The American Language

Customer Reviews:

Indispensable for Language Lovers.......2006-09-09

Whether you're wondering about given names or surnames,place names or euphemisms--or just the ageold rivalry between British and American English and your love of the language they sometimes share--this is a must-have reference book for professional storytellers by one of the greatest wits in either tradition.

Word-Nerds come find your fodder........2000-05-10

We all knew Mencken was a master of wit, but little did we know that his mastery of words could also be introspective to the language itself. As a linguistics major, I found this tome extremely interesting. If you want meticulous detail on the historyu and the divergence from the British English, snap this book up. If you're still not satisfied, hunt around for the appedices he wrote later in his life.

Average customer rating:

Entertaining and edifying!!

The American Language
H.L. Mencken
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0394733150
Release Date: 1977-03-12

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining and edifying!!.......1996-11-30

Mencken provides a look at our impossible language with great flair, erudition, and with a liberal dollop of humor. Here is a spendid book that you can read systematically cover-to-cover or pick up and read in bits and pieces. It covers the development of our language both topically and historically.

Book Description

The anthology that spans an entire lifetime of writing by America's greatest curmudgeon, with a "flick of mischief on nearly every page."

Customer Reviews:

Mencken At His Best and Worst........2007-03-17

_The Vintage Mencken_ compiled by Mencken's protégé Alistair Cooke is a collection of various essays of the great Baltimore iconoclast H. L. Mencken. H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956) was a journalist and writer who was born and lived in Baltimore for most of his life. Mencken is perhaps best known as one of the founders of _The American Mercury_. Mencken's commentary on American life and politics in the early Twentieth Century is often bitter, sarcastic, cynical, and abrasive, but the intent is almost always humorous. Mencken is also well-known for being brazenly politically incorrect and has been criticized extensively for his alleged "racism" and "anti-Semitism" by the usual suspects. However, like all Mencken's opinions, his views remain highly idiosyncratic and difficult to define, and Mencken frequently rails against "Ku Kluxry", though whether he is being intentionally ironic is difficult to determine. However, while Mencken's challenge to the political correctness of his day is to be applauded, in certain respects he can become infuriating. Among other things, Mencken takes on Prohibition, religion, "puritanism", racial equality, the plutocracy, American militarism and World Wars I and II, Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt, feminism, Anglo-Saxon superiority, the South and rural people, populism, "quackery" in medicine, fundamentalism, and anti-Darwinism. Philosophically, Mencken appears to have been influenced by the caustic style of both Mark Twain and Nietzsche. Mencken's political views have been described as libertarian (and he even at times uses the very word "libertarian" to describe the general gist of his viewpoint); however, they differ in certain respects from modern libertarianism. Mencken also retains an elitist attitude, frequently looking down at rural people and the middle classes (what he ironically calls "the American booboisie"). Mencken also is believed to have been an ardent Social Darwinist and was a defender of Darwinism against religion. He also had very idiosyncratic views on race and frequently made deprecating remarks about blacks and Jews (though privately he had many friends of both races), which has led some to claim that he was a racialist. However, his views on race are complicated (as he also attacks Anglo-Saxons and certain points about segregation towards the end of his life) and thus may be seen as despising all races. In terms of religion, Mencken is frequently considered a "free thinker" and possibly an agnostic or atheist and he frequently refers to himself as a "heathen" and "infidel". However, like all things concerning Mencken it is difficult to discern exactly where he stands on any issue, partly because he is frequently contradictory and takes contrary positions merely to be contrary and partly because his intent is frequently humor and thus one can never be certain how serious he is.

This book begins with essays by Mencken featuring comments on his early life in Baltimore. Mencken describes the brutal surroundings in which he grew up as well as youthful experiences at the Y.M.C.A. (before he became fed up with their preaching and abandoned it). Mencken would retain a lifelong distrust of religion which frequently bubbled over into hatred. His hatred seems to be particularly directed against various American versions of Protestantism (Baptists and Methodists) as well as "puritanism" and may have been in part caused by the excessive efforts of religious to prohibit alcohol at the time. (Even G. K. Chesterton was to praise Mencken's efforts against "puritanism" and Prohibition while at the same time castigating him for his irreligion.) Included also is an essay by Mencken on cops which details Mencken's generally positive experiences and view of them. Mencken sees cops as largely honorable people (he frequently distinguishes between "honorable" and "moral", of which he is cynical) and defends them from charges of graft and corruption. Mencken also defends the sort of folk wisdom of the Baltimore policemen, arguing against the intrusion into their domain of more book-learned individuals. Another essay of Mencken's deals with the novelist Theodore Dreiser, a man whom Mencken admires. In a separate essay, Mencken tells the story of his involvement in the Cuban revolution as a reporter. Mencken also has much to say about George Washington (who he admires), Abraham Lincoln (who he also appears to somewhat admire though he maintains that in contrast to his popular image Lincoln did not intend to free the slaves and that Lincoln may have been a non-believer), and the commonplace of lying as well as the universal public hatred of truth-tellers. Mencken also expresses his distrust of democracy (which he sees rooted in envy in the same way as he sees "puritanism") and the need for a genuine aristocracy (as opposed to the plutocracy). Mencken next goes on about the failure of American letters, he comments again on the failure of democracy and the need for an aristocracy as against the plutocracy, and he also notes the silliness of the obsession with the "Reds" that existed at the time. Perhaps one of Mencken's best essays is his essay "Star-Spangled Men" - a highly sarcastic commentary on America's military culture, patriotism, and the absurdity of World War I (Mencken also states that he maintains the same feelings towards World War II). Mencken also exposes the silliness of various fraternal organizations such as the freemasons as well as expresses his hatred for Woodrow Wilson (the arch-puritan). Mencken's commentary on women and the relationship between the sexes is profound (although sure to displease any politically correct feminist). Mencken's views however are not anti-woman, but merely realistic. He shows the differences between the sexes and appears to put woman on a pedestal though noting certain other deceptive aspects of her nature. In an ironical essay on the Anglo-Saxon, Mencken argues against Anglo-Saxon supremacy, maintaining that while the Anglo-Saxon is prone to braggadocio he is largely a coward and a failure. Mencken notes that many in America have Celtic blood and thus are not true Anglo-Saxons. He also appears to praise other European races instead. Some have maintained that this essay on the Anglo-Saxons is an argument for Germanic racial superiority (Mencken was partly Anglo-Saxon himself but mostly German) and thus an expression of disgust at the Anglo-American involvement in the world wars. In other essays, Mencken comments on Holy Writ, music, Prohibition (Mencken is an ardent promoter of alcohol), and religion and Darwinism. Mencken mocks rural people, the religious, anti-Darwinians, chiropractors, Freudians, and much else. In a particularly disgusting essay, Mencken engages in a tirade against populist hero William Jennings Bryan. Mencken also has much to say about F. D. R., Coolidge, the presidency, the Supreme Court (and its horrendous attempts to destroy the rights of Americans), segregation, death, and several other topics.

I certainly applaud much of what Mencken says in his efforts to lift up the veil of the political correctness of his day. However, there are certain aspects of Mencken that I find particularly disgusting. For example, in his early essays, Mencken revels in his youthful abuse of animals (something intolerably sickening). Mencken also is a vehement critic of religion and rural people. While Mencken is largely correct about much of American Protestantism, his complete denigration of religion is uncalled for and would make any latter-day elitist liberal proud. (Ironically, Mencken appears to have had some admiration for the Roman Church and may have even predicted the disasters that befell it with the advent of Vatican II. Mencken notes for example that someday they will "translate the liturgy into American" and thus ruin the Roman mass.) Mencken's comments on rural people are equally disgusting. But, perhaps most disgusting is his assault on the populist Bryan who adamantly opposed Darwinism.

Today, Mencken is read by all sorts. Liberals, secularists, and "rationalist skeptics" frequently express admiration for his comments on religion and rural people; however, they then try to excuse or downplay his racialism, hatred for democracy, hatred for F. D. R., and opposition to World War II. For example, the arch-liberal S. T. Joshi has quoted Mencken on religion while at the same time castigating him for his hatred of Roosevelt. Liberals and genuine conservatives alike have also found an ally in him in their opposition to the "neoconservatives". On the other hand, Mencken has also found supporters among those who maintain an idolatry of the free market, while they ignore his comments on the "plutocracy". All such attempts to co-opt him for various modern causes are pretty disgusting overall. In many ways, Mencken himself was a disgusting man who was too arrogant to believe in a personal God and looked down upon rural people. However, in terms of his opposition to World Wars I and II and his hatred of Roosevelt, Mencken is refreshingly correct. Roosevelt is today worshipped by all kinds from leftists to neoconservatives, but his disgusting policies put into effect have utterly decimated the underpinnings of the United States. I am certain that Mencken himself would be horrified were he to witness the world of today.

For a modern day iconoclast in the spirit of Mencken, one should consult the works of the late Australian philosopher David Stove. Also, for a book which features Mencken's views as well as those of other political alternatives consult Willis Carto's _Profiles in Populism_.

Mencken was a mensch.......2005-11-17

This book is a very good introduction to Mencken's oeuvre. It'll entertain you, boost your vocabulary, and proffer an insider's account of various episodes of American history from a decidedly non-PC point of view. Mencken was a brilliant man, a brilliant writer, and this is a brilliant book.

A Great Joy.......2005-08-17

When Paul Johnson called Mencken the "Shakespeare of American Journalism" he wasn't exagerrating. "Star-Spangled Men," for example, is one of the most brilliant and hilarious commentaries to ever be written, and it should be mandatory reading for college students. In fact, this book should be a staple of American Studies curriculae.

Just as it would be interesting and very helpful if we could have Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln around to advise us today, so would we be greatly entertained and enlightened (at the very least in the sense of having our spirits lifted) if Mencken were here to ply his craft from his charming little townhouse in Baltimore.

Where They Poured Coca-Cola Just Like Vintage Wine.......2003-12-06

Things aren't what they used to be; but what's more, they *really* were, and you can get no better picture of the first half of the American century than this book provides. Primarily consisting of Mencken's *The Free Lance* columns for the Baltimore Sun-Times, this book provides a picture of a Mencken even most literati are unfamiliar with today; the scrupulous, knowledgeable, sceptical reporter. And if such a trade be considered optional from the observer's standpoint, perhaps this is why current "curmudgeonly" pretenders to this ever-lovin' Democrat's throne as cultural critic do all of the (easy) carousing and none of the spadework Mencken performed for literati (including the odd "Aframerican" and bluestocking).

But, as this book shows, there was more to the Roaring Twenties and other poorly-remembered eras than even buncombe and carnivals, and more to Mencken's attitude towards American mores than haberdashery. However, what there is not more to is Mencken's loathing of FDR: it is simply a sign of a sea-change in American life, where the stumbling, angry, concerned "competent" Mencken represented began to be waved away by a well-supported, knowing hand -- eventually to great acclaim. What would good ole H.L. Mencken have to say about the present? He would too sad to speak. But he reveled in his time: and the result is solider than any effort at Christian charity, however learned.

A Writer and His Times.......2003-06-29

H. L. Mencken was born in Baltimore in 1880 and for his developmental years was a "bookworm." He resolved to pursue a more active life as he grew and discovered his niche in journalism. In 1899 he went to work for the Baltimore Morning Herald and found the going difficult at first, but as he persisted he discovered that was where he was most suited and kept the title "newspaperman" the rest of his life. He remained in his home town and continued to live in the home his family had lived in rather than seeking career advancement in larger markets. One of the first essays in this collection is one he wrote about his hometown, "The Baltimore of the Eighties." Another early one describes the local YMCA. His piece on Theodore Dreiser contains a segment on the art of communicating via the written word. A tribute to William Jennings Bryan which was published in the American Mercury in 1925 is included in this collection. Other pieces are on the people, times, circumstances, and issues of the era in which he made his observations. While I do not agree with him on many topics, his work demonstrates the efforts of a skilled writer.

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Not quite what you may have thought
Prejudice in a neat little container
For thinking people only.
A Sane Perspective on Religion
A Jolt of Electricity

H.L. Mencken on Religion
H. L. Mencken
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1573929824

Book Description

No one ever argued more forcefully or with such acerbic wit against the foolish aspects of religion as H.L. Mencken. As a journalist, he gained national prominence through his newspaper columns describing the famous 1925 Scopes trial, which pitted religious fundamentalists against a public school teacher who dared to teach evolution. But both before and after the Scopes trial, Mencken spent much of his career as a columnist and book reviewer lampooning the ignorant piety of gullible Americans.

S.T. Joshi has brought together and organized many of Mencken's writings on religion in this provocative and entertaining collection. The articles presented here include satirical accounts of a range of the religious phenomena of his time. On a more serious note are his discussions of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and the scientific worldview as a rival to religious belief. Also included are poignant autobiographical accounts of Mencken's own upbringing and his core beliefs on religion, ethics, and politics.

H.L. Mencken knew that satire, wit, and clever jesting were the most effective ways to battle religious folly, and he used these weapons to their fullest extent in writings spanning almost three decades.

Customer Reviews:

Not quite what you may have thought.......2006-12-12

Even a cursory reading of this collection reveals interesting nuances to Mencken's views on religion that both fans and foes may have missed. It is soon evident that Mencken was more of a religious skeptic or agnostic than the atheist he was frequently taken to be. He certainly did not believe in a personal god, and believed that positive evidence for the existance of a god is unlikely to appear. Nontheless, he was willing to grant the bare possibility of a god. It would seem that like Sartre's grandmother, Mencken's scepticism kept him from being a thoroughgoing atheist.

What really stirred Mencken's bile was the behavior of much of God's fan club here on Earth, many of whom he experenced as being at least intellectually dishonest (if not worse) and dishonorable. Mixed with this was a kind of bemused wonderment at the gullibility of the bulk of his fellow Americans, who seemed ever eager "to believe that Jonah swallowed the whale, or vice-versa." His early career as a Baltimore newspaper reporter observing the Christian nuisances pestering the skid-row bums (see his "Christmas Story"), 'working girls', saloon habitues, and all-around plain folk seems to have ground his rapier to a permanent sharp edge. Was he fair? I don't think he ever pretended he was. His mission, as he saw it, was to apply the lash of verifiable truth to the backs of pious frauds and their dupes. They were perfectly free to reply (and they did) using whatever sort of arguments or language they pleased.

Still, he was not an "anthopophagous atheist of the sort who goes around scaring old ladies", as he once put it. In tones that curiously echo Santayana, he expresses fulsome admiration for the Catholic Church, finding the 'poetry' of the Mass to be enchantingly beautiful; and Church insistance that doctrine was for Rome to decide to be shrewd policy. More interestingly, for a man reputed to be a sour misanthrope, he formed real and lasting friendships with clergy such as Bishop James Cannon of the United Methodist Church--an ardent Prohibitionist! (Normally Mencken consigned Prohibitionists to the lowest circle of his Inferno.)

If Mencken was neither terribly original nor especially profound on the subject of religion; still he--like Mark Twain--put the case for doubt in a frequently hilarious and unforgettable fashion that still serves to kick open otherwise seemingly-closed arguments and minds. This is probably a greater service to civilization than any number of tomes written by philosophers that fell dead-born from the press.

Prejudice in a neat little container.......2006-05-04

If we spoke of blacks and Jews like the other commentators speak of Christians, they would no doubt be blacklisted and widely renounced. As it is, Mencken offers nothing to the intellectual study of religion and philosophy except for an eloquent way to say he "doesn't like it." None the less, it would appear from the reviews of others that if you agree with Mencken's athiest world-view, you will indeed enjoy having him fuel you fire. For me, I like a little more philosophy and a little less rhetoric.

For thinking people only. .......2006-04-14

Considering most of the articles were written in the 1920s, one is shocked by how timely, fitting and appropriate many of his comments are. The rise of fundie thinking at the turn of last century lasted until the Scopes trial - which is brilliantly covered in this book. (Mencken attended the trial, and covered it with scathing wit) Then, it collapsed. it took the fundies until the late '80s, the 1980s that is, to return to their destructive power that they again hold in our society.

This collection is entertaining, amusing and to some extent, it makes one angry. Why? because we are having to battle with half-wits, nit-wits, baptists, and other witless religions as they try to force their ideas onto others, just as they tried and failed before. Mencken provides an interesting slice of history, as well as a wonderful view of faith healing, the inability of the fundies to hold a rational thought and the dangers of religious leaders impacting political and social policy.

I would strongly recommend this book for anyone thinking about home schooling or considering sending their poor offspring to a religious school. This book will help make up your mind.

A Sane Perspective on Religion.......2005-09-11

An excellent read if you are looking for confirmation of the fact that all religious extremists are insane. This would, of course, include Muslim as well as Bible Belt loonies. Mr. Mencken was a long ways ahead of his time in recognising this and savages ALL religious dingbats, home grown or imported.

A Jolt of Electricity.......2005-05-21

I've read numerous Mencken anthologies, and I think this one is the best. His commentaries on fundamentalist attacks on both evolution and the wall between church and state are as relevant now as they were when he wrote them in the 1920s and 1930s. Moreover, as anyone who's ever read Mencken can attest, the man was a brilliant stylist and frequently hysterically funny. Oh, how the man could write! In contrast to the intellectually lazy media hacks of today, Mencken is sound and fury signifying something.

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very enjoyable, very well researched, somewhat uncritical
Mencken is as relevant today as he ever was
A Champion of Individual Rights
Superb biography on a master of civil rights and language...
Bad Boy

Mencken: The American Iconoclast
Marion Elizabeth Rodgers
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195072383

Book Description

A towering figure on the American cultural landscape, H.L. Mencken stands out as one of our most influential stylists and fearless iconoclasts--the twentieth century's greatest newspaper journalist, a famous wit, and a constant figure of controversy. Marion Elizabeth Rodgers has written the definitive biography of Mencken, the most illuminating book ever published about this giant of American letters. Rodgers captures both the public and the private man, covering the many love affairs that made him known as "The German Valentino" and his happy marriage at the age of 50 to Sara Haardt, who, despite a fatal illness, refused to become a victim and earned his deepest love. The book discusses his friendships, especially his complicated but stimulating partnership with the famed theater critic George Jean Nathan. Rodgers vividly recreates Mencken's era: the glittering tapestry of turn-of-the-century America, the roaring twenties, depressed thirties, and the home front during World War II. But the heart of the book is Mencken. When few dared to shatter complacencies, Mencken fought for civil liberties and free speech. We see the prominent role he played in the Scopes Monkey Trial, his long crusade against Prohibition, his fierce battles against press censorship, and his constant exposure of pious frauds and empty uplift. The champion of our tongue in The American Language, Mencken also played a pivotal role in defining the shape of American letters through The Smart Set and The American Mercury, magazines that introduced such writers as James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes. The paradoxes of Mencken's life are explored, as new gaps are filled regarding his notorious views of minorities and his conflict, as a German American, during two world wars. And throughout, Rodgers captures the irrepressible spirit and irreverent wit for which Mencken was famed. Drawing on research in more than sixty archives including private collections in the United States and in Germany, previously unseen, on exclusive interviews with Mencken's friends, and on his love letters and FBI files, here is the full portrait of one of America's most colorful and influential men.

Customer Reviews:

very enjoyable, very well researched, somewhat uncritical.......2007-06-24

A few weeks before graduating from Goucher College, Marion Elizabeth Rodgers stumbled accross the papers of H.L. Mencken's wife. One thing led to another, and the eventual result was this long, meticulously researched, and very enjoyable biography of one of the most interesting Americans to live in the last century.

My purpose is not to regurgitate H.L. Mencken's prodigious and fascinating life and works, from being the first lexicographer of the American language to his phenomenal career as a thinker and wit, etc., etc. which Marion Rodgers so ably covers. Suffice it to write that Mencken's cogitations have greatly enriched my life.

The one quibble that I have with this book is that she clearly is captivated by Mencken's charm - few aren't - perhaps to the point that she elides a few probing questions about the less happy aspects of Mencken's Werke. Mencken lived to write invective and provoke; many of the targets of his acidic pen, such as creationists, cult leaders, quack healers, racists, warmongers and more deserved all the sarcasm he sent there way. Mencken even established a commission to determine which state of the union was the most backward and least hospitable; the conclusion was for Arkansas, perhaps not coincidentally, the Arkansas legislature passed a motion urging Mencken's deportation. People, after all, decide what they do and in what they believe, and many people are quicker to learn when humor is used to reinforce an idea. I am sure that his harangues did a lot of good.

Mencken, however, went a further, and though he was far more racially tolerant than many of his contemporaries, wrote tracts of invective against different races, which employed stereotypes that are not accepted in polite society today. Rather than insinuate that Mencken either disproved his ideas by his deeds, or that these ideas were a child of his times, I think this book would have been a lot more interesting had it asked whether it was fair for Mencken to turn his caustic pen lose on people for things which they could not change, and for which they were not responsible. Even in his day, I would imagine, it was hitting below the belt line to do so.

If you want a great, but mildly adulatory, biography of the Sage of Baltimore, look no further.

Mencken is as relevant today as he ever was.......2006-10-11

Remarkably, so much of what Mencken warned about during his day is applicable today. If you were to read his columns and replace FDR with Bush you would swear he was talking about Bush and the neocons. The similarities leading up to both world wars are eerily similar to today's world. Rodgers does an excellent job providing as many details as one cares to take in.

A Champion of Individual Rights.......2006-06-07

Marion Rodgers has written a thorough biography of H. L. Mencken. He was a man of many facets, and they were all turned on. He was a champion of individual rights, and one wonders what he might have to say with the present political climate in this country. Although he often projected a blustry disposition, he also demonstrated a tender side as well. He appeared to be a confirmed bachelor, but he did finally marry while enjoying the company of numerous women who tried to make him their "catch". He also showed that he was quick with a quip with such examples as "golf and idiocy are the same word." There is also his well known definition of puritanism as "The haunting fear that someone somewhere may be happy." I found it interesting that although Mencken stated he was an agnostic, he would refer to God and heaven at various times. During his old age he lamented the fact that there was so much more writing he would have wanted to do and couldn't now that his health had deserted him. I rate the book four stars based on my interest level. I had first heard about H. L. Mencken through his definition of puritanism, and felt it would be interesting to know more about the man. The book was a long read, but it was worth the while.

Superb biography on a master of civil rights and language..........2006-02-18

Mencken has long been one of my favorite persons to quote. Ever since I got my first quote book when I was about 11, and have been attracted to those who are able to say so much in such superb, yet small ways...Mencken has always been up there with Twain, Ambrose Bierce, my scientists Einstein and Feynman, Will Rodgers. Notice something about this group? They all lived within the same time period: around the time my parents were growing up. Yet, I am sure if I had been alive then with my family's upbringing, I may never have been introduced to the writings of these men, especially Mencken who wrote for magazines, journals and the newspapers.

I didn't know very much about him, but grabbed this book as soon as I could. Yeah, he was a greatly flawed individual, especially in his relationships with women, and with friends. Show me a 'great' man who wasn't flawed in significant ways. But here was a man who knew how to draw attention to the important problems of the time. There were a great many similarities between WWI and this time period with the Iraquian War. The wars were not the same, except in being run by those far from the front, and being paid for by the young men of our country. A lot of the other stuff has not changed. Stupid men in places of political power, such as the ambassador to Germany at that time, stated things that were totally untrue, but helped to draw our country into that war. Not that we didn't need to be involved in that war...but like Mencken, I have the absolute need to hear the absolute truth from my politicians, and from the media (which often doesn't happen now). Many of the civil rights that we take for granted, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear in our own homes are again at risk. Mencken did what he was in the power to do; reach the minds of Americans through print and put into plain and poignant words the facts regarding our freedoms.

Mencken stood up for the rights of African-Americans during a very dangerous time period, when lynching was an accepted form of justice in the U.S. and when the KKK had way too much power. This from a white man who lived well in Baltimore. Not only that, but he helped to bring to the fore the writings of important African-American literature, and made possible the future writings of those today such as August Wilson and Maya Angelou (probably spelling this wrong).

Mencken was like so many at the time, existing with blinders on his eyes concerning Hitler and his ability to control mobs. Like so many, including most Jews in Europe, Mencken thought Hitler was such a crackpot that no one could possibly take him seriously, but he didn't allow for the fact that the Allies devastated Germany, leaving her in a position where mob leadership was accepted.

This is one of the most exquisitely written biographies I have ever read. Definitely up there with our local Pittsburgh favorite, David McCullough. I will wait with curiousity for the next biography from this fine writer. And I wait for someone within the media who has the ability that Mencken, Bierce, Twain, and Rodgers had to qualify our time with their journalistic bent and literature...

Karen Sadler

Bad Boy.......2006-01-09

Unless you are already a devoted fan of the late H.L. Mencken, or especially interested in the history of America's news and magazine publishing business, or a native of Baltimore--I would be lukewarm in recommending this book.

It is a sympathetic chronological biography with its focus the subject's private life. I did not find the sections covering his various romances as interesting as they evidently were to Ms. Rodgers. In 2006, who cares about the amorous details?

A greater shortcoming to me is that the book offers no attempt to put Mr. Mencken's work under a modern lens to see how it has held up as either literature or theory.

And, I do not think routinely calling idiots those who inhabited the "booboise" was a good way to improve the human condition or the best example of enlightened discourse. Further, if it had been up to Mr. Mencken the U.S. would have not entered World War II against Germany and the light of freedom would have first gone dark in England and, possibly, then later on this side of the Atlantic.

While the First Amendment is my lodestar as well, just because Mr. Mencken heroically championed free expression, does not get him off the hook for the many misguided campaigns he waged in print.

Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing

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The Wit And Wisdom Of The "Sage Of Baltimore" Make This Book A Must Have
Mencken is talented.
The Baltimorean Belle-Lettrist...
new h.l. mencken fan- life's full circle is timeless.
A book for pricking poo-flinging monkeys

Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing
H.L. Mencken
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0394752090
Release Date: 1982-04-12

Amazon.com

A choice selection of H.L. Mencken's previously out-of-print writings. Highly recommended!

Customer Reviews:

The Wit And Wisdom Of The "Sage Of Baltimore" Make This Book A Must Have.......2007-09-24

As a big fan of the writings of H.L. Mencken, I cannot think of a better one volume compilation of his best work than "A Mencken Chrestomathy." All of Mencken's best articles and essays are included here along with annotations by the master himself. Mencken rips into everyone from the Christian Mullahs to the whores in Washington, D.C. to ordinary Americans with an infectious glee. Whether or not I agree with everything he writes, I always read Mencken with a smile on my face and hot blood in my veins. H.L. Mencken was such a genius as a commentator that one cannot help but wonder what he would have thought about the social and political scene in America today. There will probably never be another commentator like H.L. Mencken and that is truly a shame because what this country needs most is someone who is willing to stand up and shout the truth no matter how unpleasant it is or who it may offend.

Mencken is talented........2007-01-12

This book is an excellent item for the individualist who knows how to appreciate a critical thinker. It's hard to put down.

The Baltimorean Belle-Lettrist..........2006-12-11

Most human beings can't write worth a damn. Mencken was an anomaly--a once-in-a-generation anomaly. This book represents over six-hundred pages of his best work, culled (by Mencken himself) from a fifty-year career in journalism. It is enjoyable and educational, and you can't ask for much more than that. Of course, Mencken allows his fulsome personality free rein, and hypersensitive, humorless, religious, and/or idealistic folks may be put off. Mencken needed those people to make fun of, to pinpoint their hypocrisy, silliness, uselessness to society, etc.; ergo, they may feel roughly used. Everyone else should have a good laugh.

new h.l. mencken fan- life's full circle is timeless........2006-11-07

so many topics so little time. i found quickly the time to delve into the genius as presented. humor,candor,insight going lightly before you.

A book for pricking poo-flinging monkeys.......2006-10-05

"but my sense is that his times were really the last 1900s, not even the times when he wrote."
-- Bruce Applebaum

Does the man who wrote this presume to judge between good and bad writing?

Mencken was, in a literal sense of the term, a prick. He seems to have surveyed his society for inflated egos to deflate with his acrid pen. Mencken is dead, but the sensitive stuff of which Mr Applebaum's ego-baloon is made is easily punctured. Even Mencken's ghost can do it, and has. As his deflating ego sqeeked out its last whine, Mr A. became indignant, set out pugnaciously for revenge on Mencken by writing his blurb, and tripped over his shoelaces.

If you are the kind of nitwit that flings words like ``racist'' and ``bigot'', like an angry monkey throws his poo, at any white man bold enough to suggest that the different races may have different attributes, than you need to read this book. The prick of it may send you howling from your tree, but you may find your way out of the jungle.

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Interesting Read
A Ruin
An important piece
Fascinating read - even for a Christian
Not the Culmination I Was Hoping For

The Anti-Christ
Friedrich Nietzsche
Manufacturer: See Sharp Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1884365205

Book Description

This is Nietzsche's last book and a fitting capstone to his career. It's succinct, biting, and encapsulates the criticisms of Christianity found in his other works. This edition contains an 8,000-word introduction by its translator, the famous iconoclastic writer H. L. Mencken.

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Nietzsche's final assault on institutional Christianity, written during the last sane year of his life.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting Read.......2007-07-26

this is the last book that Nietzsche had written before he went mad. which necessarily makes it an important book. the tone he writes the book in, i would say, is a harsh and unforgiving one.

this book is a very enjoyable book to read, unlike any other. you might feel that he is slightly being unfair towards christians, but he makes it clear why he does so in his small introduction at the beginning of the book.

there is something that is extremely important to note, wich is that this book is NOT a critique of God in any way. it is merely a critique of the christian concept of God. he states this twice in the book, but very briefly and without really making it absolutely clear.

A Ruin.......2007-01-10

Nietzsche's chief weaknesses--weaknesses for which he is famous--are immodesty; bad manners; a proneness to exaggeration (often absurd exaggeration); bad scholarship (often abominably bad scholarship); and disregard for evidence. At times he was able to check these faults. The works he produced at his best, like Beyond Good And Evil, which gives perhaps the best explanation of his opinions, are much less affected by these habitual faults than the work he produced at his worst.

To my mind N.'s weaknesses make The Antichrist a wreck of what it might have been. It might have been a trenchant argument in favour of atheism, or at least a trenchant argument in favour of N.'s most important ideas. And it is neither. His characteristic weaknesses lie everywhere. First, in the book, he is often absurdly conceited.

'We have discovered happiness, we know the way, we have found the exit out of the labyrinth of thousands of years.' [TA, 1]

This evidently refers to N.'s own philosophy. He might have applied some of his criticisms of the arrogance of other philosophers to himself, and written with a stitch more modesty.

Second, in the book he is often unnecessarily rude.

'The good god and the devil--both abortions of decadence.' [TA, 17]

Broadly speaking, there are two explanations of the universe that are made possible by the evidence we have--that something produced the universe; and that someone produced the universe. Either conclusion is a generalisation. So neither can be proven in such a way that the other is shown to be categorically false. Moreover, the universe is evidently in many ways a highly organised universe; it evidently appears, in many ways, as you would expect it to appear, if it had been made by someone not something. N. might have written more respectfully of a hypothesis he could only ever disprove (if it can be disproved) using probable arguments.

Three, at times in the book N.'s scholarship is unspeakably bad.

'The imperium Romanum which we know, which the history of the Roman provinces teaches us to know better and better, this most admirable work of art in the grand style was a beginning: its construction was designed to prove itself through thousands of years: until today nobody has built again like this, nobody has even dreamed of building in such proportions sub specie aeterni. This organisation was firm enough to withstand bad emporors: the accident of persons may not have anything to do with such matters--first principle of grand architecture. But it was not firm enough against the most corrupt kind of corruption, against the Christians.' [TA, 58]

The idea that the Roman Empire fell chiefly because of Christianity is ridiculous. What about the weakness of the Senate? the ambition of those who were near the Emperor, and strong enough to challenge him? the power of the army? the disillusion with civic religion? the barbaric purges? the difficulties of adminstering an empire so large? the rebellions within and attacks from without?

Perhaps the fault that is most damaging to The Antichrist, though, is N.'s disregard for evidence. You cannot criticise his argument, because he provides no argument, other than, perhaps, the nonsensical one that if you find a plausible explanation for a phenomena, then it is the correct explanation of that phenomena. N. offers the view that Christianity is adequately explained if it is taken as the product of selfish barbarism. Needless to say, this assertion he takes as sufficient reason to conclude that Christianity is only the product of selfish barbarism.

'The Christian church has left nothing untouched by its corruption; it has turned every value into an un-value, every truth into a lie, every integrity into a vileness of the soul. Let anyone dare to speak to me of its `humanitarian' blessings! To abolish any distress ran counter to its deepest advantages: it lived on distress, it created distress to eternalize itself.' [TA, 62]

The Christianity N. attacks is, depending on the need of the moment, a Christianity that he has made up himself; or monastic Christianity; or the worst form of Christianity that exists. He does not do justice either to orthodox Christian doctrine, or to any good the Church has done.

When you have to use this kind of reasoning, you show fairly clearly how little talent you have for marshalling evidence well, and weighing it impartially. It is worth contemplating N.'s open acknowledgement that his atheism was not adopted because of reasoning.

'I have absolutely no knowledge of atheism as an outcome of reasoning, still less as an event: with me it is obvious by instinct.' [EH, `Why I Am So Clever', 1]

Evidently, not even N. himself fancied that his religious opinions had anything to do with reasoning carefully about worthwhile evidence.

An important piece.......2006-12-27

It's great to see Mencken's translation back in print. All considerations about "The Anti-Christ" aside, this translation is a relic of sorts seeing as how it was the first american translation. Though perhaps not the best (i.e., most scholarly) translation, the only great flaw I see in it, taking the book for what it is - a translation by an aficionado-, is the publisher's handling of it.

Mr. Bufe encumbered himself with dumbing down Mencken's introduction and parts of the translation. As he himslef admits in the publisher's note, he translates all french words to english. And for what reason? Apparently they made the text incomprehensible. Poor Mr. Bufe seems to underestimate the readers: it's quite obvious that anyone that has the brains to read this book can easily overcome the language barrier posed by a few words (not to mention the fact that they might know how to speak another language).
"I translated them because they were impediments to comprehension, and because there is no real point to having untranslated French terms in an English text; its only purpose is to make those who can read French feel like members of an elite club." This seems like a rather biased statement. If Mencken and Nietzsche used French words (or any other non-English words), it wasn't to be snobish; it was their style, just like so many other authors. For someone who says he admires Mencken's work (inspite of his "clear signs of anti-semitism"), it's a rather blatant sign of disrespect of the translators work to edit his style in such a way. Were he around, I'm sure that H.L. Mencken would not stand for such a thing.

So again, it's not that he makes the text any less inteligible with the edits, but rather that he takes away from the richness of it, diminishing somewhat the experience of reading such a work.

Fascinating read - even for a Christian.......2006-11-11

Although untrained in philosophy (as you will undoubtedly infer), I have read quite a bit on my own. Of course, while reading philosophy I often (usually) encounter writings which denigrate Christianity, often times with very solid argument. However, I have never been as captivated by a book which stands in such complete opposition to my own beliefs as I was by "The Antichrist."

Nietzsche's passion, rage, scorn and conviction are utterly compelling. Compared to such bland offerings like "Why I Am Not A Christian" by Bertrand Russell, this book really sparks (two different animals, I know). I sensed that, while writing this book, Nietzsche was simultaneously sinking into the depths of his madness AND thinking as clearly as he'd ever dared. He comes across as both complete loon and literary genius. Truly captivating reading!

I will say that I disagree with almost all that Nietzsche writes in this book. As a Christian, I have the luxury of being able to call some things right and some things wrong without being tripped up by relativism. Nonetheless, it is a singularly powerful and captivating read, regardless of stance. I would recommend this book to anyone searching for passionate, vigorous and captivating philosophy.

Not the Culmination I Was Hoping For.......2006-10-31

In Nietzsche's earlier works, he made several allusions to "The Anti-Christ," a man Nietzsche hoped would eventually be born. Unlike the traditional religious connotation, however, Nietzsche's anti-christ is a man who has such a deep insight into the universe, so pure a skepticism, that he is able to see truth like none before him. Spun throughout Nietzsche's works are allusions to the characteristics which this individual would possess to deliver this great insight into the world.

As one of his later works, I hoped this book would be that story. I had hoped that Nietzsche would bring together the threads of this new world view into a single poignant moment. Unfortunately, Nietzsche is never so forward and organized and an expectation otherwise was perhaps doomed to disappointment.

Instead of this culmination of work, I found this book a trifle repetitive. Over the course of 90 pages, Nietzsche repeats many of the anti-religious themes embedded in his earlier works. For those interested in this aspect of his scholarship (or unfamiliar with his previous works), I imagine this would be an excellent collection of his thoughts. He uses numerous examples to clearly indicate his attitude towards the rise of Christ, in life, as an ideal to equal his favorite Hinduism. For most of the book, however, he tells the story of the fall of Christ, in death, to the selfish motives of his flock. He weaves a story of an ideal which was so beyond his followers to understand that it became a twisted message used to grasp power.

Perhaps more important then the collection of thoughts is the success Nietzsche has in expressing his respect for Christ the man. Never before in Nietzsche's readings had I understood where he casts blame for the fall of Christianity. This makes the book especially accessible and well worth the read for people interested in his anti-organized religion attitudes.

Mencken and Sara: A Life in Letters : The Private Correspondence of H.L. Mencken and Sara Haardt

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The only love story I ever read cover-to-cover.
For Mencken Fans Only

Mencken and Sara: A Life in Letters : The Private Correspondence of H.L. Mencken and Sara Haardt
H. L. Mencken , Sara Haardt , and Sara Haardt Mencken
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0070415056

Customer Reviews:

The only love story I ever read cover-to-cover........2006-08-10

Sarah Haardt was a true Southern Bell and, unfortunately, this book gives little insight into what a remarkable women she was in her own right. I am a Mencken fan and, if he was a bigot, then I am also a bigot. I think he had too little patience for Southern culture and those less intelligent than himself, which would have been a large percentage of the population. But I think writing was his salvation being an intellectual castaway amid a virtual sea of stupidity in his time and place. If you like to watch the slow development of a firm foundation for marriage and a relatively happy ending, and I think increasingly lonely, aging curmudgeon gets younger wife and perfect intellectual companion in one cute package certainly qualifies, this might be a good choice.

For Mencken Fans Only.......1998-08-23

This book is a collection of the private letters between Henry Louis Mencken and Sara Haardt during their long courtship. In these letters, one will find much that will interest the Mencken fan, but little of much true interest. There is no dirt to be had here, just the reflections of a couple of people who are very fond of each other and very fond of writing. One may gain an insight into the times in which they live and the hardships of Prohibition and of life in the 1920's in general, but a thorough reading of Mencken's other works is far more revealing.

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One of the Best Quotation Books
Rather dull

New Dictionary of Quotations
H.L. Mencken
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0394400798
Release Date: 1942-06-27

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best Quotation Books.......2001-01-22

This is not a new book, but it is loaded with great quotations, and they are well documented. It is subject- rather than author organized, which makes it easier to browse by topic, in my mind, making it more useful for someone seeking quotations for writing or speaking.

As a quotation book collector (see my other reviews) owning over 400 quote books, I'd rate this one in the top five percent. When I discovered my 1942 copy in a used bookstore and realized what a treasure trove of new material it contains (lots!-- over 1300 pages of smaller type. I estimate it contains at least 30,000 quotations,) it really made my day. There are only so many really great books which are delicious treats. So many are re-packagings of older ones. This book contains just a super batch of idea nuggets, collected by one of the brightest journalistic minds of the time.

Mencken basically took his quote collection and made it into a book which would supplement the popular books of the time-- Bartlett's, Hoyt and Stevenson. His stated goals were to date all the quotes and proverbs, leave out the fluff (platitudes), and add a lot more topics.

He comments, " Some immemorial imbecilities have been added deliberately , on the ground that it is just as interesting to note how foolish men have been as to note how wise they have been."

Now maybe it's just my read of him, but Mencken's choices reflect his acerbic wit.

I've been working too long on putting my own quotation book together, subject by subject (600+ done so far) and this is one book I always check out for both the unusual and unique thought and the most familiar ones, which he seems to nail very often. As a matter of fact, it is remarkable how often he does this.

It's been around along time, and so, unless it has been seriously updated, which I doubt, it is mostly good for more classic quotes. But it is excellent, and always a fun browse.

Since it's about the same price as the Burton Stevenson Home Book of Quotations, also called the MacMillan book of Maxims, Proverbs...... or something like that, it's not an easy choice between the two. This book spares you from some pretty sappy, bland and uninspiring stuff you'll find in the massive Stevenson book. But the Stevenson book is soooo much bigger that I'd probably pick it first, over just about any other quotation book. This book is certainly among the top ten though, for someone who wants a comprehensive quotation book library.

The day after the W inauguration, here's a line, from this book from Jefferson, That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part." Thomas Jefferson: Letter to H.D. Tiffin, 1807

Note the source and date. These are some of the nice features of this book.

Rather dull.......1999-07-02

I have a much better time looking through some of the quote pages on the internet than through this book. It contains some good quotes but they are buried in a mass of really commonplace utterances.

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Excellent Anthology.
More interesting, provocative than today's editorials
Oh that we had a writer such as H.L. today............
The best of the many Mencken anthologies

Impossible H. L. Mencken, The
Marion Elizabeth Rodgers
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385262086
Release Date: 1991-10-01

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Anthology........2007-03-31

This is an excellent collection of Mencken articles. If you already have most of his popular compositions, this collection is the next step. And in some ways theyre better than what's in the popular Mencken anthologies.

More interesting, provocative than today's editorials.......2002-12-15

This is a collection of Mencken's newspaper columns from the early 1900s to his very last column written in November 1948. Some of the columns are only prototypes of larger works on the American language and contemporary literature and a few of them, such as the piece on Valentino, were re-written and enlarged by Mencken for books like "A Mencken Chrestomathy." Despite this, Mencken is interesting throughout the book, especially on politics and travel.

In his career, Mencken attended almost all of the Democratic and Republican conventions for president and perhaps because his reports were written before television, they are much more evocative than anything written today. He notices what the delegates were wearing, what music was playing, what sort of intrigues were being plotted behind closed doors. Mencken downplayed his skills as a reporter; he claimed that he never got a scoop in his career. What makes his writing worth reading is a sense of humor and his opinionated voice. His readiness to call someone a "moron" can be tiring at times, but he is refreshingly blunt compared to today's political commentators. He is probably best on Harding and Coolidge; worse on Franklin Roosevelt, who inspires anti-New Deal harangues.

Mencken claimed that he had from an early age made up his mind on every conceivable subject, yet his opinions seem far less predicable and less readymade than anything in today's newspapers. In one of his columns, he reports on a 1928 Ku Klux Klan march on Washington D.C. The purpose of the Klan "is organizing inferiorities into a mystical superiority" and he writes that it is impossible to look on the robed and jeweled Klansmen "without snickering." He notes that the Klan members are clearly from the lower economic stratum and "that these poor folks are exploited by rogues is an unpleasant detail, but certainly nothing new in the world." In one column, Mencken is able to make the Klan ridiculous and place their significance in a larger context without becoming shrill.

These days Mencken is routinely attacked for using slang words to describe ethnic groups in terms now considered to be unacceptable. He did write to provoke people and, judging by his diaries, Mencken could be pretty callous. However, as Gore Vidal writes in the introduction, public action is what counts more than anything else. There are a lot of examples here of a writer who could take decent stands on the issues of the day and who believed in fair play. In one column, he calls for the end of "The Lynching Psychosis;" in another, he laments the US persecution of two radicals; in another, he calls for the US government to admit a larger number of the Jewish victims of Nazi terror. Throughout his career, Mencken believed that the United States had no business interfering in the affairs of other countries and should never get involved in foreign wars. Compare this attitude to that of the contemporary editorial writer who blanches at an ethnic slur, but enthusiastically calls for bomb strikes on Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, etc. A thoughtful reader might decide that Mencken was more humane than today's Christopher Hitchens' or Thomas Friedman's.

This book has a provocative introduction written by Gore Vidal, which was the source of a literary spat between him and John Updike. In a review of this book collected in "More Matter," Updike writes sniffily about Mencken's lack of sympathy for people unlike himself and about Vidal's "sneering" introduction. In a response published in "The Last Empire," Vidal attacks Updike for simplistic patriotism and for signing on to the US war in Viet Nam. (An example of the genteel warrior that Mencken hated?) That Mencken could inspire a literary feud almost fifty years after his death is a testimonial of sorts.

Oh that we had a writer such as H.L. today...................1999-10-05

brutally honest, rude, raw, and frightfully truthful, this is the best collection yet of America's most insightful writer. A must for anyone who has been beaten down by our simpering, back-slapping, ridiculously oversensitive and P.C. media.

The best of the many Mencken anthologies.......1997-08-06

Almost 700 pages in length, this book provides the reader with examples of Mencken's best writing from various times in his life and is far broader in scope than any other anthology published to date. Of particular interest are his columns written from Dayton, Tennessee during the Scopes Monkey Trial. An added treat is the foreward by Gore Vidal

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