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Library of America #219
The Devil's Dictionary, Tales, & Memoirs
A veteran of some of the bloodiest battles of the civil War—among them Shiloh, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and Kennesaw Mountain—Ambrose Bierce went on to become one of the darkest and most death-haunted of American writers, the blackest of black humorists. A prolific journalist who made himself a dominant figure in the emerging literary culture of postwar San Francisco, Bierce developed a style of slashing sarcasm that made him a feared antagonist. As a short story writer—whether drawing on wartime experiences or exploring realms of supernatural and psychological horror—he used extreme situations to give voice to his uniquely engrossing brand of pessimism.
This volume gathers the most celebrated and significant of Bierce’s writings. In the Midst of Life (Tales of Soldiers and Civilians), his collection of short fiction about the Civil War, which includes the masterpieces “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “Chickamauga,” is suffused with a fiercely ironic sense of the horror and randomness of war. Close-up portraits of life in camp and on the battlefield offer unique, often startling, perspectives on the war whose after-echoes pervade Bierce’s writing.
Can Such Things Be? brings together “The Death of Halpin Frayser,” “The Damned Thing,” “The Moonlit Road,” and other tales of terror that make Bierce the genre’s most significant American practitioner between Poe and Lovecraft. These tales are notable, in editor S. T. Joshi’s words, for “the meticulous etching of the precise effects of the supernatural upon the sensitive consciousness of his fear-raddled protagonists.”
The Devil’s Dictionary, the brilliant lexicon of subversively cynical definitions on which Bierce worked for decades, displays to the full his corrosive wit.
In Bits of Autobiography, the series of memoirs that includes the memorable “What I Saw of Shiloh,” he recreates his experiences in the war and its aftermath. The volume is rounded out with a selection of the best stories not gathered in the two major collections. Acclaimed Bierce scholar Joshi provides detailed notes and a newly researched chronology of Bierce’s life and mysterious disappearance.
This volume gathers the most celebrated and significant of Bierce’s writings. In the Midst of Life (Tales of Soldiers and Civilians), his collection of short fiction about the Civil War, which includes the masterpieces “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “Chickamauga,” is suffused with a fiercely ironic sense of the horror and randomness of war. Close-up portraits of life in camp and on the battlefield offer unique, often startling, perspectives on the war whose after-echoes pervade Bierce’s writing.
Can Such Things Be? brings together “The Death of Halpin Frayser,” “The Damned Thing,” “The Moonlit Road,” and other tales of terror that make Bierce the genre’s most significant American practitioner between Poe and Lovecraft. These tales are notable, in editor S. T. Joshi’s words, for “the meticulous etching of the precise effects of the supernatural upon the sensitive consciousness of his fear-raddled protagonists.”
The Devil’s Dictionary, the brilliant lexicon of subversively cynical definitions on which Bierce worked for decades, displays to the full his corrosive wit.
In Bits of Autobiography, the series of memoirs that includes the memorable “What I Saw of Shiloh,” he recreates his experiences in the war and its aftermath. The volume is rounded out with a selection of the best stories not gathered in the two major collections. Acclaimed Bierce scholar Joshi provides detailed notes and a newly researched chronology of Bierce’s life and mysterious disappearance.
891 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2011
About the author
Ambrose Bierce
2,395 books1,357 followersdied perhaps 1914
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style especially in his stories. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.
Bierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
Caustic wit and a strong sense of horror mark works, including In the Midst of Life (1891-1892) and The Devil's Dictionary (1906), of American writer Ambrose Gwinett Bierce.
People today best know this editorialist, journalist, and fabulist for his short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his lexicon.
The informative sardonic view of human nature alongside his vehemence as a critic with his motto, "nothing matters," earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce."
People knew Bierce despite his reputation as a searing critic, however, to encourage younger poet George Sterling and fiction author W.C. Morrow.
Bierce employed a distinctive style especially in his stories. This style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, the theme of war, and impossible events.
Bierce disappeared in December 1913 at the age of 71 years. People think that he traveled to Mexico to gain a firsthand perspective on ongoing revolution of that country.
Theories abound on a mystery, ultimate fate of Bierce. He in one of his final letters stated: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia!"
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 15, 2016
Perfect. This man is the father of trolling and modern sarcasm.
The Internet you have today, you owe it to him. Yup.
Without Bierce, there'd be no memes.
Or if I may sing (Penny Lane style):
Ambrose Bierce is a man with scant few photographs
Of every word he's had the pleasure to write
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello
On the corner is a married man wearing Crocs
The little children laugh at him behind his back
And the ladies never give him any slack
In the pouring rain, very strange
Ambrose Bierce is in my ears and in my memes
Dictionary work to break your dreams
I read it, meanwhile back
Something like that.
Igor
The Internet you have today, you owe it to him. Yup.
Without Bierce, there'd be no memes.
Or if I may sing (Penny Lane style):
Ambrose Bierce is a man with scant few photographs
Of every word he's had the pleasure to write
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello
On the corner is a married man wearing Crocs
The little children laugh at him behind his back
And the ladies never give him any slack
In the pouring rain, very strange
Ambrose Bierce is in my ears and in my memes
Dictionary work to break your dreams
I read it, meanwhile back
Something like that.
Igor
May 6, 2023
If people are aware of this remarkable writer today, it is likely either because of his wickedly humorous “The Devil’s Dictionary” or because they have read, or heard of, his stunning tale “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
In that short story, a man being hung for being a spy has a surreal experience in which the rope around his neck breaks as he plunges toward the waters of a river flowing under the bridge where the hanging is taking place, eludes the guns of his captors firing at him as he desperate swims away, and then doggedly makes his way back to his home. It is when his beloved wife sees him, rushes to him, and touches his neck that … his neck snaps from the hanging rope! His escape had been something he experienced in just fractions of a second!
Although a writer from the second half of the 19th century and, therefore, a person not likely widely read today, his prose is beautifully descriptive yet always also free of the kind of over-flourishing touches so typical of much of 19th century literature, prose as well as poetry. Indeed, his writing seems very modern, and his tales are engaging and usually engrossing.
A veteran of the Civil War, he participated in some of the bloodiest and truly awful battles, including Shiloh, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. Many of the stories in this 800-page collection draw upon that experience, but he manages to depict the horrors and confusion of battle – including the constant whine of bullets, the concussions of huge guns, and the blinding smoke and dust – without graphic depictions of wounding or death (for which I am grateful!). What he focuses on is how often the commanders of one flank – say, the right – were unaware of what was happening elsewhere on the battlefield to, for instance, the center troops or the left flank. Of course, without modern communication devices they had to rely upon their sight or more tardy communications that arrived by messenger on horse, but sometimes on foot. With all of the smoke resulting from gunfire, and the dust rising up from the thousands of soldiers milling about, oftentimes officers could not comprehend what, indeed, was happening at the moment.
It is clear from his many tales that he while he regards war as the highest form of insanity and an abhorrent wasting of human and animal life (horses and mules featured prominently in the armies of both sides), he has the highest respect for the men on both sides who nonetheless put their lives on the line in recognition of their sworn obligation. While there were instances of savagery in battle, there may have been as many acts of unusual courtesy or kindness, too.
But less than half of the book’s stories have to do with war; he has some interesting tales about civilians, too, and some fascinating genre-resisting tales that portray fantastic, supernatural, or just plain eerie events.
The volume has some autobiographical material as well, mostly about his war experiences, that make for fascinating reading, especially for those who are interested in that war and that time period.
In concluding, I wish to quote from an unsettling story he wrote about the future collapse of the American Republic, an early example of dystopian fiction entitled “Ashes of the Beacon.” If aspects of it remind you of our own times, I assure you that I had the same reaction.
Bierce:
“…The urban anarchists were eventually subdued and some semblance of order was restored, but greater woes and sharper shames awaited this unhappy nation, as we shall see.
“In turning from this branch of our subject to consider the causes of the failure and bloody disruption of the great American republic other than those inherent in the form of government, it may not be altogether unprofitable to glance briefly at what seems to a superficial view the inconsistent phenomenon of great material prosperity. It is not to be denied that this unfortunate people was at one time singularly prosperous, in so far as national wealth is a measure and proof of prosperity….
“But at how great a sacrifice of better things was its wealth obtained! By the neglect of all education except that crude, elementary sort which fits men for the coarse delights of business and affairs but confers no capacity of rational enjoyment; by exalting the worth of wealth and making it the test and touchstone of merit; by ignoring art, scorning literature and despising science, except as those might contribute to the glutting of the purse; by setting up and maintaining an artificial standard of morals which condoned all offenses against the property and peace of every one but the condoner; by pitilessly crushing out of their natures every sentiment and aspiration unconnected with accumulation of property, these civilized savages and commercial barbarians attained their sordid end….
“When men or nations devote all the powers of their minds and bodies to the heaping up of wealth, wealth is heaped up. But what avails it?
“…Wealth has accumulated itself into masses; and poverty, also in accumulation enough, lies impassably separated from it; opposed, uncommunicating, like forces in positive and negative poles…. How much among us might be likened to a whited sepulcher; outwardly all pomp and strength, but inwardly full of horror and despair and dead men’s bones! … [Mankind] has subdued this planet, his habitation and inheritance, yet reaps no profit from the victory. Sad to look upon: in the highest stage of civilization nine-tenths of mankind have to struggle in the lowest battle of savage or even animal man – the battle against famine. Countries are rich…but the men of those countries are poor, needier than ever of all sustenance, outward and inward; of belief, of knowledge, of money, of food…
“The judges, as a rule, were no better, for before they could become judges they must have been advocates, with an advocate’s fatal disabilities of judgment. Most of them depended for their office upon the favor of the people, which, also, was fatal to the independence, the dignity and the impartiality to which they laid so solemn claim. In their decisions they favored, so far as they dared, every interest, class or person powerful enough to help or hurt them in an election. Holding their high office by so precarious a tenure, they were under strong temptation to enrich themselves from the serviceable purses of wealthy litigants, and in disregard of justice to cultivate the favor of the attorneys practicing before them….
“In the higher courts of the land, where juries were unknown and appointed judges held their seats for life, these awful conditions did not obtain…. Unfortunately [however], the great judges…had crept to place through the slime of the lower courts and their robes of office bore the damnatory evidence…. Unfortunately, too, the attorneys…brought into the superior tribunals the moral characteristics and professional methods acquired in the lower. Instead of assisting the judges to ascertain the truth and the law, they cheated in argument and took liberties with fact, deceiving the court whenever they deemed it to the interest of their cause to do so….” (Pp. 810-14)
In that short story, a man being hung for being a spy has a surreal experience in which the rope around his neck breaks as he plunges toward the waters of a river flowing under the bridge where the hanging is taking place, eludes the guns of his captors firing at him as he desperate swims away, and then doggedly makes his way back to his home. It is when his beloved wife sees him, rushes to him, and touches his neck that … his neck snaps from the hanging rope! His escape had been something he experienced in just fractions of a second!
Although a writer from the second half of the 19th century and, therefore, a person not likely widely read today, his prose is beautifully descriptive yet always also free of the kind of over-flourishing touches so typical of much of 19th century literature, prose as well as poetry. Indeed, his writing seems very modern, and his tales are engaging and usually engrossing.
A veteran of the Civil War, he participated in some of the bloodiest and truly awful battles, including Shiloh, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. Many of the stories in this 800-page collection draw upon that experience, but he manages to depict the horrors and confusion of battle – including the constant whine of bullets, the concussions of huge guns, and the blinding smoke and dust – without graphic depictions of wounding or death (for which I am grateful!). What he focuses on is how often the commanders of one flank – say, the right – were unaware of what was happening elsewhere on the battlefield to, for instance, the center troops or the left flank. Of course, without modern communication devices they had to rely upon their sight or more tardy communications that arrived by messenger on horse, but sometimes on foot. With all of the smoke resulting from gunfire, and the dust rising up from the thousands of soldiers milling about, oftentimes officers could not comprehend what, indeed, was happening at the moment.
It is clear from his many tales that he while he regards war as the highest form of insanity and an abhorrent wasting of human and animal life (horses and mules featured prominently in the armies of both sides), he has the highest respect for the men on both sides who nonetheless put their lives on the line in recognition of their sworn obligation. While there were instances of savagery in battle, there may have been as many acts of unusual courtesy or kindness, too.
But less than half of the book’s stories have to do with war; he has some interesting tales about civilians, too, and some fascinating genre-resisting tales that portray fantastic, supernatural, or just plain eerie events.
The volume has some autobiographical material as well, mostly about his war experiences, that make for fascinating reading, especially for those who are interested in that war and that time period.
In concluding, I wish to quote from an unsettling story he wrote about the future collapse of the American Republic, an early example of dystopian fiction entitled “Ashes of the Beacon.” If aspects of it remind you of our own times, I assure you that I had the same reaction.
Bierce:
“…The urban anarchists were eventually subdued and some semblance of order was restored, but greater woes and sharper shames awaited this unhappy nation, as we shall see.
“In turning from this branch of our subject to consider the causes of the failure and bloody disruption of the great American republic other than those inherent in the form of government, it may not be altogether unprofitable to glance briefly at what seems to a superficial view the inconsistent phenomenon of great material prosperity. It is not to be denied that this unfortunate people was at one time singularly prosperous, in so far as national wealth is a measure and proof of prosperity….
“But at how great a sacrifice of better things was its wealth obtained! By the neglect of all education except that crude, elementary sort which fits men for the coarse delights of business and affairs but confers no capacity of rational enjoyment; by exalting the worth of wealth and making it the test and touchstone of merit; by ignoring art, scorning literature and despising science, except as those might contribute to the glutting of the purse; by setting up and maintaining an artificial standard of morals which condoned all offenses against the property and peace of every one but the condoner; by pitilessly crushing out of their natures every sentiment and aspiration unconnected with accumulation of property, these civilized savages and commercial barbarians attained their sordid end….
“When men or nations devote all the powers of their minds and bodies to the heaping up of wealth, wealth is heaped up. But what avails it?
“…Wealth has accumulated itself into masses; and poverty, also in accumulation enough, lies impassably separated from it; opposed, uncommunicating, like forces in positive and negative poles…. How much among us might be likened to a whited sepulcher; outwardly all pomp and strength, but inwardly full of horror and despair and dead men’s bones! … [Mankind] has subdued this planet, his habitation and inheritance, yet reaps no profit from the victory. Sad to look upon: in the highest stage of civilization nine-tenths of mankind have to struggle in the lowest battle of savage or even animal man – the battle against famine. Countries are rich…but the men of those countries are poor, needier than ever of all sustenance, outward and inward; of belief, of knowledge, of money, of food…
“The judges, as a rule, were no better, for before they could become judges they must have been advocates, with an advocate’s fatal disabilities of judgment. Most of them depended for their office upon the favor of the people, which, also, was fatal to the independence, the dignity and the impartiality to which they laid so solemn claim. In their decisions they favored, so far as they dared, every interest, class or person powerful enough to help or hurt them in an election. Holding their high office by so precarious a tenure, they were under strong temptation to enrich themselves from the serviceable purses of wealthy litigants, and in disregard of justice to cultivate the favor of the attorneys practicing before them….
“In the higher courts of the land, where juries were unknown and appointed judges held their seats for life, these awful conditions did not obtain…. Unfortunately [however], the great judges…had crept to place through the slime of the lower courts and their robes of office bore the damnatory evidence…. Unfortunately, too, the attorneys…brought into the superior tribunals the moral characteristics and professional methods acquired in the lower. Instead of assisting the judges to ascertain the truth and the law, they cheated in argument and took liberties with fact, deceiving the court whenever they deemed it to the interest of their cause to do so….” (Pp. 810-14)
April 5, 2018
I’ve been happily dipping into this compulsively readable volume for months. The Devil’s Dictionary has been a favorite for years. It’s great to see it collected together in this handsome edition along with Bierce’s dark, often grimly humorous stories. A fine example is “Parker Adderson, Philosopher”. If you look up Bierce’s definition of “philosophy” in The Devil’s Dictionary and then read that story, it will have greater resonance. But you must have a dark sense of humor, otherwise most of the contents of this book will only disturb you. Of course, there are pieces that clearly have no humorous or even ironic aim. I think “Chickamauga” and the “The Moonlit Road”, for instance, are meant to unsettle the reader. That should make you curious. Your curiosity will be rewarded.
January 29, 2016
This collection of wonderful stories by Ambrose Bierce- American civil war veteran, journalist, poet, short story writer, satirist...) is at turns haunting, scary, and extremely witty. I was completely gripped by his first person observations of the war and O. Henry-ish endings, and appreciated the humor of many of the definitions on the Devil's dictionary.
Read
August 23, 2019After having read the book The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes, I wanted to read some of the work of Ambrose Bierce. It certainly provided an interesting backdrop for Fuentes' book.
February 1, 2016
Absolutely amazing collection, amazing material from horror to war stories. Extremely inventive, thoughtful, that it is overwhelming to read but with such variety it is a joy to see what he would come up with next. Its organized very well and with some great notes about when the pieces were published as well as decent biographical information.
June 25, 2017
I do not recall where I first ran across the name of Ambrose Bierce, but I am glad I did. He is a hidden American literary treasure from the second half of the 19th century.
This Library of America volume contains his masterpiece, "The Devil's Dictionary ", a witty, sarcastic, and sometimes cynical commentary on human nature. Some examples include:"Frog-a reptile with edible legs", "Friendship-a ship big enough to carry two in fair weather, but only one in foul", and "Hand-a singular instrument worn at the end of the human arm and commonly thrust into somebody's pocket."
The volume also contains many short stories which include an ounce of O'Henry, a pinch of Poe, a splash of Serling, and a touch of Twain. His best are those about soldiers in the Civil War and those bits of autobiography about Civil War battles, both showing insights not seen by historians I have read.
I did not find his stories about the supernatural as appealing but all of them were richly descriptive.
The final story is an outstanding satire of America in the late 19th century.
Bierce's real life story ends like some of his stories: he simply disappeared somewhere in Mexico and no one knows what happened to him.
This Library of America volume contains his masterpiece, "The Devil's Dictionary ", a witty, sarcastic, and sometimes cynical commentary on human nature. Some examples include:"Frog-a reptile with edible legs", "Friendship-a ship big enough to carry two in fair weather, but only one in foul", and "Hand-a singular instrument worn at the end of the human arm and commonly thrust into somebody's pocket."
The volume also contains many short stories which include an ounce of O'Henry, a pinch of Poe, a splash of Serling, and a touch of Twain. His best are those about soldiers in the Civil War and those bits of autobiography about Civil War battles, both showing insights not seen by historians I have read.
I did not find his stories about the supernatural as appealing but all of them were richly descriptive.
The final story is an outstanding satire of America in the late 19th century.
Bierce's real life story ends like some of his stories: he simply disappeared somewhere in Mexico and no one knows what happened to him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2018
A narrow and dark lane in downtown San Francisco is named after Ambrose Bierce who lived and worked here as a reporter after the Civil War. Although many point to his ghost story and somewhat witty devil's dictionary pieces as his signature; his war short fiction and autobiographical journalisitc war pieces - including the stunning What I Saw of Shiloh - have a force, style and feeling you find in The Iliad, Red Badge of Courage, the WWI literature, Hemingway and in one piece (Coup de Grace), Catch-22. I found a NYT blog about his wartime work I liked as a summary of why the writing is so important
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com...
As a San Franciscan I enjoyed also some of the lighter stories ( the ghoulish - occasionally tiresome - ghost stories are sweet compared to the real war narratives) when they mention streets of the city and how they looked then and its inhabitants. Speaking of ghoulish, "Oil of Dog" will remind you of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
Some critics call him a foreruner or influence on later authors who wrote about war; true, but he's good in his own right from a style period he had to wrench into saying something different.
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com...
As a San Franciscan I enjoyed also some of the lighter stories ( the ghoulish - occasionally tiresome - ghost stories are sweet compared to the real war narratives) when they mention streets of the city and how they looked then and its inhabitants. Speaking of ghoulish, "Oil of Dog" will remind you of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
Some critics call him a foreruner or influence on later authors who wrote about war; true, but he's good in his own right from a style period he had to wrench into saying something different.
August 20, 2026
This Library of America volume gathers all of Ambrose Bierce’s short stories as well as his memoirs of the American Civil War, showcasing an author who is deeply satirical, sharp-witted, and filled with flawless dark humor.
In his war stories, one can truly appreciate the uncertainty, the lack of heroism, and the sheer fear of those who took part, all reduced to the raw circumstances of battle.
Then there are his gothic and horror tales, where without relying on explicit tropes, Bierce subtly paints the fragility of human reason when confronted with the incomprehensible. Likewise, the stories that could be categorized as science fiction stand out because, despite the era, they explore ideas about perception and technology that are remarkably well-formed.
His memoirs complement the collection with great autobiographical passages detailing his own service in the conflict. Throughout the entire volume, his disenchanted worldview and sharp irony serve as the perfect thread connecting human tragedy and the complexities of human nature.
In his war stories, one can truly appreciate the uncertainty, the lack of heroism, and the sheer fear of those who took part, all reduced to the raw circumstances of battle.
Then there are his gothic and horror tales, where without relying on explicit tropes, Bierce subtly paints the fragility of human reason when confronted with the incomprehensible. Likewise, the stories that could be categorized as science fiction stand out because, despite the era, they explore ideas about perception and technology that are remarkably well-formed.
His memoirs complement the collection with great autobiographical passages detailing his own service in the conflict. Throughout the entire volume, his disenchanted worldview and sharp irony serve as the perfect thread connecting human tragedy and the complexities of human nature.
September 6, 2026
I read Devil’s Dictionary a few years ago, it’s fine. His civil war stories are just right, and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is the basis for my favorite movie of all time.
Everything else here I can chuck into the trash. Over and over again I had to google “what the hell even happened here?” When it comes to his horror stories his prose style is needlessly obfuscatory and at odds with his presumed literary goal, to scare the reader, or at least unsettle them. I want to “work hard on a sentence” if I’m reading something like Beckett, but here he wants it both ways, he wants to dick around with his prose and expect the reader to nonetheless be shocked by the end. “Wait, so what actually just happened… OH. Okay, NOW I’m scared.” Foolishness.
Everything else here I can chuck into the trash. Over and over again I had to google “what the hell even happened here?” When it comes to his horror stories his prose style is needlessly obfuscatory and at odds with his presumed literary goal, to scare the reader, or at least unsettle them. I want to “work hard on a sentence” if I’m reading something like Beckett, but here he wants it both ways, he wants to dick around with his prose and expect the reader to nonetheless be shocked by the end. “Wait, so what actually just happened… OH. Okay, NOW I’m scared.” Foolishness.
November 28, 2021
I don't know why people read Poe or Crane or--God help me--Longfellow, but don't read Ambrose Bierce. Maybe because if they did, they would want to rip their hearts out after each story. A Union cannoneer who bombards his own house, with wife and child inside? A Confederate saboteur who imagines a whole life ahead of him as he is about to be hanged off the side of a bridge. These are amazingly intense, gut-wrenching stories with each word as bitter and concentrated as day-old espresso. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the short story and/or U.S. history.
November 9, 2020
Some of the greatest short stories imaginable, like combining the thrill of Lovecraft with the wit of O. Henry.
The Devil's Dictionary offers a cynical, crude, and often hilarious view of society, politics, and religion. Dr. Johnson introduced bias to dictionaries, but Bierce perfected the dictionary as a form of satire.
The Devil's Dictionary offers a cynical, crude, and often hilarious view of society, politics, and religion. Dr. Johnson introduced bias to dictionaries, but Bierce perfected the dictionary as a form of satire.
Read
January 30, 2022ამბროზ ბირსი შეიძლება ერთი შეხედვით საერთოდაც არიყოს მაღალი დონის მწერალი, არც ეს წიგნი იყოს შეიძლება რაიმე ფენომენალური, მაგრამ როგორც ყველა ეპოქას თუ დროს გააჩნია საკუთარი ლიტერატურული გამოძახილი, ეს წიგნიც ამერიკული სამოქალაქო ომის სულით არის განჟღეთილი. ალბათ სწორედ დიდი კულტურული და სოციალური ცვლილების გამო გახდა ამერიკაში ეს წიგნი პოპულალური.
July 24, 2022
Contains a terrific survey of Bierce’s civil war recollection and short stories, ghost and folk tales, and the brilliant “The Devil’s Dictionary.”
Note: must be able to tolerate some coarse racial language and attitude of the time. Still allowing for that, a rewarding volume edited by S T Joshi.
Note: must be able to tolerate some coarse racial language and attitude of the time. Still allowing for that, a rewarding volume edited by S T Joshi.
June 18, 2018
Such a fun reading. Very creative.
December 18, 2020
Snarky. Pithy. Ribald. Ambrose Bierce was one of the wittiest and most adventuresome writers of his day. Perhaps he will receive a true biography and biographer some day.
September 6, 2023
To know to do right and to not do it.
November 24, 2023
An absorbing, collection of his prolific works that you can dip in and out of at your leisure and pleasure…
January 26, 2026
Good humor.
August 10, 2025
After being exposed to some of his definitions in college and hearing of some of his short stories, I finally sought him out and read some of his more renowned tales.
I read “A Horseman in the Sky”, “An Occurrence at Owl Bridge”, and “Chickamauga” from his Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, and from his book of ghost stories Can Such Things Be? I read “The Damned Thing” “The Stranger”, “The Isle of Pines”, “The Moonlit Road”, and “The Death of Halpin Frayser”. As “An Occurrence at Owl Bridge” towers over the works of the former collection, so “The Moonlit Road” towers over the latter. Its arrangement of three increasingly unsettling perspectives on the event allows for both the gradual unveiling of the mystery as well as the increasing belief in the supernatural. I will remember and, God-willing, revisit it.
I read some of “What I Saw of Shiloh” from his autobiography. And, I read more of the Devil’s Dictionary which contains a series of definitions in which every normative enterprise is ironically and wittily reduced to mercenary, forceful, or egotistical motives. Its bluntness makes me laugh, but cynicism grows tiresome after a while, so I put it down after getting through the letter E.
I read “A Horseman in the Sky”, “An Occurrence at Owl Bridge”, and “Chickamauga” from his Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, and from his book of ghost stories Can Such Things Be? I read “The Damned Thing” “The Stranger”, “The Isle of Pines”, “The Moonlit Road”, and “The Death of Halpin Frayser”. As “An Occurrence at Owl Bridge” towers over the works of the former collection, so “The Moonlit Road” towers over the latter. Its arrangement of three increasingly unsettling perspectives on the event allows for both the gradual unveiling of the mystery as well as the increasing belief in the supernatural. I will remember and, God-willing, revisit it.
I read some of “What I Saw of Shiloh” from his autobiography. And, I read more of the Devil’s Dictionary which contains a series of definitions in which every normative enterprise is ironically and wittily reduced to mercenary, forceful, or egotistical motives. Its bluntness makes me laugh, but cynicism grows tiresome after a while, so I put it down after getting through the letter E.
March 10, 2014
Ambrose Bierce was truly a gifted writer. I marvel at his use of vocabulary. Never before have I experienced the horror of war as portrayed by Bierce, himself a veteran of some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. However, I soon tired of his short stories and his collection of cynicisms; expertly written but each with its unique and upsetting "quirk of fate" ending. During his day he was known as “Bitter Bierce”, a writer of dark insights and savage wit. His “The Devil’s Dictionary”, is brilliant but for me his corrosive wit can only be taken in small doses.
I was unable to finish this book.
I was unable to finish this book.
January 21, 2019
An absolutely amazing edition of this fantastic American writer, who has sadly become extremely underrated.
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