My Life As an Author and Editor

New York, NY: Random House: Vintage. Near Fine. 1995. First Edition Thus; First Printing. Paperback.. Very Near Fine in Wraps: shows the expected tanning to the text pages due to aging; a faint crease at the top of the front 'hinge'; the binding is very slightly cocked but remains perfectly secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the backstrip. Free of any creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of any underlining, hi-lighting or marginalia or marks in the text. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome, nearly-new copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing minor, unobtrusive imperfections only. Bright and clean. Corners sharp. Very close to "As New". NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. (8 x 5.25 x 1 inches). Appendices. Extensive Index. Edited and with an Introduction by Jonathan Yardley. Language: English. Weight: 13.9 ounces. Trade Paperback. H. L. Mencken stipulated that this memoir remain sealed in a vault for thirty-five years after his death. For good reason: My Life as Author and Editor is so telling and uproariously opinionated that it might have provoked a storm of libel suits. As he recounts his career as a critic, essayist, and editor of the ground-breaking magazine Smart Set, Mencken brings us face to face with the literary aristocracy of his day, from the dour womanizer Theodore Dreiser to F. Scott Fitzgerald, drowning his gifts in alcohol. Here, too, are the hacks, poseurs, and bohemian crackpots who flocked around them. Most of all, here is Mencken himself, defying censors and Prohibition agents with equal aplomb in an age when literature was a contact sport. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; xxi, 450 pages .