The Illustrated Devil's Dictionary
Abridged, With New Illustrations
Ambrose Bierce
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Born into squalor in the backwoods of Ohio to ferociously Christian parents, Ambrose Bierce went on to become celebrated and reviled as a merciless critic, professional cynic, and hired purveyor of corrosive commentary.
It may have been Bierce's battlefield experiences during the Civil War that removed any vestiges of civility from his disposition. As a newspaper columnist and short story writer, he worked tirelessly to expose hypocrisy and offend the sensibilities of his day. First in San Francisco and later in Washington, DC, his scorching wit and literary bludgeoning were pitiless in their misanthropy.
In 1911, Bierce gathered a collection of irreverent and savage definitions from his popular newspaper column, and republished them as
The Devil's Dictionary.
The resulting book is acclaimed as a landmark in 20th century satirical literature.
Biographers will be forever forced to place a question mark instead of a date for his final demise. A year after the publication of The Devil's Dictionary he vanished on an inchoate journey into revolutionary Mexico. One of his last letters to reach the United States read, "being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot ... is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs."
In this edition of
The Devil's Dictionary, Bierce's timeless elucidations are illustrated with new graphics.
