Jonathan Yardley

OUT OF STEP: NOTESFROM A PURPLE DECADE.Jonathan Yardley.Villard.264 pages. $20. Dudgeon, I believe, is the word for Jonathan Yardley's all-too-accustomed state of mind in this collection of columns from the Washington Post. More often ranging from a low to a middling dudgeon than the classic high sort, it pervades all but a dozen or so of these 64 slightly dispiriting, remarkably brave commentaries on the colorful 1980s.Dispiriting, because he addresses "cultural and literary affairs, education both higher and lower, the press and the media, the ebb and flow of American social life," things that touch us directly; and he's telling us, in effect, that America is in serious danger of going down the drain.

(O) means oversize; (P) means paperboundArt, Architecture"A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum," edited by Malcolm Baker and Brenda Richardson (Baltimore Museum of Art, Abrams. 432 pages. Paper, $35; cloth, $60) (O) Exhibition catalogue."American Rowhouse: Classic Designs," by Jonathon Scott Fuqua (Stemmer House. A Barbara Holdridge book. 42 pages. $6.95) (O) (P). An annotated portfolio of fronts and interiors, in line drawings."KAL Draws a Crowd," by Kevin Kallaugher (Woodholme.

Two programs remain in the "Odyssey Media Forum," a series sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University that features conversations on art and culture with well-known critics.Wednesday meet Robert Brustein, theater critic for the New Republic, director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard, former dean of the Yale Drama School and founder of the Yale Repertory. He will talk about the function of theater criticism and his greatest challenges as a regional theater director.Jonathan Yardley, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for the Washington Post, takes a look inside the publishing world Nov. 12. He will talk about the life and choices of an irrepressible critic, including his nominations for 10 "must-read" books.

Two programs remain in the "Odyssey Media Forum," a series sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University that features conversations on art and culture with well-known critics.Wednesday meet Robert Brustein, theater critic for the New Republic, director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard, former dean of the Yale Drama School and founder of the Yale Repertory. He will talk about the function of theater criticism and his greatest challenges as a regional theater director.Jonathan Yardley, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic for the Washington Post, takes a look inside the publishing world Nov. 12. He will talk about the life and choices of an irrepressible critic, including his nominations for 10 "must-read" books.

The sun is on the porch. It is one of those dank, heavy Baltimore days that spend the patience of men and animals alike, and even defeat the optimism of Roland Park's pert summer blossoms. Jonathan Yardley's two tiny dogs, immune to torpor, make a loud, hysterical dash for the edge of the porch, and the ankles of the arriving mailman."Hey, shut up! Please," Yardley shouts as he moves to restrain them.To a man like Jonathan Yardley, distilled from a "long line of preachers and teachers," made cognizant early on of his ancient English family's membership in the WASP aristocracy surviving in America, manners are not a matter of choice: Showing the face of civilization, no matter what the provocation, is as reflexive as breathing.

"Misfit: The Strange Life of Frederick Exley," by Jonathan Yardley. Random House. 255 pages. $23.Frederick Exley was, as Jonathan Yardley admits in his remarkable new biography, a "one book author." "A Fan's Notes" (1968), which exploded the culture of male heroism ("life isn't all a goddam football game"), was a unique piece of autobiographical fiction. Its virtues were "energy, passion, humor, candor" and an eloquent and original prose style. For Yardley, its narrator, "Fred Exley" is "one of the great characters in American literature, Huck Finn gone alcoholic and dissipated."

MY LIFE AS AUTHOR AND EDITOR. By H. L. Mencken. Edited by Jonathan Yardley. Knopf. 450 pages. $30.WELL, well, well. What have we here? Another racist, antisemitic broadside on the order of Henry Louis Mencken's explosive 1989 diary? Or perhaps a carefully edited (and excised) account of Mencken's reign as editor (with George Jean Nathan) of the zTC Smart Set (1914-1923) and later as founder and editor (again with Nathan) of the American Mercury (1924-1933)?A lot of both, as it turns out, although, happily, the editing by Jonathan Yardley, a columnist and book reviewer for the Washington Post, is well-done.

H. L. MENCKEN: MY LIFEAS AUTHOR AND EDITOR.Edited by Jonathan Yardley.Knopf.428 pages. $27.50.Among the various memoirs undertaken by H. L. Mencken in his final years of literary activity was a recollection of the magazines he had edited and of the friends and acquaintances he had made at the time. Dictation of the book to his secretary began in November 1942, when he was 62. By the time he suffered a permanently incapacitating stroke six years later, he had accumulated a manuscript of more than a thousand pages.

It's Jack Kent Cooke's desire to minimize talking about the palace for football he intends to create midway between Baltimore and Washington. Obviously, he believes the idea sells itself and doesn't require any explanation.This is an unusual posture for a billionaire sportsman who rarely rations his words and, upon expressing himself, does it with a distinctive flow of oratory -- backed up by intent that only a fool would challenge.In an interview, almost all of which the Washington Redskins owner wanted off the record, there were few things he allowed open for discussion.

The latest media feeding frenzy has everyone taking shots at Joe McGinniss' new biography of Teddy Kennedy: "A Graying, Fat Guy Who Still Gets the Babes."Actually the book is called "The Last Brother" and, boy, is it controversial, with McGinniss accused of sloppy research, outright fabrication, stealing from other works on the Kennedys and a total disregard for the truth.Hey, picky, picky, picky.Look, you want facts, go to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, OK?Besides, what kind of a country do we live in where you can't even accuse someone of being a boorish, overweight, drunken philanderer without getting into trouble?

The sun is on the porch. It is one of those dank, heavy Baltimore days that spend the patience of men and animals alike, and even defeat the optimism of Roland Park's pert summer blossoms. Jonathan Yardley's two tiny dogs, immune to torpor, make a loud, hysterical dash for the edge of the porch, and the ankles of the arriving mailman."Hey, shut up! Please," Yardley shouts as he moves to restrain them.To a man like Jonathan Yardley, distilled from a "long line of preachers and teachers," made cognizant early on of his ancient English family's membership in the WASP aristocracy surviving in America, manners are not a matter of choice: Showing the face of civilization, no matter what the provocation, is as reflexive as breathing.

"Misfit: The Strange Life of Frederick Exley," by Jonathan Yardley. Random House. 255 pages. $23.Frederick Exley was, as Jonathan Yardley admits in his remarkable new biography, a "one book author." "A Fan's Notes" (1968), which exploded the culture of male heroism ("life isn't all a goddam football game"), was a unique piece of autobiographical fiction. Its virtues were "energy, passion, humor, candor" and an eloquent and original prose style. For Yardley, its narrator, "Fred Exley" is "one of the great characters in American literature, Huck Finn gone alcoholic and dissipated."

It's Jack Kent Cooke's desire to minimize talking about the palace for football he intends to create midway between Baltimore and Washington. Obviously, he believes the idea sells itself and doesn't require any explanation.This is an unusual posture for a billionaire sportsman who rarely rations his words and, upon expressing himself, does it with a distinctive flow of oratory -- backed up by intent that only a fool would challenge.In an interview, almost all of which the Washington Redskins owner wanted off the record, there were few things he allowed open for discussion.

Howard Street. This most visible of downtown thoroughfares, this route traveled by thousands on the light rail bound for Camden Yards, is no corridor of hope. From a seat on the gleaming white train, the drab scene flashes by the window like a recession-era documentary. The once-proud retail giants loom cold and gray like tombstones.Once considered the Fifth Avenue of Baltimore, Howard Street was a showplace. Grand display windows at department stores competed for the attention of shoppers who ventured downtown in their finest attire.

The latest media feeding frenzy has everyone taking shots at Joe McGinniss' new biography of Teddy Kennedy: "A Graying, Fat Guy Who Still Gets the Babes."Actually the book is called "The Last Brother" and, boy, is it controversial, with McGinniss accused of sloppy research, outright fabrication, stealing from other works on the Kennedys and a total disregard for the truth.Hey, picky, picky, picky.Look, you want facts, go to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, OK?Besides, what kind of a country do we live in where you can't even accuse someone of being a boorish, overweight, drunken philanderer without getting into trouble?

MY LIFE AS AUTHOR AND EDITOR. By H. L. Mencken. Edited by Jonathan Yardley. Knopf. 450 pages. $30.WELL, well, well. What have we here? Another racist, antisemitic broadside on the order of Henry Louis Mencken's explosive 1989 diary? Or perhaps a carefully edited (and excised) account of Mencken's reign as editor (with George Jean Nathan) of the zTC Smart Set (1914-1923) and later as founder and editor (again with Nathan) of the American Mercury (1924-1933)?A lot of both, as it turns out, although, happily, the editing by Jonathan Yardley, a columnist and book reviewer for the Washington Post, is well-done.

Recalling MenckenThe much awaited H.L. Mencken book edited by Jonathan Yardley (based on writings Mencken required to be sealed for 35 years following his 1956 death) should contain, as most of Mencken's writings do, both extensive observation and praise for the city he loved more than any other in the world: Baltimore.The book is supposed to be released early next year, but many people are speculating that it might be released in December in time for the book industry's very profitable Christmas trade promotions.

(O) means oversize; (P) means paperboundArt, Architecture"A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum," edited by Malcolm Baker and Brenda Richardson (Baltimore Museum of Art, Abrams. 432 pages. Paper, $35; cloth, $60) (O) Exhibition catalogue."American Rowhouse: Classic Designs," by Jonathon Scott Fuqua (Stemmer House. A Barbara Holdridge book. 42 pages. $6.95) (O) (P). An annotated portfolio of fronts and interiors, in line drawings."KAL Draws a Crowd," by Kevin Kallaugher (Woodholme.

H. L. MENCKEN: MY LIFEAS AUTHOR AND EDITOR.Edited by Jonathan Yardley.Knopf.428 pages. $27.50.Among the various memoirs undertaken by H. L. Mencken in his final years of literary activity was a recollection of the magazines he had edited and of the friends and acquaintances he had made at the time. Dictation of the book to his secretary began in November 1942, when he was 62. By the time he suffered a permanently incapacitating stroke six years later, he had accumulated a manuscript of more than a thousand pages.

Recalling MenckenThe much awaited H.L. Mencken book edited by Jonathan Yardley (based on writings Mencken required to be sealed for 35 years following his 1956 death) should contain, as most of Mencken's writings do, both extensive observation and praise for the city he loved more than any other in the world: Baltimore.The book is supposed to be released early next year, but many people are speculating that it might be released in December in time for the book industry's very profitable Christmas trade promotions.