From Library Journal
Editor, essayist, and social and cultural critic Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) was particularly famous in the early 20th century for being a feared book reviewer. The critical firebrand was not only blunt with American writers of his time but also didn't hesitate to make sweeping indictments of contemporary American thinking, which he found timid and superficial. This volume presents a unique and comprehensive selection of Mencken's reviews and treatises, originally published in Smart Set, American Mercury, and a few other venues. Edited by Joshi (who also edited H.L. Mencken on Religion), the book is arranged in five sections, which are titled to reflect the general spirit of the reviews and essays therein: "Establishing the Canon," "Some Worthy Second-Raters," "Trade Goods," and so on. An extensive 30-page glossary of names mentioned in the text proves vital, especially since most of them are not well-known literary or historical figures. Mencken's analyses and judgments of the best and the worst in American literature are highly recommended for literary collections and large public and college libraries. Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NYCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Among other writing guises, Mencken was a book reviewer for 25 years and a legendarily caustic one, as befitted the curmudgeon. Yet when moved, he would not stint on praise and was one of the first to laud Twain as a giant of American letters. That Mencken pronounced judgment on fiction during one of American literature's more fecund periods, the 1910s and 1920s, makes this selection of his reviews of more than academic interest. The best-known novels of Dreiser, Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald were stretched on Mencken's rack; some, such as An American Tragedy, Mencken tortured with typically quotable execrations; and some, such as Main Street, he reprieved. Also represented here is the forgotten bilge of the era, sentimental best-sellers that Mencken overtly castigated but probably secretly delighted in as his vehicle for satirizing the tastes and beliefs of Rotarian society. Mencken as a reviewer remains discriminating and entertaining. Gilbert Taylor
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FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Editor, essayist, and social and cultural critic Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) was particularly famous in the early 20th century for being a feared book reviewer. The critical firebrand was not only blunt with American writers of his time but also didn't hesitate to make sweeping indictments of contemporary American thinking, which he found timid and superficial. This volume presents a unique and comprehensive selection of Mencken's reviews and treatises, originally published in Smart Set, American Mercury, and a few other venues. Edited by Joshi (who also edited H.L. Mencken on Religion), the book is arranged in five sections, which are titled to reflect the general spirit of the reviews and essays therein: "Establishing the Canon," "Some Worthy Second-Raters," "Trade Goods," and so on. An extensive 30-page glossary of names mentioned in the text proves vital, especially since most of them are not well-known literary or historical figures. Mencken's analyses and judgments of the best and the worst in American literature are highly recommended for literary collections and large public and college libraries. Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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