Bierce, Ambrose (1842-1914?), was an American writer and journalist. He became best known for his realistic war stories and for his tales of horror and the supernatural. Bierce developed a crisp and precise writing style. The characters in his stories are driven by the lowest instincts. Many act like animals, with little conscience. The stories show the author’s lifelong fascination with cruelty and death.
Bierce’s most famous collection of stories is Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891). From 1881 to 1906, he wrote hundreds of satirical word definitions for a newspaper column. Many of these definitions were collected in The Cynic’s Word Book (1906), later published as The Devil’s Dictionary.
Ambrose Gwinett Bierce was born on June 24, 1842, to poverty-stricken parents on a farm in Meigs County, Ohio. He fought courageously for the North in the American Civil War (1861-1865) and was seriously wounded. The effects of his early poverty and brutal war experiences intensified his naturally gloomy temperament. He gained the nickname of “Bitter Bierce.” In 1866, Bierce settled in San Francisco, where he became a journalist. His brilliant and cynical writings made him one of the most feared and powerful literary figures in California. In 1897, Bierce moved to Washington, D.C., to become a columnist for the chain of newspapers published by William Randolph Hearst. Bierce disappeared while on a trip to Mexico, and the circumstances of his death remain unknown.
