Other publications by Lardner followed, including Gullible’s Travels (1917), Treat’Em Rough (1918) and Haircut (1925) which were much successful. Such achievements made some compare Lardner to Mark Twain. Famous writers, including Virginia Woolf, praised Lardner’s work and insisted on its serious nature. It is thus that Lardner developed from a mere sports columnist whose works are occasional and related to specific sports events to a published writer whose works are to be republished, read and even adapted to cinema decades after his death. For many among today’s critics and readers, his sketches and characters bare American traits and serve as a window to American sports life of the period.

Among Lardner’s close friends was the famous Scott Fitzgerald while the great Ernest Hemingway was believed to be influenced by his writings and to emulate him at a certain period of his youth. In addition to journalistic reports and short story collections, Lardner also wrote for the theatre and even provided lyrics for musical compositions. In 1911, he got married to Ellis Abbot to have four sons. They all became professional writers, particularly Ring Lardner, Jr. whose contributions to successful American movies made of him a celebrity.

One of Lardner’s celebrated stories is Alibi Ike first published in 1915 in the Saturday Evening Post. The author in this short tale follows the career of a funnily strong-headed baseball player who is always ready to give farcical alibis for his failures as well as laughable reasons for his victories. Alibi Ike is only the nickname given to the protagonist Frank X. Farrell. When the story was successfully adapted to cinema in 1935, Alibi became one of America’s popular comic figures. Thanks to Alibi, to Jack Keefe and to many other heroes of his, Ring Lardner became remembered as one of America’s greatest satirists.

In 1921, another memorable story was published under the title “Some Like Them Cold” to depict Lardner’s cynicism at its best. Written in an epistolary form, it follows the songwriter Charles Lewis and Mabelle Gillespie who meet at a train station and pretend to be attracted to each other while they are only motivated by self-interest and self-aggrandizement. While he is simply looking for an obedient housewife, she is interested in his career, believing that he will become a shining star one day. When Charles becomes interested in another woman and simply ignores Mabelle, the opportunism of the two comes to the surface and is finally cried out loud. Though the story’s summary may appear serious, the narrative is like all Lardner’s narratives that are adorned with witty jokes and derisive remarks. This can be seen, for instance, in the following song that Charles once sends to Mabelle: