SOURCE: Collins, Craig. “Barbs and Bards.” Reason 23, no. 10 (March 1992): 55-7.

In the following review, Collins perceives Epstein as a worthy successor to H. L. Mencken and provides a mixed assessment of A Line Out for a Walk.

No contemporary essayist quite fills the void left by H. L. Mencken. None is so thoroughly atheistic when it comes to political orthodoxies.

The American Spectator's Bob Tyrell comes close, but he speaks to an intellectual audience. Mencken spoke more to the “motormen's wives.” P. J. O'Rourke can be hilarious, but he sometimes sacrifices common sense for humor, which Mencken would never do. To truly satisfy a hunger for Mencken's style of witty, well-written social comment, readers must mix a bouillabaisse of the best works from all these and other writers.

To that broth, Joseph Epstein adds some spice with flawless prose and keen observations. His weakness is that he...