Review: "Newspaper Days," H.L. Mencken

 

By Paul Carrier

 

In the 1940s, H.L. Mencken, sometimes described as America’s greatest journalist, published a trilogy of “Days” memoirs that looked back on his accomplished and colorful life. Happy Days came out in 1940; Heathen Days, three years later.

In between, Mencken released Newspaper Days (1941), which covers his early years as a journalist in Baltimore. That period stretched from Mencken’s stint as a rookie reporter for the Herald in 1899 through the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 and into 1906 when, as an editor, Mencken witnessed the Herald’s demise.

The Library of America has combined all three books in one volume, complete with extensive, sometimes sardonic notes that Mencken added following publication of the books. In the case of Newspaper Days, the supplementary comments alone run to some 60 pages.