by Jessica Schneider

Created on: June 27, 2009   Last Updated: June 30, 2009

If you want to have some fun, read though this selection of H.L. Mencken's book of criticism. Although a variety of topics are covered, such as science and religion, his literary coverage is by far the most entertaining, especially what he says about literature and literati.

Being that he lived back in the 1920s and teens, he made a lot of accurate predictions on where he thought the state of literature was headed, such as Mark Twain and Whitman being writers who would be around a long, long while. Mencken can be very funny and ruthless in his criticisms, which makes for fun reading.

For example, many of the essays of his I enjoyed the most are on writers that no one remembers now. He even gives examples of those writers back 100 years ago who were praised by the critics, yet had no vision in their work and are long since forgotten. Also, here's what he says about Whitman:

"Nothing could be more indecent (or more American) than the hostility which surrounded Whitman at home until the end of his long life."

Adding the fact that this was written in 1926 makes it all the more worthwhile. For after Whitman's death, his work disappeared and it took a few decades to resurface. Mencken speaks about Emerson, and how Emerson at one time praised Whitman, yet when Old Walt "came under fire," as he says, Emerson was quick to abandon him. Emerson, while someone with insight and talent of his own, was not one to want to "rub the establishment the wrong way."

And here's what he says about William Dean Howells, a writer who was quite well known in his day but is pretty much forgotten now:

"Who actually reads the Howells novels? Who even remembers their names? 'The Minister's Charge,' 'An Imperative Duty,' 'The Unexpected Guests,' 'Out of the Question,' 'No Love Lost'- these titles are already as meaningless as a roll of Sumerian Kings.

The truth about Howells is that he really had nothing to say..."

Readers should also know that in Wright's memoir, Black Boy, Mencken is one of the writers that the young Richard Wright seeks out from the library, and he even had to pretend he was getting it for a white man, since blacks were not expected to read.

Another point Mencken makes is one about 'constructive' criticism, and how 'constructive' is a lame word, and that there is no such thing as 'constructive' criticism. For example, what you are thinking to be 'constructive' is actually criticism that benefits someone with talent, coming from an intelligent source, without bias.

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