A Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing

Whether arguing that the Plague was good for Western Civilization, railing against religion, or making a case against public zoos as a waste of time and money, Mencken is incredibly entertaining, even while being incredibly offensive.

Mencken's selection of some of his own best work is without par in the literary world. I often find myself opening to a random page to take in the wit and wisdom in Mencken's highest style. If you want a good place to start with a sampling of the man's opinion and theories, look no further.

Disappointing. Much of it is bland. At his best, Mencken is a wonderfully funny and intelligent social commentator. Politically, I'm not always so keen. He was against the New Deal (for bad reasons), against he Bolsheviks (for good reasons), seems to have spoken out against WW1 and the Palmer raids (which is impressive and uncommon). Basically, Mencken was elitist and aristocratic in sympathies -...more

Disappointing. Much of it is bland. At his best, Mencken is a wonderfully funny and intelligent social commentator. Politically, I'm not always so keen. He was against the New Deal (for bad reasons), against he Bolsheviks (for good reasons), seems to have spoken out against WW1 and the Palmer raids (which is impressive and uncommon). Basically, Mencken was elitist and aristocratic in sympathies - he was at his best when aptly cynical, but devoid of sympathy or compassion, which is why his political commentary was generally glib, superficial and insubstantial, and sometimes not consistent.   hide

Wonderful!

If you like sharp wit there's none better

A wonderful book! Very interestingly, I don't agree with much of Mencken's opinions, however, I find his writing technique fascinating and his ideals very intriguing despite my disbelief. A must read!