Ambrose Bierce: Bitter Genius
The life, times and mysterious death of one of America's most brilliant short-story writers, Ambrose Bierce.
This brilliant 19th century writer was a master craftsman. His short stories are among the best of the 19th century and his language and prose make him unique and formidable even among the masters of his day. He also had a highly visible and prolific journalistic career working for newspapers and magazines at the turn of the last century. He wrote of the ravages of war as experienced by a young soldier on the front lines where he fought valiantly for the Union cause during the American Civil War. Bierce was a bitter man with a very jaundiced eye when it came to the human race and its many foibles.
His "Devil's Dictionary" defines every human achievement and emotion in the most sardonic and misanthropic of terms. For example, one of his more famous quotes is the definition of love. He refers to it as: "a temporary madness curable by marriage."
But who was this strange man who disappeared in Mexico in 1913 and was never heard from again? And why are there no answers to this very day? Read on for some facts and even more questions about this intriguing and famous American writer.
