Reworked the Formatting I reformatted the Mundus version of this book the other day. I hope it looks better for everyone now.
Consider another version This edition lacks in quality, IN SPADES. It's as though someone found a digital copy of Bierce's dictionary, selected all, pasted that into a Word document, drove to Kinkos, and printed out a few copies. There is no pagination, no entry breaks. The "introduction" runs into the first definition.
Don't be fooled--like I was--by the cover "art": it's merely a very low-res image of faux leather. I regret that I assumed the art work to be an attempt at a modern, clean look. It's not, it's just helvetica and a low res JPG. What a bummer. And for the price of a hardcover too. Jeez.
Devil's Dictionary, Mundus Kindle Edition One of the first things I wanted to download onto my new Kindle was "The Devil's Dictionary" by Ambrose Bierce. I have several hardcover versions of it, but wanted a portable (and especially) searchable one. By day two of my new Kindle I was on the phone with tech support because that book continually froze the device. The tech support woman confirmed that they are having problems with this particular book.
Amazon Tech Support: 5 out of 5 stars
Mundus Publishing: not-so-much
The whole situation made me think about how Apple chooses to vet each product before it is made available for the iPhone. Maybe that's a policy that Amazon and Team Kindle need to adopt.
The Devil This is a fairly amusing resource! Not spectacular, but about what I expected - interesting and useful on occasion.
A real GEM !!
Any reader,particularly of history by Ambrose Bierce,will greatly enjoy this book. Little wonder, Bierce (1842-1914),an American journalist,satirist -"it was said that a bad review from Bierce could break a writer's career;and writer of short stories who earned the nickname "Bitter Bierce" for his sardonic views and his vehemence as a critic".
While the thoughts and definitions in this dictionary were written many years ago;they remain sharp,revelent and cuttingly satiric today.What I find so surprising is that these ideas have not become dated.
While few,if any ,dictionaries lend themselves to reading or simply just spending time leafing through;this is certainly an exception.
Just to give an idea of what awaits in this tome;try these for size;
mausoleum- The final and funniest folly of the rich.
martyr- One who moves along the line of least reluctance to a
desired death.
blackguard-A man whose qualities,prepared for display like a box of
berries in a market-the fine ones on top-have been opened
on the wrong side.An inverted gentleman.
amnesty-The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be
too expensive to punish.
grapeshot-An argumentwhich the future is preparing in answer to
the demands of American Socialism.
And last but not least;
nonsense- The objections that are urged against this excellent
dictionary.
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