Cobwebs from an Empty Skull

Bierce's satirical dictionary, with nearly a thousand definitions like Patience: a minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue. Open it on any page: it reads in short bites and its jokes about politics, money and religion still land.

Ambrose Bierce

Hundreds of very short fables where the animals, judges and politicians are all equally greedy. Bierce takes the form of Aesop and turns every moral upside down.

Ambrose Bierce

The first book edition of The Devil's Dictionary, published in 1906 and covering the letters A to L. Compare it with the 1911 version to see how Bierce sharpened his definitions.

Ambrose Bierce

His first book, published in London in 1873 under the pen name Dod Grile. Short sketches, mock news and dark jokes that show his bitter humor was there from the start.

Ambrose Bierce

Four short tales of black humor, including My Favorite Murder and Oil of Dog, where the narrators describe horrible family crimes as if they were small talk. Bierce at his most shocking and funniest.

Ambrose Bierce