Reviews for Mencken revisited

The average rating for Mencken revisited based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-07-06 00:00:00 Ehren Slivinske WONDERFULLY ICONOCLASTIC. “He pummeled censorship, Prohibition, and hypocritical Puritanism with equal ardor. The defense of individual freedom always brought out the best of his powers, and the suppression of civil liberties became one of his dominant targets, bringing it more fully into the mainstream of public discourse.”—page 227/673 Standard disclaimer: In my personal pantheon of heroes, Henry Louis Mencken has long been idealized, lionized, and even damn near canonized, as one of the all-time truly great Americans. A free thinking wordsmith/linguist extraordinaire and an adorably charismatic curmudgeon, Mencken was one of those incredible people, among the likes of Mark Twain, P. T. Barnum and Clarence Darrow, with whom I could dearly wish to have been friends. In her comprehensive ‘warts-an’-all’ biography, MENCKEN: THE AMERICAN ICONOCLASTS: The Life and Times of the Bad Boy of Baltimore, Marion Elizabeth Rodgers hits all the notes of wonder, wit, wisdom, and weirdness. I enjoyed reading it tremendously. Recommendation: What’s not to love about HLM? There’s something in his character and writings to offend practically everyone. Commended more so to the thick-skinned than the thickheaded. “I am, in belief, a libertarian of the most extreme variety, and can imagine no human right that is half as valuable as the simple right to pursue the truth at discretion and utter it when found.”—page 116/673 “I have believed all my life in free thought and free speech.”—page 564/673 Barnes & Noble NOOKbook edition, 673 pages

Review # 2 was written on 2010-04-14 00:00:00 Lewis Call How ironic that the most extensive biography covering the controversial life of the author of "In Defense of Women" was written by a beautiful woman. Marion Elizabeth Rodgers has no doubt written the most intimate(using mainly primary sources) work on the life of Baltimore's greatest sage H.L. Mencken. I am sure Mencken would have been flattered to have read Rodger's wonderful book.