| Author |
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 |
| LoC No. |
24028241
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| Title |
Prejudices, fourth series
|
| Original Publication |
United States: Alfred A. Knopf,1924.
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| Note |
Reading ease score: 55.5 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.
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| Contents |
The American tradition -- The husbandman -- High and ghostly matters: The cosmic secretariat. The nature of faith. The devotee. The restoration of beauty. End-product. Another. Holy clerks -- Justice under democracy -- Reflections on human monogamy: The eternal farce. Venus at the domestic hearth. The rat-trap. The love chase. Women as realpolitiker. Footnote for suffragettes. The helpmate. The mime. Cavia cobaya. The survivor. The veteran's disaster. Moral indignation. The man and his shadow. The balance-sheet. Yearning -- The politician -- From a critic's notebook: Progress. The iconoclast. The artists' model. The good citizen as artist. Definitive judgments -- Totentanz -- Meditations in the Methodist desert: The new Galahad. Optimist vs. optimist. Caveat for the defense. Portrait of an ideal world -- Essay in constructive criticism -- On the nature of man: The animal that thinks. Veritas odium parit. The eternal cripple. The test. National characters. The goal. Psychology at 5 A.M. The reward. The altruist. The man of honor -- Bugaboo -- On government -- Toward a realistic aesthetic: The nature of art. The one-legged art. Symbiosis and the artist -- Contributions to the study of vulgar psychology: The downfall of the Navy. The mind of the slave. The art eternal -- The American novel -- People and things: The capital of a great republic. Ambassadors of Christ. Bilder aus schöner Zeit. The high seas. The Shrine of Mnemosyne.
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| Credits |
Emmanuel Ackerman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
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| Summary |
"Prejudices, Fourth Series" by H. L. Mencken is a collection of critical essays written in the early 20th century. Mencken, known for his acerbic wit and sharp observations, explores a range of topics including American culture, literature, politics, and the prevailing social mores of his time. This series serves as a platform for his contrarian views and pointed critiques of American society, particularly the intellectualism and moral standards that he finds lacking. The opening of this work introduces the theme of "The American Tradition" and critiques the notion that American literature is defined by its conformity to a supposed cultural standard. Mencken discusses the rise of a so-called "American tradition" in letters, arguing that it is not rooted in the true accomplishments of American writers but rather in a misguided attempt to impose a homogenized view of art and culture. He examines the influences of figures like Dr. William Crary Brownell and critiques their perspectives, portraying them as emblematic of a larger movement that resists the individuality celebrated by authors such as Emerson, Hawthorne, and Whitman. Mencken's disdain for mediocrity and his insistence on the importance of artistic freedom set the tone for the essays that follow. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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| Language |
English |
| LoC Class |
PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature
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| Subject |
Literature -- History and criticism
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| Subject |
American literature -- History and criticism
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| Subject |
American essays -- 20th century
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| Category |
Text |
| EBook-No. |
67978 |
| Release Date |
May 3, 2022 |
| Copyright Status |
Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads |
135 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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