# Bob Masons — Short Fiction character guide

> Bob Masons in Short Fiction by Ring Lardner.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bob, the Bob, Bob Woolsey

**First appearance:** 0000-my-roomy

## Snapshot

A practical friend who does the math on a poet's dreams, Bob Masons pushes Stephen to see his verse as a commodity rather than a calling.

## Who they are

Bob Masons is the voice of blunt arithmetic in the Maysville stories, the friend who tallies up what a dollar a line could mean and can't understand why Stephen won't just hire someone to write when inspiration flags. He's not cruel — he's genuinely trying to help — but his matter-of-factness exposes the gap between Stephen's artistic self-image and the marketplace. His running commentary on Guest, inspiration, and the going rate for verse frames the story's central tension between ambition and compromise.

## In the story

### [Reunion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/reunion)

Bob is a simple man from Buchanan, Michigan, who has been away from his sister for twenty years. He is quiet, abstinent, and unfamiliar with the social customs of Long Island high society.

### [XXVII: A Postmortem Message](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/xxvii-a-postmortem-message)

Mentioned as Bob Woolsey, proprietor of the Flea Circus, among the neighbors.

### [Now and Then](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/now-and-then)

Irma's husband, possessive and controlling, initially attentive but later prioritizes golf and bridge over her.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/characters/bob_masons
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/characters