Ambrose Bierce – författare

En av de stora amerikanska skräckmästarna

»En av de stora amerikanska skräckförfattarna.« H.P. Lovecraft

1913 red Ambrose Bierce, 71 år gammal, ut i Mexikos vildmark och försvann spårlöst. Efter sig lämnade han legenden om sin bitterhet och oförsonlighet, samt ett författarskap som än i dag, över 100 år senare, talar till oss med mäktig stämma. Med klassiker som »Halpin Fraysers död«, »En händelse på Owl Creek Bridge« - den mest berömda av hans noveller - »Chickamauga«, »Hundolja«, »Den fördömda varelsen« och »Moxons överman«, är han i dag ett av de mest framträdande namnen i den amerikanska novellkonstens historia.I denna utgåva samsas hans blodiga noveller om det amerikanska inbördeskriget med hans bitska och galghumoristiska satirer och nydanande och inflytelserika skräckberättelser: sammanlagt 35 noveller av mannen som H. P. Lovecraft kallade en av de stora amerikanska skräckförfattarna. I översättning och med ett förord av Arthur Isfelt.

AMBROSE BIERCE [1842-ca. 1914] var en amerikansk författare. Han deltog på nordstaternas sida under inbördeskriget och arbetade därefter som journalist i San Francisco, London och Washington. Främst skrev han noveller, och inte minst betraktas han som en av det amerikanska 1800-talets stora författare inom skräckgenren. 1913 befann sig Ambrose Bierce i Mexiko där han blev involverad i revolutionen och där han sannolikt avled något år senare (exakt dödsår har inte kunnat fastställas). Halpin Fraysers död och andra noveller är framtagen i samarbete mellan Modernista och Hastur förlag.

»Den främsta amerikanska skräckförfattaren mellan Poe & Lovecraft.« The New York Times

If we could only put aside our civil pose and say what we really thought, the world would be a lot like the one alluded to in The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. There, a bore is "a person who talks when you wish him to listen," and happiness is "an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another." This is the most comprehensive, authoritative edition ever of Ambrose Bierce’s satiric masterpiece. It renders obsolete all other versions that have appeared in the book’s ninety-year history.A virtual onslaught of acerbic, confrontational wordplay, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary offers some 1,600 wickedly clever definitions to the vocabulary of everyday life. Little is sacred and few are safe, for Bierce targets just about any pursuit, from matrimony to immortality, that allows our willful failings and excesses to shine forth.This new edition is based on David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi’s exhaustive investigation into the book’s writing and publishing history. All of Bierce’s known satiric definitions are here, including previously uncollected, unpublished, and alternative entries. Definitions dropped from previous editions have been restored while nearly two hundred wrongly attributed to Bierce have been excised. For dedicated Bierce readers, an introduction and notes are also included.Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary is a classic that stands alongside the best work of satirists such as Twain, Mencken, and Thurber. This unabridged edition will be celebrated by humor fans and word lovers everywhere.

If we could only put aside our civil pose and say what we really thought, the world would be a lot like the one alluded to in The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. There, a bore is "a person who talks when you wish him to listen," and happiness is "an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another." This is the most comprehensive, authoritative edition ever of Ambrose Bierce’s satiric masterpiece. It renders obsolete all other versions that have appeared in the book’s ninety-year history.A virtual onslaught of acerbic, confrontational wordplay, The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary offers some 1,600 wickedly clever definitions to the vocabulary of everyday life. Little is sacred and few are safe, for Bierce targets just about any pursuit, from matrimony to immortality, that allows our willful failings and excesses to shine forth.This new edition is based on David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi’s exhaustive investigation into the book’s writing and publishing history. All of Bierce’s known satiric definitions are here, including previously uncollected, unpublished, and alternative entries. Definitions dropped from previous editions have been restored while nearly two hundred wrongly attributed to Bierce have been excised. For dedicated Bierce readers, an introduction and notes are also included.Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary is a classic that stands alongside the best work of satirists such as Twain, Mencken, and Thurber. This unabridged edition will be celebrated by humor fans and word lovers everywhere.