Books: THE LAST OF MENCKEN

H. L. Mencken had a lifetime habit of jotting down iconoclastic notes to himself for use in future essays. Stuffed away and forgotten, they were found shortly before his death early this year and assembled as his final book. Minority Report: H.L. Mencken's Notebook (293 pp.; Knopf; $3.95) is a last lusty Bronx cheer at the muscular pessimist of Baltimore. Some samples:

EXPERIENCE is a poor guide to man, and is seldom followed. A man really learns little by it, for it is narrowly limited in range. What does a faithful husband know of women, or a faithful wife of...

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