In the six volumes of Prejudices (1919-1927), iconoclast H. L. Mencken attacked American provincialism, the dumbing down of education, political hypocrisy, and general foolishness. I wish I could write like H. L. Mencken. Mencken’s prose is unique with his ability to write clearly yet blister the targets of his wrath. No topic escaped Mencken’s attention: literature, journalism, American culture, petty politics, outrageous religious practices, sex, marriage, food and drink, music and painting, American higher education, and language. These two Library of America volumes look great inside the accompanying slipcase. If you haven’t read Menken’s Prejudices, you’re in for a treat. If you’ve read these wonderful books, you’ll want these permanent, attractive volumes. GRADE: A
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
And, “A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar,” Jeff.
Do you have a grade for this set? I assume, based on your review, that you would give it an “A.”
Oops! Sorry, Deb! I’ll put the grade on the review. You’re right: it’s an “A.”
Art Scott introduced me to Mencken and I’ve been a fan ever since.
Mencken is an underrated writer, Bob. I’ve enjoyed every one of his books that I’ve read.
I’ve just read little quips here and there. I should do better.
PREJUDICES is a good place to start, Patti. There’s plenty of Mencken’s wicked wit in these pages.
Mencken was the first “literary” author that I collected [those of you who know my reading tastes might fairly argue that he’s the only one], beginning in junior high school. So I have the six Prejudices in their original editions (though mostly not first printings). They are still a source of constant pleasure. As a polemicist Mencken is incomparable, for his polymath’s knowledge, gruff humor, and pyrotechnic language. A couple of particular favorites: “Chiropractic”, and “The Hills of Zion”. I don’t suppose these Library of America publications make it to Daedalus or other remainder outlets. Still, if you don’t have the originals, absolutely worth the money, at any price.
I bought the 2-volume set on AMAZON for $44.10, Art. I’m hoping the LIBRARY OF AMERICA publishes more of Mencken’s work.
And, of course, because his magazines THE SMART SET and AMERICAN MERCURY were such dicey commercial propostions, he and editorial partner George Jean Nathan and their associates began more-commercial magazines as stablemates to help keep the primary magazine afloat…hence, BLACK MASK, and, later, ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE and THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION and all the latter two’s stablemates (such as MERCURY MYSTERY and VENTURE SCIENCE FICTION and P.S.). He didn’t love these magazines (and he probably would’ve loved much much less the next-to-Nazi thing that the folks that Mercury Pres’s Lawrence Spivak sold AMERICAN MERCURY to made of it), but that doesn’t mean that some of our favorite reading didn’t benefit from his efforts indirectly, as well.
To have had a hand in BLACK MASK, ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE, and THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION is pretty impressive, Todd. But I suspect Mencken will be remembered most for books like PREJUDICES.
That’s a nice set. I only have one Mencken book on hand, and I don’t even recall which one. Have to look for that.
This LIBRARY OF AMERICA set is the perfect place to start, Rick.
No doubt, George…but that wasn’t my point at all, which was to note his relatively little-known involvement in those magazines (and, even more remotely, with MEET THE PRESS, which Lawrence Spivak used his AMERICAN MERCURY postion to take over as it made its way to television–the woman who was moderating it on radio, after all, was…well, a woman!). If anything, I think Mencken will be remembered longest, as he certainly remembered best, for the aphorisms such as Jeff cites, and his efforts in mocking the latter-day William Jennings Bryan, as for any complete work…but if for any complete work, for THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE. But if he and Nathan are forgotten as the among the first major editors, at THE SMART SET, for the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald (particularly), Eugene O’Neill, Ernest Hemingway, and among so many others two aspirants named Hammett and Woolrich, then we are missing a trick, to say the least.
Terry Teachout ‘s The Skeptic: A Life of H. L. Mencken explores THE SMART SET and AMERICAN MERCURY influences on American culture, Todd.
(As in, your response, George, seems to imply that you thought I was suggesting Mencken’s involvment with the fiction magazines he was less interested in was the most important aspect of his career. I would argue that THE SMART SET and AMERICAN MERCURY, which certainly helped James M. Cain get going in several ways, are among his most imporant contributions, but hardly the only ones…and his direct involvement with BLACK MASK was apparently limited to its earlies, weakest issues. EQMM reprinted from AMERICAN MERCURY, and I think that’s as close to direct involvment as Mencken got with the other Mercury Press magazines.)
I was suggesting that Mencken’s writings might be more enduring than his editing and publishing exploits, Todd.
I’m a big fan of the Library of America books and this is another example of why.
For those like Patty & Rick who’d like to explore more of Mencken, the best place to start would be A Mencken Chrestomathy, recently reissued and only 15 bucks at Amazon. It’s a wide-ranging selection from all of HLM’s writings (including much from the Prejudices series), long essays and short squibs, selected, organized & annotated by HLM himself. One of my indispensable bedside books.
I wore out a copy of A MENCKEN CHRESTOMATHY when I was a teenager, Art.
I’m going to get a copy of A Mencken Chrestomathy right away!
And, I suspect, once you finish A MENCKEN CHRESTOMATHY, Rick, you’re going to want to read more Mencken. That’s what happened to Art and me.
More than once, reading Mencken, I’ve felt like I was hearing Nero Wolfe speak. Both men use words and marshal their arguments in much the same way. And both were famous beer drinkers, of course!
Of course, Mencken had a strong distaste for gold, Art. Yet, you still read him!
That’s golf, George. Nobody has a distaste for gold, except maybe Federal Reserve apparatchiks.
Oops, another typo, Art. But, you know what I meant. Mencken had some harsh things to say about golf.