The Skeptic: A Life of H. L. Mencken
by Terry Teachout
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A portrait of the outspoken American writer and critic traces his early days as a cub reporter to his tenure as founding editor of The American Mercury, citing his controversial views on religion, art, love, and politicians.Tags
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Teachout is a biographer worthy of Mencken. Avoiding both hagiography and hatchet job, he details Mencken's life, warts and all, and discusses both his strengths and weaknesses as a writer, journalist, and person. In a prose style that is distinctly his own, but shows the likelihood of some influence from his biographical subject, the author writes lucidly and readably. In addition, it is a rare treat to read a nearly 400 page book that has few editorial lapses. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are meticulous, and with the readable prose, this is one of the easiest to read books I've encountered in some time. For anyone who is willing to take on the challenge of confronting Mencken at his best and his worst, and who doesn't expect show more great people to be great in every particular, this book is highly recommended. show less
I haven't read the Fred Hobson biog of Mencken, so I can't compare them.Teachout's book is very readable. This isn't one of those "throw every single fact I know into the book" kinds of biographies. Biographers would do well to follow Teachout's template for conciseness.
I love Mencken. He seems more and more relevant in these crazy political days of 2009 and 10. "Nobody every went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American people." Heh. Or how about this one: "Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages." One more: "The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to show more tell them the truth.
If you asked me, I couldn't tell you why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. I read this some time ago, and that's the impression I have of the book--a solid B+. show less
I love Mencken. He seems more and more relevant in these crazy political days of 2009 and 10. "Nobody every went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American people." Heh. Or how about this one: "Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages." One more: "The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to show more tell them the truth.
If you asked me, I couldn't tell you why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. I read this some time ago, and that's the impression I have of the book--a solid B+. show less
An straight-forward, unflattering warts-and-all yet neither deprecating, look at a hard man who rose to the top of his craft; a craft that is sorely missed today.
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Author Information
11+ Works 1,180 Members
Terry Teachout is drama critic for the Wall Street Journal, music critic for Commentary, and a contributor to the Washington Post, for which he writes "Second City," a column about the arts in New York City
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
- People/Characters
- William Jennings Bryan; Clarence Darrow; H. L. Mencken
- Important places
- Dayton, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee, USA
- Important events
- Scopes Trial (1925-07)
- Epigraph
- To me all men are equal: there are jackasses everywhere, and I have the same contempt for all. No petty prejudices!
Karl Kraus
Half-Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths
Refusal to face the verities, though not without immediate satisfactions, carries penalties. There's a Fool Killer, personifying the ancient principle; whom the gods would destroy, in this world; and he has a list, and that'... (show all)s a good way to put yourself on it. Then, the question's just one of time, of how soon he'll get around to you.
James Gould Cozzens
By Love Possessed - Dedication
- To Bill and Joe, gratefully
Grau, treuer Freund, ist alle Theorie, Und grün des Lebens goldner Baum. - First words
- (Preface): "The goods that a writer produces," H. L. Mencken wrote in My Life as Author and Editor, "can never be impersonal; his character gets into them as certainly as it gets into the work of any other creative ar... (show all)tist, and he must be prepared to endure investigation of it, and speculation upon it, and even gossip about it."
(Introduction): "I am going to Washington Saturday night to make a speech at the Girdiron Club Dinner," H. L. Mencken wrote to a friend on December 7, 1934.
In 1883, when Henry Louis Mencken was nearly three years old, August, his father, bought a three-story row house that looked out on Union Square, a small park close to what was then the western edge of Baltimore. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then he put out the light and went to sleep, perhaps sensing with relief that his too-long life had reached its merciful end.
- Blurbers
- Auletta, Ken; Will, George F.; Tanenhaus, Sam; Johnson, Paul
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Literature Studies and Criticism
- DDC/MDS
- 818.5209 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American miscellaneous writings in English 20th Century 1900-1945 Biography
- LCC
- PS3525 .E43 .Z84 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1900-1960
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 377
- Popularity
- 82,515
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.65)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
