“Tis’ the season for the subliminal and the over-the-top political ads,” ForeWord Reviews’ managing editor Kimber Bilby writes today in ForeWord This Week, an e-newsletter. “And they’re definitely getting to me because I’ve chosen two politically-inspired titles for our featured FTW reviews.” And guess what? Notes on Democracy: A New Edition is one of them! No kidding! We here at Dissident Books are mighty jazzed that the good folks at ForeWord thought to give a well-timed primary-week nod to Mencken’s Majestic Missive on the Mob and its Malice.
And we’re very flattered that Notes is coupled with what appears to be a scorcher of a book: Lt. Matt Gallagher’s Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War, a memoir of the war in Iraq. “While Gallagher didn’t hold back his opinions, there is no mistaking the biting satire of noted social critic H.L. Mencken in Notes on Democracy.” Take a minute to read what ForeWord has to say about Notes. And while you’re at it, check out what it had to say about Dissident Books’ other epic, Don’t Call Me a Crook! A Scotsman’s Tale of World Travel, Whisky, and Crime.
“Speaking of democracy and freedom, Banned Books week is only two weeks away,” Bilby segues. She invites readers to send in their answers to ForeWord’s “Banned Books Survey”:
1. What is the most popular banned book in your library/bookstore?
2. Number one question you’re asked about banned books?
3. What display or event received the most attention during Banned Books Week?
Off hand we can’t think of answers to these excellent questions, but we will say that Mencken fought censorship and Puritanism all his life. Indeed, he was no stranger to censorship. A Boston reverend tried to ban The American Mercury, Mencken’s magazine. The Sage of Baltimore stood up to the Puritan, went to trial, and won. Right on, Hank!
