- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA; illustrated edition edition (1 July 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195126262
- ISBN-13: 978-0195126266
- Product Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.9 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,272,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Devil's Dictionary
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Product Description
Product Description
These caustic aphorisms, collected in The Devil's Dictionary, helped earn Ambrose Bierce the epithets Bitter Bierce, the Devil's Lexicographer, and the Wickedest Man in San Francisco. First published as The Cynic's Word Book (1906) and later reissued under its preferred name in 1911, Bierce's notorious collection of barbed definitions forcibly contradicts Samuel Johnson's earlier definition of a lexicographer as a harmless drudge. There was nothing harmless about Ambrose Bierce, and the words he shaped into verbal pitchforks a century ago--with or without the devil's help--can still draw blood today.
About the Author
Roy Morris, Jr., is the editor of America's Civil War and the author of Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company and Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan. He lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
--This text refers to the
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have found that this dictionary can serve a number of purposes. It can sit on your bookcase and look interesting, you can read it (in which case you'll probably burst out laughing on occasion) and you can learn parts of it to use as wit in conversation.
The last is the most entertaining and this book is packed full of wit (or maybe just honesty).
So buy it, and buy it now.
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is actually as devilish as it looks. I have burst into laughter many times while reading it. The definitions are really creative and shows that the author was very good at observing everything going around him. It tells the truth about the meaning of words, but always with a sense of humour, which they deserve. This dictionary is very entertaining, provocative and, yes, realistic. Mr.Bierce is not afraid to say what the others would not and that is always something I like in an author. It is physically thin but mentally thick, that is, it will provoke you to reconsider the definitions you have in your mind. It is both fun and an eye-opener. Probably the most entertaining dictionary in the world.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Originally this started off as small pieces in a newspaper, but over the years as it gradually grew it was compiled into a book. This edition does have an active table of contents, but for some unkonwn reason it doesn't come up on the go to menu, so click on beginning, and go back one page.
I know that a lot of people are aware of this 'dictionary' and what it is, but for those who aren't, Ambrose Bierce compiled an original dictionary and used his sense of humour in saying what words mean. For example marriage is 'the state or condition of a community of a master, mistress and two slaves, making in all, two.'
It is the blend of such cynicism and his satire which has made this a classic.
I know that a lot of people are aware of this 'dictionary' and what it is, but for those who aren't, Ambrose Bierce compiled an original dictionary and used his sense of humour in saying what words mean. For example marriage is 'the state or condition of a community of a master, mistress and two slaves, making in all, two.'
It is the blend of such cynicism and his satire which has made this a classic.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
You Little Devil, You!
I bought this 'dictionary' because it appealed to my sense of humour. It is the funniest book I have read in a long time, with it's interesting, often hilarious, twists on official... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Miss W. Merrymoon
Diabolically witty
This famous book, though not to everyone's tastes and certainly not PC, is a gem. Written over 100 years ago, it is a compilation of definitions which originally appeared in an... Read more
Published 3 months ago by puzzled94
NO TABLE OF CONTENTS, paragraph spacing, strange text used
I'm still looking for a decently produced (and inexpensive)version of this classic - and this one isn't it, albeit free; the problem is navigation, mainly, needing hundreds of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Carol P
Still devilish
This is a faux-dictionary of tongue-in-cheek definitions of everyday words and phrases. In each case the definition pricks a popular conceit, or reveals the unspoken truth. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Stephen Hudson
Poor Kindle edition
This is a very poorly formatted edition. Variable fonts, page breaks everywhere, words appearing from nowhere and footnote references with no hyperlink. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Badger
Honest review
Got this to read from my other half. Its kept in my library, a small collection of books in my toilet. Read more
Published on 25 May 2008 by Mr. Peter M. Gater
Chuckle
The wit flows freely from this volume, and is sharp and astute. It's good for a laugh and, best of all, so cheap. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2004 by Daniel Barrett
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