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Title: H. L. Mencken on American Literature by H. L. Mencken, S. T. Joshi ISBN: 0-8214-1429-1 Publisher: Ohio Univ Pr (Txt) Pub. Date: June, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $44.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)
Rating: 5
Summary: Good critical writing that never goes out of style
Comment: Ohio Univ. Press has finally released the long awaited edited, annotated volume of Mencken's literary reviews and essays dating generally from 1910 to 1930, most having never been reprinted before now, and it is a wonderful collection.
In addition to being a renowned newspaper reporter, editorial wirter, and drama critic for both the Baltimore Herald and Baltimore Evening Sun, Mencken worked as a book reviewer for both the Smaart Set and American Mercury magazines. From 1908 to the mid 30's he wrote thousands of reviews and essays and became one of the most trusted, and feared, literary critics of the twentieth century.
Trying to review this collection is a bit like sitting down to a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner. It's sometimes difficult to decide where to begin given the wonderful selection available. Mencken stated his motives in writing reviews was "...principally to clear the ground of moldering rubbish, to chase away old ghosts, to help set the artist free. The work of erecting new structure belongs primarily to the artist as creator, not to me as critic." To that end he reviewed most if not all of the important writers of the early twentieth century and his sometimes tart, provocative, always entertaining opinions are a delight to read. He considered Mark Twain to be the"...largest figure that ever reared itself out of the flat, damp prairie of American literature." Indeed, Twain was believed by Mencken to be "...the noblest literary artist who ever set pen to paper on American soil..." He found Ambrose Bierce to be "...a good deal damaged by the excessive praises of his partisans..." but ultimately a worthy writer that was capable of producing in The Devil's Dictionary "...the most brilliant stuff, first and last, that America has ever produced." Not in a class with Twain but a worthy contributor to American literature. The anecdote about Mencken's first reading, in galley proofs, of Main Street by Sinclair Lewis is a pure delight. "That idiot has written a masterpiece" must surely go down as a classic quote in literary history. Space does not permit the in-depth review this book deserves. Suffice it to say that such authors as Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald and dozens of other legendary literary figures were subjected to the scrutiny of Mencken and some, but by no means all, were considered worthy of his praise. Some for very different reasons than the reader might expect but rest assured all make for good reading.
This is a must book for readers, students, scholars and writers of all persuasions that are interested in great writing by a literary giant in his own right that is gone but surely,with the publication of this book, not forgotten. This is a prime example of quality publications typically offered by university presses and Ohio University Press is to be commended for the effort.
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Title: H.L. Mencken on Religion by H. L. Mencken, S. T. Joshi ISBN: 1573929824 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
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Title: The Skeptic : A Life of H. L. Mencken by Terry Teachout ISBN: 0060505281 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 05 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: W. B. Yeats, a Life: II: The Arch-Poet, 1915-1939 (W. B. Yeats, a Life, Vol 2) by R. F. Foster ISBN: 0198184654 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History) by David Hackett Fischer ISBN: 0195170342 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: February, 2004 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Today Show Book Club #13) by Mark Haddon ISBN: 0385512104 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 31 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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