Miscellaneous Magazine Contributions, 1899-1909

Throughout his life, H. L. Mencken published all manner of work in a wide range of magazines, both before and after he was associated with the Smart Set (1908-23). In the earliest stages of his literary career, Mencken was determined to be both a poet and a fiction writer, and this volume features some of the poems and stories he wrote for well-known magazines of the day, including Short Stories and Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. Among these are stirring narratives of war ("The Crime of McSwane"), a humorous story about anarchists ("The Bend in the Tube"), and other engaging tales. In addition, Mencken wrote biographical sketches of a number of prominent individuals in his native Baltimore (Senator Arthur Pue Gorman; James, Cardinal Gibbons). Most entertainingly, the lifelong bachelor Mencken teamed up with a physician, Leonard Keene Hirshberg, to ghostwrite a series of articles on "What You Ought to Know about Your Baby," later published as a book. Throughout this volume, Mencken's lively wit and scintillating prose are in abundant evidence.