The Devil's Dictionary - Bierce, Ambrose

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Résumé :
Ambrose Bierce wrote a satirical dictionary titled The Devil's Dictionary. The lexicon was first written over a period of thirty years as a collection of articles for magazines and newspapers. It has gained a name all across the world by being frequently repeated and imitated. It was listed among the top 100 works of American literature in the 1970s.The English Language, his dictionary, was released on April 15th, 1755. 42,733 terms were defined in Johnson's Dictionary, almost all seriously. The alphabetical list of definitions that we have here was put together from several notes, copies, and variations.The first definition attributed to Ambrose Bierce was released in 1867. His satirical dictionary The Demon's Dictionary was only published once, but it inspired imitators. Harry Ellington Brook wrote one of the most significant ones for The Illustrated San Francisco Wasp. In The Wasp, Paul Bierce's satirical definitions took the place of Wasp's Improved Webster and were replaced with his own. He penned 79 articles for The Devil's Dictionary, making his way through the alphabet to the word lickspittle in the 14 August 1886 edition.

Biographie:
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842 - 1914) was an American editor, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist. Despite his reputation as a searing critic, Bierce was known to encourage younger writers, including the poets George Sterling and Herman George Scheffauer and the fiction writer W. C. Morrow. Bierce employed a distinctive style of writing, especially in his stories. His style often embraces an abrupt beginning, dark imagery, vague references to time, limited descriptions, impossible events and the theme of war.

Sommaire:
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book The Devil's Dictionary was named as one of The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. His story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge has been described as one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature. His war stories influenced Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and he was considered an influential and feared literary critic....