An Exquisite Scourging

Reading, is an integral part of my life.  It has been since I was in the third grade, when my teachers, instead of mindlessly punishing me for inappropriate behavior in class, behaviors such as inattention, blurting out answers to questions, or disrupting teaching, would say, “John, get yourself a book and sit, quietly, in the back of the class and read.” A punishment I readily assented to.  Today, those behaviors would be evaluated and, in all probability, medicated.

Needless to say, I’ve read more than a few books since those days.  But I had not read any H.L. Mencken until now.  I was first made aware of Mencken when I was rooting around in the archives of a weblog I enjoy.  I was searching for a posting dealing with Objectivism, when I stumbled upon a comment where the weblog author mentioned that an individual he respected had recommended that the author read more Mencken.  I made a mental note of this and, the next time I was at the library, I investigated the library’s shelves for Mencken’s works.  I found two, though one was a collection of Mencken’s work compiled by another individual.  The one actual work by Mencken was Heathen Days. I plucked this autobiographical volume from the shelf and grabbed a seat.  I cracked open the book, read the first story, and I was on my way.  After reading the first story, I was so enthralled, I checked out the book, went to a local coffee hangout, and did not leave until I had finished the entire book three hours later.  In an email to a friend, I summed up my impression of the book by stating “What a ride!” Needless to say, I went back to the library, that same day, returned Heathen Days and plucked the edited collection of Mencken’s work from the shelf, and headed home with the new material.  This book also, did not disappoint, and in fact, spurred me to visit our local book resellers to scour their shelves for works of Mencken.  I found one.  A Mencken Chrestomathy, and, it is in regards to this work, that I want to share a few thoughts.

Mencken is a critic of astounding breadth and depth.  Men, women, religion, morals, government, democracy, psychology, science, music, nothing and no one is beyond his scrutiny, and, in A Mencken Chrestomathy, Mencken has provided us with “a collection of choice passages;” as the word chrestomathy, “in its true sense,” means.  Mencken’s pen goes to work, flaying imbecility, immediately in the preface.  And he does not spare his chosen field of endeavor, journalism, from his penetrating gaze.  As I read, my pen was constantly in my hand, underlining choice phrases, annotating passages of hiliarity or noting an area of interest that bears further investigation.  What follows, are my impressions on various sections of this work of Mencken’s, which may entice you to read what Mencken has to say.

Posted by on 02/01 at 07:28 AM

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