H.L. Mencken

Born

in Baltimore, Maryland, The United States

September 12, 1880

Died

January 29, 1956

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Politics, Philosophy

Influences

Robert Ingersoll, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain

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Henry Louis "H.L." Mencken became one of the most influential and prolific journalists in America in the 1920s and '30s, writing about all the shams and con artists in the world. He attacked chiropractors and the Ku Klux Klan, politicians and other journalists. Most of all, he attacked Puritan morality. He called Puritanism, "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."

At the height of his career, he edited and wrote for The American Mercury magazine and the Baltimore Sun newspaper, wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for the Chicago Tribune, and published two or three books every year. His masterpiece was one of the few books he wrote about something he loved, a book called The American Language (1919), a history an ...more

Combine Editions
H.L. Mencken’s books

Average rating: 3.99 · 36,065 ratings · 1,617 reviews · 231 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Mencken Chrestomathy 3.95 avg rating — 1,318 ratings — published 1949 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Vintage Mencken by H.L. Mencken, Alistair Cooke (Compiler) 4.12 avg rating — 617 ratings — published 1955 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The American Language 4.18 avg rating — 457 ratings — published 1919 — 52 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Notes on Democracy 4.17 avg rating — 283 ratings — published 1927 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche 3.86 avg rating — 330 ratings — published 1908 — 69 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Defense Of Women 3.70 avg rating — 379 ratings — published 1918 — 84 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Religious Orgy in Tennessee: A Reporter's Account of the Scopes Monkey Trial 4.18 avg rating — 228 ratings — published 2006 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Life As Author And Editor 3.70 avg rating — 163 ratings — published 1993 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	H.L. Mencken on Religion by H.L. Mencken (Editor), S.T. Joshi (Editor) 4.23 avg rating — 143 ratings — published 2002 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Treatise on the Gods 4.29 avg rating — 144 ratings — published 1930 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by H.L. Mencken…

Series by H.L. Mencken

H. L. Mencken's Autobiography (3 books)
by

H.L. Mencken

4.20 avg rating — 275 ratings

Quotes by H.L. Mencken

“I know some who are constantly drunk on books as other men are drunk on whiskey.”
― H.L. Mencken

tags: bibliophiles, book-lovers, whiskey

2457 likes

“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.”
― H.L. Mencken

tags: age, humor, old, wisdom

1977 likes

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
― H.L. Mencken, On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe

tags: democracy, elite, elitism, elitist, meritocracy, politics, predictions, voter, voting

798 likes

See all H.L. Mencken's quotes »

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