A reader of the entry in which Al Barger quotes Mencken (in a very Bargerian way) asked about putting the writer into perspective. Though the length of a blog entry precludes an in-depth look, I believe this one explains Mencken's views on race, and how they influenced his life and writing, fairly well.

If you are not up on Mencken, I don't think it necessary to rush to the library and load up on books. His reputation as a writer is pretty much history. The American Mercury articles, for which he was most famous, did not travel well and now are of little interest. Mencken has had a slight rebirth, along with Ayn Rand and other writers with conservative leanings, but that is more political than literary. Unless you are a paleo-conservative, your time can be better spent.

I happened across this essay, H. L. Mencken: Neo-Confederate, at Lew Rockwell.com. I don't agree with everything in it, but think it does say useful things about Mencken's relationship to the South. I am not sure Mencken would want to be claimed by the neo-Confederate movement, though. They are not genteel enough.

There is an another online essay citing Terry Teachout's analysis of Mencken here. It includes reference to Mencken's over identification with Germany, which led him to praise Nazi leaders later in life, among other interesting material.

This passage captures the big picture well:

Even in success, Teachout explains how Mencken was always conflicted internally, between populism and elitism, between civilized criticism and blatant prejudice. The book makes no attempt to absolve him of his obvious streak of racism, anti-Semitism in particular, though the author does point out that once he wrote a piece, for which he received death threats, condemning lynching, which at that time was not uncommon, as well as the fact that he employed and befriended many Jews, even at a time when it was not considered compulsory for white businessmen to practice equality. Mencken's contradictory nature is evident, particularly for a man whose prose came off as the epitome of self-assuredness.

Diva, I'll be checking out Mencken in more depth in a few weeks after things settle down here for me. That last quote you posted kind of summarizes what I've read about him thus far, that he was a walking contradiction in many ways.

Thank you, bhw. I was beginning to wonder if posting information about H.L. Mencken from solid sources is a bad thing-:). Where can one go and see mainstream literary criticism dismissed as 'making up facts'? Only at BU. U? Un-critics.