William Dean Howells: A Writer's Life Book

This is a pretty remarkable book, particularly because it is presented as nothing more than a rambling recollection loosely arranged into topical groupings. Like most memoirs written by white men before, say, the eighteen- or nineteen-nineties, it is replete with jaw-dropping statements about race and other races (in the form of both the expected prejudices, as well as one or two intimations of a jarring broad-mindedness). This made the book difficult to appreciate objectively, and generally added to the feeling that while a first-class writer, H.L. Mencken would probably be an insupportable bore if you were to be stuck in an elevator with his resurrected soul. That, and he is clearly a blowhard. But a self-aware one with a well-developed sense of humor, philosophy, and psychology to make him very enjoyable company when you -- as the reader -- get to dictate the length of your encounters.