{"product_id":"the-devils-dictionary-9780195126273","title":"The Devil's Dictionary","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eHistory\u003c\/strong\u003e, n. an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools. \u003cstrong\u003eMarriage\u003c\/strong\u003e, n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all two. \u003cstrong\u003eSelf-Esteem\u003c\/strong\u003e, n. An erroneous appraisement.\u003cbr\u003e These caustic aphorisms, collected in \u003cem\u003eThe Devil's Dictionary\u003c\/em\u003e, helped earn Ambrose Bierce the epithets Bitter Bierce, the Devil's Lexicographer, and the Wickedest Man in San Francisco. First published as \u003cem\u003eThe Cynic's Word Book\u003c\/em\u003e (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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRoy Morris, Jr.\u003c\/strong\u003e, is the editor of \u003cem\u003eAmerica's Civil War\u003c\/em\u003e and the author of \u003cem\u003eAmbrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50649766068498,"sku":"9780195126273","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_efd4bc2b-f514-468a-b81d-8667f1a558ce.jpg?v=1776156976","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-devils-dictionary-9780195126273","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}