Rating: 
Summary: Funnier than the Devil
Review: The Devil has nothing on Bierce, (except maybe a pretty good blackmail file with color photographs). Bierce plays with the English language and presents his cynical and humorous view of the world. Biting satire would be appropriate here if the use of an ordinary dictionary were permitted. With Bierce's included definition: "Satire, n. An obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the authors enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness." However, this book isn't obsolete, but becomes more evidently true as time goes on. An excellent list of definitions that insult everyone in general and everyone in particular. This book is a necessary tool to carry in your pocket and correct people's definitions at cocktail parties. You could tell people the definition of a Saint, 'n. A dead sinner revised and edited'. Someone should start a movement to canonize Bierce, since he qualifies for Sainthood by his own definition.
Rating:
Summary: Funnier than the Devil
Review: The Devil has nothing on Bierce, (except maybe a pretty good blackmail file with color photographs). Bierce plays with the English language and presents his cynical and humorous view of the world. Biting satire would be appropriate here if the use of an ordinary dictionary were permitted. With Bierce's included definition: "Satire, n. An obsolete kind of literary composition in which the vices and follies of the authors enemies were expounded with imperfect tenderness." However, this book isn't obsolete, but becomes more evidently true as time goes on. An excellent list of definitions that insult everyone in general and everyone in particular. This book is a necessary tool to carry in your pocket and correct people's definitions at cocktail parties. You could tell people the definition of a Saint, 'n. A dead sinner revised and edited'. Someone should start a movement to canonize Bierce, since he qualifies for Sainthood by his own definition.
Rating:
Summary: Bitter Bierce pleases
Review: The Devil's Dictionary is in fact a dictionary, written not by the devil, but by Ambrose Bierce. He was awarded the nicknames 'Bitter Bierce', 'the Devil's Lexographer', and 'the Wickedest Man in San Francisco'. It is a compilation of Bierce's favourite definitions from his magazine, the Sting. They remain cuttingly true today, although they were written at the end of the nineteenth century. For example:Monday, noun. In Christian countries, the day after the baseball game. Monkey, noun. An aboreal animal which makes itself at home in genealogical trees. The Devil's Dictionary is great not only as bathroom reading, but in helping one muddle through today's society. I only wish Bierce had written more. More, adjective. The comparative degree of too much.
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
Review: This book is an absolute gem, and here is a wonderfully cheap edition, even allowing for conversion to non-USA currency. I like to go to sleep with a smile on my face, and this little tome was my bedtime reading for a while. Yes, I laughed my head off every night. Bierce's biting wit and skill with language are such a joy. His observations are as relevant now as when they were written, which was quite a long time ago. I particularly enjoyed his comments on religious and church matters. I have already given a copy to a friend who shares my love of language and wit. Mind you, I would not recommend it to anyone who had a sheltered upbringing or has a narrow view of the real world.
Rating:
Summary: ... and wicked!
Review: This is a slender book, but each page drips with sophisticated, envenomed attacks on almost everything. Bierce's wicked sarcasm would probably appeal to those who enjoy the dry humor of Britcoms!
Rating:
Summary: good clean witty fun
Review: This little book is a great way to put things in percpective. Its witty humor and precise sarcastic definitions will take the edge of any bad day.
Rating:
Summary: An American classic
Review: This should be on your shelves right next to Roget's and Bartlett's. It's not just one of the funniest assemblages in the English language, it's a standard reference. Although written over a hundred years ago, most of it is just as fresh as today's headlines.
Patriotism, n.: Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of anyone ambitious to illuminate his name.
It's cynical, literate, and sharply pointed. With over 1000 definitions, it has something to say about most of the human condition.
Jealous, adj.: Unduly concerned about that which can be lost only if it is not worth keeping.
Somehow, Bierce maintains good humor, of a sort, throughout the entire listing. That makes it equally valueable no matter how you use it: read straight through, flipped to a random page, or used to answer specific questions. And of course, it offers the perfect description of every term.
Dictionary, n.: A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.
//wiredweird
Rating: 
Summary: Great Insight into Humanity
Review: This was first published in 1911. Most of Bierce's definitions still hold just as true today as they did then. My two favorites are: IMPIETY: n. Your irreverence toward my deity. IMPOSTER: n., A rival aspirant to public honors. I enjoy perusing this book and then sharing my findings with friends - who also enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Witty little dictionary
Review: Webster's this ain't. Ambrose Bierce, a very angry and witty man, wrote down his personal definitions (1881 to 1906) of various things and concepts, which were eventually compiled into "The Devil's Dictionary." The result is immensely funny in a twisted kind of way. A bigot is "one who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not share." Disobedience is "the silver lining on the cloud of servitude." Brute is "see: Husband." Patience is "a minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue." Philosophy is "a route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing." And that's just a few... Weirdly funny, twistingly witty. It's an enjoyable, very politically-incorrect book that will be over before you want it to be.
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