An incomparable satirist, Ambrose Bierce became the "laughing devil" of the San Francisco news media, for he was about as discreet as a runaway locomotive, according to H.L.Mencken, and nowhere are his uninhibited irony and gift for verse parody more in evidence than in this "dictionary".
AMBROSE BIERCE (1842-1913) American satirist, critic, short story writer, editor and journalist. He is perhaps most famous for his serialized mock lexicon, THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY in which, over the years, he scathed American culture and accepted wisdom by pointing out alternate, more practical definitions for common words.
