Hyman Kaplan

Hyman Kaplan, or H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N as he habitually signs himself, is a fictional character in a series of well-received, humorous stories by Leo Rosten, published under the pseudonym "Leonard Q. Ross" in The New Yorker in the 1930s and later collected in two books, The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N and The Return of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N. Rosten noted that he was frequently asked if Mr Kaplan was his alter ego, and that he often felt it was the other way around.

The first collection (Education, 1937) was a "close second" for one U.S. National Book Award in 1938. The second collection (Return, 1959) was one of eighteen National Book Award for Fiction finalists in 1960.

Rosten rewrote the two books as one, with many changes, published as O K*A*P*L*A*N! My K*A*P*L*A*N! in 1976. Opinions differ about whether the revisions are improvements.

The books were adapted as a musical play produced in 1968, namely The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N.