Professor H L Mencken

Writings in the Smart Set, Volume 3 Professor H L Mencken

In this third volume of his writings in the Smart Set, H. L. Mencken expands his range considerably beyond merely the writing of monthly book reviews. Having taken over as co-editor (with George Jean Nathan) of the magazine in late 1914, Mencken found that there was a serious dearth of material for upcoming issues; therefore, he wrote numerous pieces-stories, poetry, essays, sketches, many written under pseudonyms-to fill up the magazine with the type of work he felt it ought to have. Accordingly, we find such short stories as "The Barbarous Bradley," "Neapolitan Nights," and others; prose poems on Beethoven, the flapper, and the cockroach; the short plays Death: A Discussion and The Wedding: A Stage Direction; and numerous other whimsies. Among his book reviews, we find Mencken championing the work of Theodore Dreiser, John Galsworthy, Anatole France, Joseph Conrad, and others; but there are also some devastating reviews of the hackwork of Marie Corelli and Marjorie Benton Cooke (author of the sentimental novel Bambi). All in all, a rich feast for the Mencken devotee.