The big town

In Short

Ring Lardner’s The Big Town follows an unnamed narrator, his wife Ella, and his sister-in-law Katie as they leave South Bend, Indiana, for New York City. Armed with a sudden inheritance, the trio moves into plush suburban hotels and expensive city apartments with a single primary goal: finding Katie a wealthy, impressive husband. Instead of high society, they encounter stock market slickers, horse-race gamblers, pretentious aristocrats, and self-absorbed actors. Written in Lardner's signature dry, vernacular monologue, the novel endures as an unsparing, hilarious dissection of American status-seeking and urban disillusionment.

The Story

The narrative begins when a sudden windfall—an inheritance from Ella and Katie's late stepfather—leaves the family with money to spend. Tired of small-town life on eight thousand dollars a year in South Bend, Ella convinces her husband to pack up for New York City, promising that she can manage Katie and secure her a rich husband whose income will make their own funds look trivial. The narrator remains skeptical from the start, but he is dragged along as they sell off their furniture and head east to "see Life."

Once in the Big Town, the trio's search for a suitor becomes a series of misadventures. Their first prospect is Francis Griffin, a young Wall Street operator they meet on the train who boasts of his earnings but turns out to be far more interested in Ella’s flattering attention than in Katie. Moving into a high-priced suburban hotel at two hundred dollars a week, they cross paths with Lady Perkins and her set, attempting to maneuver into elite circles through pet-care advice and bridge tables, only to find themselves outside the velvet ropes.

Next comes Daley, a flashy horse-racer with a stable full of promises and a big-betting reputation. He sweeps the women into the world of Jamaica and Belmont racetracks, coaxing them into betting on tips and colors. But the race-track glamour unravels when Daley's jockey, Mercer, reveals Daley’s vindictive nature and warns the narrator about a fixed race, exposing the cheap reality beneath the high-stakes bravado.

Desperate for a change of scene, the family moves back into the city to the Hotel Graham, where Katie becomes infatuated with Jimmy Ralston, a self-important Follies comedian. Ralston's off-stage personality is anything but funny; he is a gloom-obsessed, self-absorbed man who convinces Katie to invest fifteen thousand dollars of her remaining capital into producing a disastrous, war-themed vanity play titled Bridget Sees a Ghost.

When the play bombs on opening night and Katie's funds dry up, she gives Ralston an ultimatum: return the money or marry her. Ralston chooses marriage, and the two head off with the Follies to Boston. With Katie finally wed and the inheritance largely drained, the narrator and Ella gladly pack their bags to return home to Indiana, concluding that small-town quiet beats the exhausting vanity of the metropolis.

How It Unfolds

Heading East After inheriting money from a stepfather's passing, Ella convinces her reluctant husband to sell their South Bend furniture and take her sister Katie to New York to find a wealthy husband.

The Wall Street Slicker On the train, they meet Francis Griffin, a boastful stockbroker who impresses the women with talk of his earnings, though he ultimately proves to be a dead end for Katie.

Suburban High Life The family moves into the costly Decker hotel, where they attempt to slide into upper-class society by courting the favor of dog-owning elites like Lady Perkins.

Day at the Races Katie falls for Daley, a smooth-talking horse owner who draws them into betting at Jamaica and Belmont, a world of backstage whispers, fixed tips, and lost wagers.

The Follies Comedian At the Hotel Graham, Katie encounters Jimmy Ralston, a vanity-driven comic actor who consumes their liquor, talks endlessly of tragedy, and talks Katie into financing his ill-fated play.

Opening Night Disaster Ralston’s play Bridget Sees a Ghost opens to catastrophic laughter in all the wrong places, flushing thousands of Katie’s dollars straight down the drain.

Return to Indiana Faced with financial ruin, Katie forces Ralston to choose between repaying her or marrying her; upon their wedding, the narrator and Ella happily board the train back to South Bend.

The People

• The Narrator: A dry, skeptical Midwestern husband who views the trip to New York as an expensive mistake. He serves as the reader's pragmatic eyes, constantly calculating costs while enduring his wife's ambitions.
• Ella: The narrator's ambitious wife. She is convinced that moving to New York will bring "Life and fun" and is determined to marry off her sister to a man of substance, even if it requires blowing through their principal capital.
• Katie: Ella's sister and the target of the husband-hunting expedition. Impressionable and eager, she bounces from one unimpressive suitor to another—from stockbrokers to horse-racing gamblers—before settling on a vain actor.
• Francis Griffin: A smooth-talking Wall Street employee met on the train. He brags about his earnings to appear wealthy, but avoids any serious commitment to Katie.
• Daley: A flashy racehorse owner who claims his horse Only One can beat almost anything. He turns out to be duplicitous, sabotaging his own jockey over personal grudges.
• Jimmy Ralston: A stage comedian with the Follies who is utterly devoid of humor in real life. Obsessed with his own career, he squanders Katie's money on a terrible theatrical flop before marrying her.

In Its Own Voice

"I’ve heard of it," said I, "but I never heard that people who couldn’t enjoy themselves on eight thousand a year in South Bend could go to New York and tear it wide open."

The narrator offers his wife a blunt assessment of their financial realities right before she drags him east to see "Life."

"My mother could certainly cook a chicken," he says.

Jimmy Ralston, the supposed Broadway comedian, launches into a depressing monologue about his family's tragic deaths over dinner with the family.

"Do you remember what we moved to the Big Town for? We done it to see Life and get Katie a husband. Well, we got her a kind of a husband and I’ll tell the world we seen Life. How about moseying back to South Bend?"

The narrator sums up their chaotic New York venture just before packing up for Indiana.

What It's Really About

Beneath its comedic surface, The Big Town is an caustic critique of social climbing and the American illusion of quick mobility. Lardner targets the post-World War I obsession with flash, status, and easy money, contrasting honest Midwestern pragmatism with the hollow glitter of New York nightlife. The characters believe that money exists merely to buy entry into "Life," yet every circle they breach—whether suburban high society, the racetrack, or Broadway—is populated by frauds, parasites, and self-interested opportunists. The novel exposes how easily gullible newcomers are exploited by urban predators who feed off their desire to belong. Ultimately, it argues that chasing status for its own sake is a fool's errand that leaves one poorer, exhausted, and eager for the quiet sanity of home.

Why Read It Today

The Big Town remains a masterclass in American satirical vernacular. Ring Lardner's deadpan dialogue and unvarnished first-person voice capture the precise cadence of 1920s slang, delivering sharp observations through a protagonist who sees right through everyone's pretense. Readers who appreciate character-driven satire, jazz-age history, or sardonic humor will find it a quick, hugely entertaining read.

The primary hurdle for modern readers is the heavy use of period dialect, vintage slang, and localized references to 1920s figures, racetracks, and theatrical culture. The narrator's unpolished grammar and casual cynicism reflect the specific period attitudes of its era. Yet behind the dated colloquialisms lies a timeless, laugh-out-loud portrait of human vanity and financial folly. It leaves the reader with a refreshing reminder that the glamorous life is rarely as grand as it looks from afar.