New Releases by Ambrose Bierce

Begun in a weekly paper in 1881, Bierce''s "dictionary" contained the sardonic definitions published by Ambrose Bierce as "The cynic''s word book" in 1906.

Begun in a weekly paper in 1881, Bierce''s "dictionary" of barbed definitions includes cynical epigrams, maxims, essays, and verses that illustrate the irreverent humor of the nineteenth-century satirist as he lampoons cherished American traditions.

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist. Today, he is best known for his short stories, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and his satirical dictionary, The Devil''s Dictionary. The dictionary offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language and also which lampoon religious and political doublespeak. Examples: LAWYER One skilled in circumvention of the law. FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured.

An abridged and illustrated version of the original masterpiece by the acerbic American satirist Ambrose Bierce (b. 1842), addressed, in the author¿s own words, to ''enlightened souls who prefer dry wines to sweet, sense to sentiment, wit to humor and clean English to slang¿. Bierce was a journalist specializing in sharp satire, and also a writer of war and ghost stories, some with a distinctive Western flavor.

The Devil''s Dictionary, begun as a weekly column when Bierce was a journalist, and developed into a full-scale satire, is, as he says, a punishment for rascals. Bierce became known as the ''laughing devil'' of the San Francisco news media and his lampoons on religion, marriage, politics and society made him both the literary delight and the dreaded scourge of the whole Pacific coast. Written with wit, rather than humour, to be savoured by those ''enlightened souls who prefer dry wines to sweet, sense to sentiment'', The Enlarged Devil''s Dictionary demonstrates that if Mark Twain was the great satirist of Southern life, Ambrose Bierce was his equal in the West.

"Bierce''s fables are distinguished for their biting wit and their cynical reflection of the political and social events of his time. Local and national political figures; corrupt lawyers, judges, and clergymen; and even incidents in the Spanish-American War are all mercilessly lampooned. The fables not only testify to Bierce''s hatred of "hypocrisy, cant, and all sham" but provide a window into late nineteenth-century American society. S. T.

The American writer attacks many nineteenth-century institutions and individuals in these collected short fables

The complete and uncensored collection of definitions, anecdotes, language play and verse for over 1000 words, in the humorous and cynical pen of Ambrose Bierce.