Talk:H. L. Mencken

It seems to me that this entry is manifestly not NPOV. I started to "neutralize" the entry, but I'm not a Mencken expert, and I don't want to gut the page. I'd rather have it corrected.

Can anyone help?

Rholton 23:07, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

I guess he did a little composing too. 142.177.168.74 14:51, 16 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

The last part would be a good place to start...

Any chance we could remove the "Also a latent prophet of sorts" dig in the last paragraph? It seems like a non-NPOV sentiment to me..

--Ultra Megatron 08:31, Nov 11, 2004 (UTC)

Well, the passage quoted reads like a prophecy. And the article makes no claim that the prophecy has yet been fulfilled. Daniel,levine 00:25, 23 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Any point to the anti-semitism speculation?

It seems to me that since Mencken's work has nothing material to do with Jews the question of whether or not he was anti-semitic is completely out of place in the article. You might as well speculate whether or not he enjoyed pizza, or if he and Plato had been contemporaries, who would win in a sissy slap-fight.

The point is that its something that a lot of his critics bring up, and if you read his work, its definitly coloured by the anti-semitism. I actually did some research from my university's library for this article, and all 5 or 6 books, in their introductions, mention Mencken being accused of anti-semitism and misogyny. Anyway, Mencken was a social critic, so much of his job was to talk about his personal views (bigoted though we may find them), so I think they certainly merit a section in the article. Jackson 07:47, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Where can I get some info?

I recently bought A Mencken Chrestomathy at a used-book store. It is a first edition and the first page has someone's signature (with '49 under it). How can I find out if it's Mencken's signature?--The Individual 13:59, 17 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]