Rating: 
Summary: No Mencken fan should be without it.
Review: The _Chrestomathy_ is, basically, the basic work that no Mencken fan should miss. In it, you find an overview of Mencken's work, selected by Mencken himself before his stroke. There are too many highlights to tell about in a brief review.
Rating:
Summary: No Mencken fan should be without it.
Review: The _Chrestomathy_ is, basically, the basic work that no Mencken fan should miss. In it, you find an overview of Mencken's work, selected by Mencken himself before his stroke. There are too many highlights to tell about in a brief review.
Rating:
Summary: Genius lives today
Review: This book changed my life. It is the first of the dozen or so books that I have read by Mencken, but still my favorite. Mencken has opened up a whole new world for me. His irreverent debunking of favorite quacks have prompted me to look anew at a few of my own. His incredible knowledge of the English language has raised the standards I expect others to meet, not a little. And my vicarious contact with his world has made me work to improve my own. Mencken, I am convinced, was a genius whose writings will live long even into the next century. His writing is the only one that I feel compelled to read aloud to my wife, arms raised in excitement and for emphasis, daring her to contradict the glory of his prose. What contemporary American writer can match his mastery? I've read a lot, but I can't give even an approximation. His style is elegant, distinctively American, and a joy to read. Something like listening to a singer who you know has an absolute control of her material, a voice that does exactly what she intends, and the aesthetic sense of an angel.
Rating:
Summary: Genius lives today
Review: This book changed my life. It is the first of the dozen or so books that I have read by Mencken, but still my favorite. Mencken has opened up a whole new world for me. His irreverent debunking of favorite quacks have prompted me to look anew at a few of my own. His incredible knowledge of the English language has raised the standards I expect others to meet, not a little. And my vicarious contact with his world has made me work to improve my own. Mencken, I am convinced, was a genius whose writings will live long even into the next century. His writing is the only one that I feel compelled to read aloud to my wife, arms raised in excitement and for emphasis, daring her to contradict the glory of his prose. What contemporary American writer can match his mastery? I've read a lot, but I can't give even an approximation. His style is elegant, distinctively American, and a joy to read. Something like listening to a singer who you know has an absolute control of her material, a voice that does exactly what she intends, and the aesthetic sense of an angel.
Rating:
Summary: Scathingly brilliant
Review: This book, like all of Mencken's writings, is a lesson in delivering devastating criticism in the form of highly literate and beautifully flowing prose. It helps, of course, to be able to side with the author on his opinions, but is no impediment to enjoyment if you can't -- unless, I presume, you're one of his targets. Basically, no one writes like this anymore. Many believe that if you're going to insult people, crass and vulgar expression is the way to go. Mencken not only shows a better way, but demonstrates the level of intelligence necessary for harsh criticism to have an impact -- it's very difficult to fault someone with such obvious gifts. It also helps to have a dictionary to hand while you're reading, preferably a large and perhaps old one. Mine doesn't have "buncombe" in it, although the way it's used leaves little doubt as to what's meant. Also, the sheer variety of subject matter both here and in the Second Mencken Chrestomathy allows you to jump around freely. I couldn't find a duff article in either book, whether I agreed with his opinions or not, and I couldn't possibly recommend it any higher.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny, but not vulgar...
Review: To paraphrase an earlier reviewer: "if I were stranded on a desert island and I could have only one book, it would most certainly not be this one." It would in fact be the Bible, but if that were not available there are at least 100 others that would come prior to this one. That is not to say that this is a useless or uninteresting book - far from it. Merely that I don't think it is the unqualified perfect success of prior reviewers. I enjoyed this book a great deal and Mencken certainly is one of the sharper and wittier people-watchers I have stumbled upon, but he was also factually innacurate in several cases and while his descriptions of even those cases are humurous, they aren't TRUE. I will give two examples: 1. the description of the contest between Bryan and Darrow in Tennessee was a first-class hit-job of epic and still-impacting proportions - and it was not true. Read the transcripts yourself and read the eyewitness accounts of the events leading up to and through the Scopes' Trial and you will see he was selling his view - not reporting facts. The second item would be his analysis of Calvin Coolidge (or should I say lack of analysis?). Dana Sobel's recent biography goes a long way to gutting Mencken's off-the-cuff dismissal of Coolidge and setting the record straight - unfortunately, sober and accurate history doesn't carry the punch that news-paper hit-jobs do. Basically, I like this book and only list the two examples I do because I know that by stating the errors of the book some would challenge me for the errors themselves. Well, there they are. Even with them - this book is worth reading - if only for the contextual feel of news-work in the 20's and 30's. Kelly Whiting
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: Well, here is the real literary tabasco sauce, with a sprinkle of Darwin, Twain and Nietzche thrown in for good measure. Mencken was America's greatest prose stylist, and an amateur musician, Nietzche translater and gadfly to boot. To read his prose is sheer joy, and this is the place to begin.
Rating:
Summary: Slayer of Sacred Cows
Review: Well, here is the real literary tabasco sauce, with a sprinkle of Darwin, Twain and Nietzche thrown in for good measure. Mencken was America's greatest prose stylist, and an amateur musician, Nietzche translater and gadfly to boot. To read his prose is sheer joy, and this is the place to begin.
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