Publisher's Synopsis
In this volume of his writings in the Baltimore Evening Sun, H. L. Mencken writes a series of important papers stressing the differences between American and British English, especially as it is spoken by the inhabitants of the two countries. These papers set the stage for Mencken's pioneering treatise, The American Language (1919). Other articles reveal Mencken's continuing fascination for the drama, with pieces on Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, Henri Bataille, Jerome K. Jerome, Percy Mackaye, and Clyde Fitch. Political affairs also engage Mencken's attention, with essays on the campaign for direct election of senators and the British Parliament's attempts to reform the House of Commons. In a flurry of unsigned editorials, Mencken ranges widely in tone and subject matter, from political turmoil in Russia and China to the "fraud" of pumpkin pie. Once again, Mencken displays his virtuosity as a sharp-witted, controversial, and eminently readable commentator.
