Hooray for this, Jay. And for any of your devoted fans: If they want the super-likable H.L. -- the memoirs, Happy Days, Newspaper Days and Heathen Days, which came late in life as such things do, which appeared first as a long series or long pieces in The New Yorker over time, and which are positively warm and cheery, nothing but likable and just as eloquent as always, as you know. One of the episodes was turned into a little standalone Christmas book I have downstairs but its title escapes me just now. Let me know if you need or want that info in the coming season. Sull
it is! That title always confuses be since Shep came along and made a more famous one starting with the "A". I like em both -- JS's stuff from "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" before the film was made of the Christmas parts. Good solve!
I'll never forget Mencken's definition of love: a diminishing of disgusts. (In other words, if you love someone, he or she disgusts you less than someone you don't love.)
Dartmouth Special Collections has Mencken's papers. They were opened to the public in early 90s or thereabouts, a few decades after his death. If you sift through them, you'll likely find it wasn't just the common slurs that implicated his racism. I had an unpleasant afternoon sifting through the materials when writing a news piece on the opening. I wanted to love someone that pithy, but the fleshed-out sentiments recast my impression. His diary especially.
I think, aside from his historical influence, he's definitely still useful studying rhetorically. I just wouldn't give him too much benefit of doubt on the content.
Hooray for this, Jay. And for any of your devoted fans: If they want the super-likable H.L. -- the memoirs, Happy Days, Newspaper Days and Heathen Days, which came late in life as such things do, which appeared first as a long series or long pieces in The New Yorker over time, and which are positively warm and cheery, nothing but likable and just as eloquent as always, as you know. One of the episodes was turned into a little standalone Christmas book I have downstairs but its title escapes me just now. Let me know if you need or want that info in the coming season. Sull
Would that be Christmas Story?
it is! That title always confuses be since Shep came along and made a more famous one starting with the "A". I like em both -- JS's stuff from "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" before the film was made of the Christmas parts. Good solve!
The book's out of print but I bought a used copy. Still, nothing beats your Christmas books, Sull.
I'll never forget Mencken's definition of love: a diminishing of disgusts. (In other words, if you love someone, he or she disgusts you less than someone you don't love.)
A real romantic, that guy.
“A writing class with nonreaders is like an obedience school for cats.” God, I wish I’d written that. Perfect.
Thanks, Pat!
Dartmouth Special Collections has Mencken's papers. They were opened to the public in early 90s or thereabouts, a few decades after his death. If you sift through them, you'll likely find it wasn't just the common slurs that implicated his racism. I had an unpleasant afternoon sifting through the materials when writing a news piece on the opening. I wanted to love someone that pithy, but the fleshed-out sentiments recast my impression. His diary especially.
I think, aside from his historical influence, he's definitely still useful studying rhetorically. I just wouldn't give him too much benefit of doubt on the content.
That's interesting, considering how much he mentored Black writers.
BTW: Dartmouth won't give me library privileges, though I suppose I could get permission for Special Collections.