Tag Archives: H.L. Mencken

Criticism of criticism of etc.

Posted on May 22, 2018 by David Brussat

This post is a species of what Mencken called “Criticism of Criticism of Criticism.” The Architects Newspaper has just published the latest bout of self-criticism. “What do architecture critics think of the state of architecture criticism today?” asks AN. So … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Our pushy American tongue

Posted on June 27, 2017 by David Brussat

As a proud owner of one of the several editions of H.L. Mencken’s The American Language, I was tickled to see him cited in an essay about how, after a battle of centuries, American English has conquered English English. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Deconstructing the matador

Posted on March 18, 2017 by David Brussat

Here is something else from Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Jake Barnes is at a bullfight in Pamplona describing to Lady Brett, as they watch, the finer points of an impressive new, young, very handsome matador’s style: Romero never made … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hemingway on Paris, HLM

Posted on March 16, 2017 by David Brussat

Before the scene shifts to Spain, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises has some bits about Paris and Mencken, two favorites of mine in the pantheons of cities and writers. Hemingway’s protagonist, Jacob Barnes, takes a cab in Paris (circa 1925), … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A high-rise schimflexicon

Posted on July 6, 2015 by David Brussat

H.L. Mencken assembled and published Menckeniana: A Schimflexicon, in which he collected all the abuse of his writing that he could find, mostly from newspaper reviews of his books. I have set myself a much easier but less amusing task … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Art and design, Books and Culture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Criticism of criticism of …

Posted on March 2, 2015 by David Brussat

That’s the title of a famous H.L. Mencken essay called “Criticism of Criticism of Criticism” about the convolutions of critical theoretics. An article by Mark Minkjan in one of my favorite blogs, Failed Architecture, is called “ArchDaily and Architecture Criticism.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Architects, Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why Britannica missed the “storm clouds”

Posted on February 15, 2014 by David Brussat

Following my recent post of the concluding paragraphs of the Encyclopedia Britannica’s articles on architecture in its 11th (1910-11) and 12th (1922) editions, architectural historian Steven Semes, who teaches at Notre Dame’s architecture program in Rome, sent along some detailed … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture Education, Architecture History, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments