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A review by lem119
The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
5.0
I would love, as I have seen some reviewers here do, to come up with some obscenely clever riff on the style of this book, defining "review" or "dictionary" or "Ambrose Bierce" in a witty, irreverent way. Instead, I will simply say that I found this book to be often insightful, frequently cynical, and always hilarious. Here are a couple of my favourite definitions:
ACADEME, n. An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught.
ACADEMY, n. [from ACADEME] A modern school where football is taught.
FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true, and our happiness is assured.
HAPPINESS, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.
IMAGINATION, n. A warehouse of facts, with poet and liar in joint ownership.
RADICALISM, n. The conservatism of to-morrow injected into the affairs of to-day.
ACADEME, n. An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught.
ACADEMY, n. [from ACADEME] A modern school where football is taught.
FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true, and our happiness is assured.
HAPPINESS, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.
IMAGINATION, n. A warehouse of facts, with poet and liar in joint ownership.
RADICALISM, n. The conservatism of to-morrow injected into the affairs of to-day.