''Happy Days, 1880–1892'' (1940) is the first of an

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

by H.L. Mencken, covering his days as a child in

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Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

from birth through age twelve. It was followed by ''Newspaper Days, 1899–1906'' (1941) and ''Heathen Days, 1890–1936'' (1943). The book was received with some surprise by Mencken's readers, since, unlike his commentaries on current events, it is written with great warmth and affection. Mencken's childhood was apparently happy and secure, and he enjoyed both living through it and reminiscing about it in later years.

Editions

* ''Happy Days: Mencken's Autobiography: 1880-1892'' ( Johns Hopkins University Press: Bumcombe Collection, 2006)

External links

1940 non-fiction books Books by H. L. Mencken Literary autobiographies {{lit-bio-book-stub