Golf Stories: Mr. Frisbie by Ring Lardner

Next up in Golf Stories is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Winter Dreams which I’ve already reviewed. So I’m moving onto the next story. B-)

In Mr. Frisbie, we have a tale narrated by a chauffeur. Allen Frisbie is the name that the story’s unnamed chauffeur has given his employer to “save his identity.” According to our narrator, Frisbie is among the top ten wealthiest people in America. However, the public knows next to nothing of him. Frisbie has skillfully managed to dodge paparazzi all his life. Even on the rare occasion that he grants a journalist an interview, he hardly reveals anything worthwhile. So one day a journalist approaches the narrator and asks him to write an article about Frisbie “from the human side,” which the narrator refuses to do at first. But then the money involved motivates him to try his hand at writing. Other than being Frisbie’s chauffeur, the narrator is also responsible for being Frisbie’s caddie, so for his article, he writes about Frisbie and golf.

According to the narrator, Frisbie is not a good golf player, but he likes to pretend he is one. And if you puff up Frisbie enough on the golf links, you can get him to do anything. The narrator helps Mrs. Frisbie to get a piano by broaching the subject with Frisbie at the right time, and he does the same for Frisbie’s children’s requests. Frisbie falling into narrator’s ‘cunning plans’ gives permission to Robert, his son to drive his own car, and Florence, his daughter to marry the man she loves.

Mr. Frisbie gave me a few smiles while reading it. But now I have had time to sit on it I feel uncomfortable about the breach of privacy that occurred here, even if this is just a story! 😀 Frisbie sounds like a very private person – the public only knows that he is filthy rich, married with two kids, and fond of golf – so I can’t imagine what he’d feel when he learns his trusted employee spilled the beans to earn a quick buck. Although the narrator doesn’t use Frisbie’s real name under the guidance of the journalist, they both know that the public will guess who Frisbie is anyway! So I’m not too fond of this!

Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Everyman's Library, Golf Stories, Ring Lardner