A towering figure on the American cultural landscape, H.L. Mencken stands out as one of our most influential stylists and fearless iconoclasts--the twentieth century's greatest newspaper journalist, a famous wit, and a constant figure of controversy. Marion Elizabeth Rodgers has written the definitive biography of Mencken, the most illuminating book ever published about this giant of American letters. Rodgers captures both the public and the private man, covering the many love affairs that made him known as "The German Valentino" and his happy marriage at the age of 50 to Sara Haardt, who, despite a fatal illness, refused to become a victim and earned his deepest love. The book discusses his friendships, especially his complicated but stimulating partnership with the famed theater critic George Jean Nathan. Rodgers vividly recreates Mencken's era: the glittering tapestry of turn-of-the-century America, the roaring twenties, depressed thirties, and the home front during World War II. But the heart of the book is Mencken. When few dared to shatter complacencies, Mencken fought for civil liberties and free speech. We see the prominent role he played in the Scopes Monkey Trial, his long crusade against Prohibition, his fierce battles against press censorship, and his constant exposure of pious frauds and empty uplift. The champion of our tongue in The American Language , Mencken also played a pivotal role in defining the shape of American letters through The Smart Set and The American Mercury , magazines that introduced such writers as James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes. The paradoxes of Mencken's life are explored, as new gaps are filled regarding his notorious views of minorities and his conflict, as a German American, during two world wars. And throughout, Rodgers captures the irrepressible spirit and irreverent wit for which Mencken was famed. Drawing on research in more than sixty archives including private collections in the United States and in Germany, previously unseen, on exclusive interviews with Mencken's friends, and on his love letters and FBI files, here is the full portrait of one of America's most colorful and influential men. *Starred Review* Just before graduating from Goucher College, Rodgers came upon a box of love letters between alumna Sara Haardt and author H. L. Mencken. The discovery opened doors into the fascinating life of an iconic American writer and social commentator. With obvious affection for her subject, access to untapped sources, and interviews with Mencken's friends and enemies, Rodgers offers an absorbing look at the "bad boy of Baltimore" who grew to international fame and influence. Mencken started his career at the Baltimore Herald but went on to write The American Language and to contribute to shaping the American literary scene. Along the way, he introduced such writers as James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Rodgers details Mencken's sexual appeal and several long affairs before marrying Haardt, whose illness and death foreshortened their happy marriage. Mencken's wit and piercing insight, ardent defense of press freedom, and love of the common man and language were imprinted on his writing as he covered and commented on everything from the Depression to Prohibition, all the while railing against pieties that covered social injustice. Rodgers conveys the high spirits and complexity of an American iconoclast and the turbulent times in which he lived. Vanessa Bush Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "This book is both enlightening and marvelous to read."-- Blue Ridge Business Journal "The most superb and entertaining biography (in any field) that I've read in years, one that has 'National Book Award' stamped all over it."--Joseph Goulden, Washington Times "Definitive.... The last word on perhaps the most famous newspaper man of the 20th century."-- Bloomsberg News "Every new generation should rediscover H. L. Mencken, and every journalist should read this fine biography. Marion Elizabeth Rodgers has produced a balanced, measured portrait, proving herself as adept at probing the labyrinth of Mencken's private life as she is at placing his iconoclasm in the context of his times."-- The London Sunday Times "Rodgers isn't the first to tell the story of powerful and controversial thinker and writer Mencken, but her affection for this notorious iconoclast and her access to untapped sources make for a uniquely fresh and absorbing biography."-- Booklist (in naming Mencken one of the top ten biographies of the year) "In this splendid biography...Rodgers juggles the dense narrative of Mencken's life and times with considerable dexterity, while also providing a glimpse into his very private world.... His was one of the key American literary lives of the 20th century and Rodgers has, quite simply, done him proud."-- The London Independent "Marion Rodgers has written a comprehensive and humane biography.... In the