DISTURBER OF THE PEACE The Life of H.L. Mencken

Noted author and biographer William Manchester takes on the task of remembering an equally famous contemporary, H. L. Mencken. Mencken's newspaper columns and books penetrated the hypocrisies of public life, and others described him as "irresponsible, readable, and rude." Narrator Anthony Heald takes on a saucy attitude for the descriptions of Mencken's milieu. Using a nasal voice and haughty manner, he seems to thumb his nose at the world, just as H.L. did. Heald adopts a unique voice and manner of speech for everyone in Mencken's life, sometimes projecting his delivery as though he were on stage. His interpretation must follow the author's wanderings and detours through every kind of subject and personality in a crazy salad of writing that sometimes defies any genre. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2008]