Word: kemler
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Though Edgar Kemler's title would imply that his new book is a biography of H. L. Mencken, it is more accurately described in a notation on the dust jacket: "An Informal History of the Man and His Era." A genuine biography of the 'Sage of Baltimore' would be a good idea (and a part of one can be found in Mencken's autobiographical books: "Happy Days," "Newspaper Days," and "Heathen Days") but what Mr. Kemler was written is only a chronicle of the era in which his protagonist made his biggest splash in the backwaters of American culture...
...manners and its mind, crying out in horror and chagrin . . ." His battles with the censors, one of which caused him to invade Boston and which also caused Felix Caragianes, the Square newsdealer, to be arrested for selling Mencken's "Mercury," are no less admirable today than yesterday. Mr. Kemler's recounting of the Boston incident and the Scopes "Monkey Trial" (he contends that "perhaps" Scopes was influenced by Mencken's writing) makes lively reading...
...first sentence, Mr. Kemler sees Mencken as a "Rabelais, Swift, or Shaw--who has somehow abused his gifts." Mr. Kemler fails to make his case for this comparison. His book is a humdrum piece of writing, devoid of wit and the dramatic flair necessary for a biography...
...only take issue with Kemler on his underemphasis of the lack of planning and of long-range goals, implicit in the Administration's experimental attitude. It is true that he admits "the developmental implications of the various measures fly off at tangents--often in contradiction to one another." But he tends to pass off this defect a little too lightly. He agrees that "we must adopt a more explicit plan," but he doesn't consider the possible conflicts between his deflation of ideals and the development of long-range objectives...
Every progressive, however, should be grateful to Mr. Kemler for removing some of that unpleasant burden of righteousness under which no man can act freely...