each time, as is the reason the relationship fails to click. The changes of location and the various characters mean that it isn't just the same try-fail cycle repeated with minor variations, though it definitely has an episodic feel.
The situations and characters are both absurd and believable, and the overall shape of the plot makes sense. It's a solid piece of comedy writing, not as lighthearted as Wodehouse or Jerome - more in the vein of a midwestern 1920s Mark Twain - but, to me at least, amusing and enjoyable. I'll watch out for other books from this author.
September 30, 2025
What a romp. I laughed and laughed. It reminded me of the humor of George Burns and Jack Benny. I‘m delighted that it’s also beloved in Italy. The illustrations add a fun touch. Thanks to everyone who worked on this. And thanks to Library of America’s Story of the Week (free) for introducing us to the first story in the series. What a treat.
May 23, 2022
I wanted to give Lardner a try. I couldn't get into You Know Me, Al, but this one was really funny. Kind of an American Wodehouse with his amusing use of slang and clever turns of phrase, but with a more of a wise-cracking type of humor--think Groucho Marx.
April 23, 2021
the one-liners are better than the story, which is decent.
April 21, 2017
My impressions here...
http://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com.es/...
http://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com.es/...
December 12, 2018
Ring Lardner has always fascinated me: He was a famous newspaper columnist in the 20’s and 30’s doing sharp, insightful and often satirical pieces on sports and entertainment that were lauded by Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Wolfe. He did top quality screenplays in the 40’s (Woman of the Year, Laura), was blacklisted and went to jail in the 50’s as one of the “Hollywood 10” who wouldn’t testify to HUAC, wrote through “fronts” till he was credited for The Cincinnati Kid in the 60’s, and then won an Oscar for his adapted screenplay of M*A*S*H. This novella is from his very early days – not long after he became famous for covering the Black Sox World Series scandal for a local NY paper - and is fantastic. The story of a Small Town Mid-West Joe whose wife comes into money and decides they need to life in The Big Town (NYC) is charming and sacrifices none of its delight despite also being subtly but consistently sardonic throughout. The “So, I sez to my wife, I sez…” first person narrative and general dialogue is not just inherently humorous but also a great snapshot of an archetypically familiar but now mostly lost time and place. Quick moving, fun, and not too heavily burdened with outdated stereotypes, this very funny novella was basically everything I’d hoped it would be, and a perfect read for anyone interested in Lardner and/or New York in the 20’s. 94/100
November 21, 2016
The narrator of The Big Town is a perceptive and yet seemingly simple man in South Bend, Indiana. His wife inherits a fortune and they decide to shake their small town for New York City where they can live life and get her sister a husband. Along for the ride, Husband is droll as his insight is ignored. He just wants a good meal and billiards game, while the wife is all pretension. This narrator sounds like the narrator from Lardner's YOU KNOW ME AL, but has self-awareness and that makes him funny in a different way.
You can appreciate Lardner for his phrasing and vernacular which are both cleverly funny. That alone, I think, has led later generations to ignore his literary value. Both Hemingway and Fitzgerald considered him a peer. What he shares with both authors is an insight into human beings. Just because something is funny doesn't mean it's untrue, the opposite is actually true in most cases.
If you like P.G. Wodehouse and his writing in this era, I think you will enjoy Ring Lardner.
You can appreciate Lardner for his phrasing and vernacular which are both cleverly funny. That alone, I think, has led later generations to ignore his literary value. Both Hemingway and Fitzgerald considered him a peer. What he shares with both authors is an insight into human beings. Just because something is funny doesn't mean it's untrue, the opposite is actually true in most cases.
If you like P.G. Wodehouse and his writing in this era, I think you will enjoy Ring Lardner.
August 22, 2009
Our narrator is a man named Finch and he along with his wife and his sister in law move to the Big Apple.
His wife was intent on finding her sister a rich husband. But alas, nothing ever goes right!
In chapter 1, the rich Wall Street guy turned out to be liking Finch's wife.
In chapter 2, they met an elderly millionaire but the sister fell for his driver -- but he turned out to be already married, with children.
In chapter 3, with a promising aviator but his plane crashed and he died.
In chapter 4, a racehorse owner and two-bit con-man fell for her but she didn't love him. She loved one of his employers, a jockey
And in the final chapter, chapter 5, she finally settled down with one of the stars Zigfried Follies.
Much of the humor in The Big Town came from Finch's dry and flippant one-liners. His one-liner got funnier at the start of chapter 2. That's the only thing I like about this book.
His wife was intent on finding her sister a rich husband. But alas, nothing ever goes right!
In chapter 1, the rich Wall Street guy turned out to be liking Finch's wife.
In chapter 2, they met an elderly millionaire but the sister fell for his driver -- but he turned out to be already married, with children.
In chapter 3, with a promising aviator but his plane crashed and he died.
In chapter 4, a racehorse owner and two-bit con-man fell for her but she didn't love him. She loved one of his employers, a jockey
And in the final chapter, chapter 5, she finally settled down with one of the stars Zigfried Follies.
Much of the humor in The Big Town came from Finch's dry and flippant one-liners. His one-liner got funnier at the start of chapter 2. That's the only thing I like about this book.
May 10, 2013
One book leads to another: While reading and watching Eight Men Out I became aware of Ring Lardner Jr. He was a newspaperman and satirist who avidly followed the 1919 World Series. I read his story The Big Town, which is about a midwestern man and his wife trying to find a husband for her sister. The sister & wife decide that they have to go to New York to accomplish this task. Well as you can guess even back then, everything costs money and nothing turns out the way the wife and sister expect. The narrator/husband likes to drink and gamble - pretty common for the time. Lardner had a great ability to turn a phrase and I would read more by him. He did not write much fiction, but I bet his columns are excellent. He knew Dorothy Parker so that lead me back to reading her biography - because as readers know one book leads to another.
April 21, 2017
My impressions here...
http://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com.es/...
http://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com.es/...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews