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The Devil's Advocate: An Ambrose Bierce Reader
. The complete texts of The Devil's Dictionary and Write It Right
. The famous Civil War stories
· Macabre tales of the supernatural
· An unparalleled bounty of satirical poems, parables, and essays
From the flap:
Muckraking journalist, short story writer, adventurer, and arbiter of literary taste, Ambrose Bierce is an American classic: a self-taught satirist dedicated to fighting fools and their foolishness, cant, and hypocrisy. His deadly wit established him as one of the world's first media stars, and some seventy years after his mysterious disappearance in revolutionary Mexico, he remains a figure of keen interest and speculation, most recently
as the central character in Carlos Fuentes' best-selling novel, The Old Gringo. "The genius of The Old Gringo," said the New York Times, "is the choice of a character as rich as Ambrose Bierce."
In a career spanning the decades between the Civil War and World War I, Bierce produced two and a half million words of brilliant journalism, short fiction, and essays attacking the vice and folly of American culture. Politicians, lawyers, clergy, suffragettes, Great Writers, Great Thinkers, and, of course, the press were all targets of his merciless invective.
The Devil's Advocate is a comprehensive anthology of Bierce's best, with selections ranging from his classic The Devil's Dictionary (with previously unpublished definitions) and Write It Right to slanderous poetry and his journalism on the arms industry, political corruption, racism, and evangelical Christianity. Also included are his masterful Civil War short stories such as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," his popular tales of the macabre, and his controversial critiques of fellow literary giants Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, and Henry James.
Bierce defined a cynic as "a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be."
The definition is its author's own anthem. Like his contemporary and great rival, Mark Twain, Bierce retains a hold on the modern reader's imagination. His incisive words - and their targets - are as relevant to the twilight of the twentieth century as they were to the days surrounding its dawn.
. The famous Civil War stories
· Macabre tales of the supernatural
· An unparalleled bounty of satirical poems, parables, and essays
From the flap:
Muckraking journalist, short story writer, adventurer, and arbiter of literary taste, Ambrose Bierce is an American classic: a self-taught satirist dedicated to fighting fools and their foolishness, cant, and hypocrisy. His deadly wit established him as one of the world's first media stars, and some seventy years after his mysterious disappearance in revolutionary Mexico, he remains a figure of keen interest and speculation, most recently
as the central character in Carlos Fuentes' best-selling novel, The Old Gringo. "The genius of The Old Gringo," said the New York Times, "is the choice of a character as rich as Ambrose Bierce."
In a career spanning the decades between the Civil War and World War I, Bierce produced two and a half million words of brilliant journalism, short fiction, and essays attacking the vice and folly of American culture. Politicians, lawyers, clergy, suffragettes, Great Writers, Great Thinkers, and, of course, the press were all targets of his merciless invective.
The Devil's Advocate is a comprehensive anthology of Bierce's best, with selections ranging from his classic The Devil's Dictionary (with previously unpublished definitions) and Write It Right to slanderous poetry and his journalism on the arms industry, political corruption, racism, and evangelical Christianity. Also included are his masterful Civil War short stories such as "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," his popular tales of the macabre, and his controversial critiques of fellow literary giants Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, and Henry James.
Bierce defined a cynic as "a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be."
The definition is its author's own anthem. Like his contemporary and great rival, Mark Twain, Bierce retains a hold on the modern reader's imagination. His incisive words - and their targets - are as relevant to the twilight of the twentieth century as they were to the days surrounding its dawn.
327 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 25, 2012
The Civil War stories are really worthy; the supernatural stories pretty good; the Devil's Dictionary occasionally brilliant; the journalism squibs, poetry and fables often tedious. Bierce was an interesting character who deserves to be memorialized, but 327 pages is at least 100 too many.
November 24, 2016
This is a good compilation of writings by Bierce. I most liked the introductory biographical essay, the Civil War Stories, Write it Right, the Devil's Dictionary, and the Coda: on Suicide.
Bierce certainly was a strange fellow, with a bad attitude towards women, but he has a lot of redeeming qualities. I liked his willingness to be brash with politicians in his journalism essays and his self-taught cynical style. He was probably a bitter and unhappy man who used his intellectual abilities to cope with his frustration in the world. I suspect he did commit suicide or at least put himself in harm's way to deliberately die.
Most people know about Bierce's Devil's Dictionary but he actually had a wide range of genres. He should be as well known as Mark Twain.
Bierce certainly was a strange fellow, with a bad attitude towards women, but he has a lot of redeeming qualities. I liked his willingness to be brash with politicians in his journalism essays and his self-taught cynical style. He was probably a bitter and unhappy man who used his intellectual abilities to cope with his frustration in the world. I suspect he did commit suicide or at least put himself in harm's way to deliberately die.
Most people know about Bierce's Devil's Dictionary but he actually had a wide range of genres. He should be as well known as Mark Twain.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews