Mencken biography is NetLibrary's December eBook of the Month

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA,  1 December 2005—NetLibrary, in partnership with Oxford University Press, Inc. (OUP US), will feature Mencken: The American Iconoclast as the December eBook of the Month.  Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as "The best biography of Mencken to date," this frank look at the one of America's most colorful, most controversial, and most influential journalists will be available December 1-31 through more than 13,000 participating libraries.

Drawing on research from more than 60 archives including private collections in the United States and in Germany, on exclusive interviews with H.L. Mencken's friends, and on his love letters and FBI files, author Marion Elizabeth Rodgers vividly recreates Mencken's era: the glittering tapestry of turn-of-the-century America, the roaring twenties, depressed thirties, and the home front during World War II.  At a time when few dared to shatter complacencies, Mencken fought for civil liberties and free speech.  We see the prominent role he played in the Scopes Monkey Trial, his long crusade against Prohibition, his fierce battles against press censorship, and his constant exposure of pious frauds and empty uplift.

As a champion of free press, Mencken's views are still relevant today as America reexamines the role journalists play in our society, especially during times of war.  But as Mencken put it, the role of the press is "to keep a wary eye on the gentlemen who run this great nation, and only too often slip into the assumption that they own it."  As was his habit, Mencken turned for inspiration to Thomas Jefferson, who said, "Our liberty depends on freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited, without being lost."

Mencken also played a pivotal role in defining the shape of American letters through The Smart Set and The American Mercury, magazines that introduced such writers as James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Langston Hughes.  The paradoxes of Mencken's life are explored, as new gaps are filled regarding his notorious views of minorities and his conflict, as a German American, during two world wars.  And throughout, Rodgers captures the irrepressible spirit and irreverent wit for which Mencken was famed.

The NetLibrary eBook of the Month is designed to showcase new and noteworthy titles available from NetLibrary and encourage patrons to visit their libraries’ eBook collection.  Each month, NetLibrary selects a new featured title and provides free, unlimited access through the authenticated homepages of more than 13,000 public, academic and special libraries.

About OCLC
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit organization that has provided computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, preservation and eContent services to 54,000 libraries in 109 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.oclc.org.

Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, NetLibrary (www.netlibrary.org) is a division of OCLC.  NetLibrary provides content and technical delivery solutions to institutional libraries, corporations and government agencies that facilitate the purchase, management and distribution of research, reference, digital learning, and general interest content via Web-based technologies.  NetLibrary's eContent solution is the most broadly adopted in the market, making the content of more than 400 publishers and eContent providers available through more than 13,000 libraries worldwide.

About Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press, Inc. (OUP USA), is Oxford University Press's second major publishing center, after Oxford (UK).  It publishes works that further Oxford University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship and education.

OUP USA is the largest American university press and perhaps the most diverse publisher of its type.  It publishes at a variety of levels, for a wide range of audiences in almost every academic discipline.  OUP USA employs nearly 500 people in the US, evenly divided between its offices in New York City and the Research Triangle area of North Carolina.

Find out more about OCLC

NetLibrary and OCLC are trademarks/service marks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners.