Lardnermania

		New January, 2006 Lardner on Film A listing of TV and movie adaptations of Lardner's stories. It also includes a short list of movies in which Lardner has appeared, in person or as a character. December, 2005 Writing Lardners A very incomplete listing of some of the published work of various members of the Lardner clan. Writing is the Lardner family business. "Sport and Play" has been corrected. "Niles Football Team" has been corrected. "Bentley Historical Library" has been corrected. Complete update of all pages. Addition of a Reader Guide section, which includes reader guides to "Champion," "Haircut," June Moon, "The Love Nest," and "Nora."
		Table of Contents
		Life: A general overview of Lardner's life, career, and influence. Other pages in this section: a chronology, activities of historical significance, and prohibition and Lardner.
		His Writing: A listing of Lardner's major publications. Other pages in this section: Excerpts from his Writing. Choice parts of Bib Ballads, "Alibi Ike," and "The Young Immigrunts" can be found on the main page. The essay "Sport and Play" the humor piece "Symptoms of Being 35", the book Own Your Own Home, and some of his early columns for the Chicago Tribune, In the Wake of the News are presented in full on separate pages. A Complete Short Story List. The stories and where they can be found are listed in chronological order and in alphabetical order on separate pages. An incomplete chronological listing of Lardner's music. An introduction and listing of Lardner's plays.
		Features: A number of articles and notes that don't fit exactly in the other sections. Other pages in this section: Spooldrippings: Notes, Lardner family news, trivia, and your letters. Spooldrippings Archives: Old notes from December 1995 - July 1997, July 1997 - February 1998, December 1998 - December 2001 Two Unpublished Letters of Ring Lardner, with Comment by Kevin Grace Ring & I by Scott Topping A lame attempt to explain why I love Lardner. Finds: Some Lardner related items you'll find only on this page. Currently, it includes some of Donald Elder's notes on Round Up, the lyrics to "Home, Sweet Home (That's Where the Real War is)," and a letter from Ring's mother. Connections: A brief account of how Ring is connected with Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Terri McMillian, and more. Links: Some Lardner related WEB sites.
		Readers Guides: Publication histories, plot summaries, character lists, and criticism of some of Lardner's stories: Other pages in this section: Champion, Haircut, June Moon, The Love Nest, and Nora.
		Study Guide: A good starting point for the student or researcher. Each bibliography is annotated. Other pages in this section: Books on Lardner. Magazine and Journal Articles (by author) A-M, N-Z. Parts of Books. Dissertations and Theses. Museums and Libraries.
		The Lardner Family Page: A tribute to the generations of writing Lardners. Other pages in this section: The Ring Lardner, Jr Page: Some information about the Academy Award winning son of Ring Lardner. The Writing Lardners: A list of some of the publications of four generations of Lardners.
		Lardner Books For Sale: Several books by and about Ring, plus books by other Lardners--all of which can be purchased online.

If you are writing a paper on Ring Lardner or his work you've come to the right place. Many students from all levels of study (and from four continents) have found assistance here.

The first thing you should do is carefully and critically read whatever primary material is relevant to your paper. Read it more than once. Jot down your reactions. What interested you? What confused you? What would you like to know more about? Listing your ideas and questions before confronting the secondary sources often helps focus the research and can result in a paper that is truly interesting to you and your reader.

When you are ready to see what others have said about your topic, to see where your ideas fit into the on-going conversation about Lardner, go to the Study Guide (The Reader's Guides may also be helpful for certian stories). It contains a fairly up-to-date and complete annotated listing of secondary sources, critical and biographical. When you find some promising titles, check your library for availability.

If your library does not have the source you need, ask the librarian about inter-library loan.
If it is still unavailable, ask me to send it to you (but please check locally first). Copying the sources and getting them to you will usually take about two weeks. Because of the length of most sources, I cannot e-mail or fax them; the old-fashioned method, the postal service, works best.

I can also answer questions (or attempt to do so) for you, of course. It may take me a week to respond, but I will respond. The more specific your question is, the better the answer will be. Asking what I think of "Haircut." for example, would be too general a question. I may get off on a tangent.

I will help you in any way short of writing a paper for you or sending you a paper already written.

Even if you don't have a question, I'd like to hear from you. Tell me about your project. Tell me how you became interested in Lardner. Send me a copy of your finished paper.

The section of this site is the most valuable for students, but there is much more to Lardnermania. If you have time, please browse the rest.

Good luck. Enjoy.

Scott

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Message to Students

Welcome Letter

Ten years ago I uploaded the first version of "Scott's Lardnermania." (I include my name in the title not out of vanity, but to differentiate my Lardnermania from any others.) I was enjoying Christmas break and a new computer--a dangerous combination--when I decided to try my hand at making a WEB page. According to the "Suggestions for Creating a Homepage" I downloaded, I was supposed to include a little about myself and family, and perhaps put in information about my hobbies or interests. I started with the "interests" and haven't gotten past that yet.

Over the last year I've made many friends and corresponded (although not always in the most timely fashion on my part) with many people interested in Lardner. I've been surprised and heartened by the response the page has received. As evidenced by the number of people who have written (several hundred), the variety of Lardner events and publications that people have brought to my attention, the interest of students who have requested information for papers they are writing, and the general warmth and enthusiasm of so many of the letters, Lardner is remembered, read, and appreciated. Nothing would make me happier than to contribute, in some small way, to that.

Lardnermania is a work-in-progress, and I hope it will remain that way for as long as it exists. There is so much to do. I have tried to improve the appearance of the page and make it easier to use every time I update. I've also tried to add to the substance. As the bookshelves, boxes, and files in my house and office suggest, there is just so much substance.

As always, if you have suggestions, corrections, or additions of your own, please send them to me.

Thank you,

Scott

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