The Devils Dictionary

This is a new book. Condition: Brand New.

Bierce's dictionary, first published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book, brought his biting black humour to bear on spoof definitions of everyday words. Over 100 years later, Bierce's redefinitions still give us pause for thought- making for a timely new edition of this irreverent and provocative satire.

DIPLOMACY, n. The patriotic art of lying for one's country In 1881 Ambrose Bierce, journalist and former soldier for the Union army in the Civil War, began writing satirical definitions for the San Francisco Wasp, and then for William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Examiner. Bierce was launched on a journalistic career that would see him liked and loathed in equal measure - and earn him the title of 'the wickedest man in San Francisco'. In his column, Bierce, a contemporary of Mark Twain, brought his biting black humour to bear on spoof definitions of everyday words, writing deliberate mistranslations of the vocabulary of the establishment, the Church and the politics of his day, and shining a sardonic light on hypocrisy and deception. These columns formed the beginnings of a dictionary, first published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book. Over 100 years later, Bierce's redefinitions still give us pause for thought - REPORTER, n. A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words; UN-AMERICAN, adj. Wicked, intolerable, heathenish; POLITICS, n. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage - making for a timely new edition of this irreverent and provocative satire.

Book details and technical specifications

Format: Hardback
ISBN13: 9781851245079
Published: November 2018

Number of pages: 256
Width: 129 mm
Height: 198 mm
Depth: not specified

Publisher: Bodleian Library