The Devil's Dictionary

Ambrose Bierce once wrote a review that should be posted in every publisher's office: 'The covers of this book are too far aprt.' Described as 'an eccentric who remains wickedly quotable', Bierce was one of the most celebrated reporters of his eara. He bu8ilt his literary reputation partly on The Devil's Dictionary, a satiric lexicon first published as The Cyni's Word Book in 1906, and later reissued under the author's preferred titled in 1911. The barbed definitions that Bierce began publishing in the Wasp, a weekly journal he edited in San Francisco from 1881-1886 brought this 19th century stock form to a new level of artistry. Bierce lampooned social, professionsl, and religious convention as in his definitions for bore-'A person who talks when you wish him to listen'; architect -'One who drafts a plan of your house, and plans a draft of your money',; and saint-'A dead sinner, revised and edited.'