Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company [Paperback]

Roy Morris Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0195126289 | ISBN-13: 978-0195126280

A lively and compelling portrait of one of the most acerbic and distinctive voices in American literature, Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company is a clear-eyed but sympathetic account of a complex individual at odds with his country, his family, his times, and himself.
The only American writer of any stature to fight in and survive the Civil War, Bierce discovered in the conflict a bitter confirmation of his darkest assumptions about man and his nature. Profoundly disillusioned, Bierce spent the next fifty years struggling to disabuse his fellow Americans of their own cherished ideals--be they romantic, religious, or political. His groundbreaking short stories of the war, including his most famous work, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," have had a lasting influence on every subsequent American author dealing with war. And the heartless, hilarious aphorisms in his caustic lexicon The Devil's Dictionary have entered, often uncredited, our national consciousness.
In this insightful, critically acclaimed biography, the first comprehensive study in almost fifty years, Roy Morris, Jr., accounts for both the influential art that Ambrose Bierce made from a harsh and unforgiving vision--and the high price he had to pay for it in loneliness, rancor, and spiritual isolation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This objective study of Bierce (1842- 1914), a journalist and short-story writer, draws a parallel between the sardonic writer's dark vision and his unhappy life. According to Morris (Sheridan) the depression Bierce developed during a lonely and unhappy Indiana childhood intensified after his Civil War experiences as a Union Army officer, and Bierce later memoralized it in the short stories "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "Chickamuuga." Employing careful research, Morris traces his subject's career as a newspaperman in San Francisco and London, where Bierce became known for his articles pilloring a variety of targets including war, religion, poets and politicians, and for penning The Devil's Dictionary, a compilation of cynical definitions. His abusive personality lost him many friends and ended his marriage. The untimely deaths of two of his three children only heightened his misery. In 1913 he disappeared into revolution-torn Mexico and was never heard from again.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Morris, the editor of the journal America's Civil War and author of Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan (Crown, 1992), has written an intriguing and deeply felt biography of Bierce. Bierce, in his much-quoted The Devil's Dictionary (1906), defined friendless as "having no favors to bestow. Destitute of fortune. Addicted to utterance of truth and common sense." To many, this was Bierce: dissector of politicians, women, ministers, Christmas, journalists, babies, writers, dogs, and "that immortal ass, the average man." An existential sense of aloneness pervaded Bierce's life from childhood to death, which apparently came in 1913 when he disappeared in war-ravaged Mexico. His remains have never been found. Bierce always believed that part of him died in the Civil War, especially when he considered his horror at Shiloh and Chickamauga. His writings of those experiences influenced countless authors from Crane to Hemingway. Morris intertwines deftly Bierce's writings with an account of his life and times. Recommended for public libraries.?Robert L. Kelly, Ft. Wayne Community Schs., Ind.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195126289
• ISBN-13: 978-0195126280
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "As for me, I sell abuse......", October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company (Paperback)

One of the many juicy nuggets of cynicism and biting wit from the glorious mind of Ambrose Bierce. Morris captures not only the man, but more importantly, the writer and the critic. Merciless and outrageous, the Bierce presented here should stand as a shining example of what writers should be but are not in our sentimental, oversensitive culture: brutally honest and always upholding the highest standards, both literary and personal. Bierce was an unapologetic misanthrope, but one cannot help but be charmed by his acidic commentary on the world he saw. Because Bierce spared no one, he avoids the labels of racist or sexist, even though many contemporary readers would like nothing more than to place Bierce in a convenient, unfair box. Bierce saw through artiface and sham, and he always believed, largely due to his horrific experiences in the Civil War (especially Shiloh) that mankind was eternally doomed to elevate the ridiculous at the expense of reason and intellect. This is a fantastic book well-written, with an eye for accuracy and detail. Even better, the author provides plenty of Bierce's own words; words that cut and wound, never apologizing for having done so.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A momentum-gaining insight into a man for all eras, November 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company (Paperback)

While early on the book lagged, it built momentum to the point where I had a hard time putting it down. Examining the circumstances that produced this complicated individual proved fascinating and heartbreaking. Outside events and Bierce himself conspired to find misery and disappointment at every turn. The book is sympathetic to Bierce, but not fawning- he's not praised as a great writer, but he is acknowledged to be the best writer among Civil War veterans. His newspaper columns are also praised, and the erosion of his patriotism after what he saw in the war (not just at Shiloh) is something that can be best understood by post Vietnam-era readers. Many of the cited quotes (particularly the bitingly critical ones) contain a sharp wit that can't be missed. I enjoyed the book and it encouraged me to read more about the era. Bierce was in many ways a forerunner of Walter Winchell (read Neal Gabler's great bio) and you can also see traces of modern observational humorists such as George Carlin. Piece of advice, though- don't tell anyone that they remind you of Bierce!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-written, dense, and erudite argument, March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company (Paperback)

Roy Morris does an honorable job in putting forth whom he believes Bierce was and consequently why he wrote. Morris is certainly sympathetic but by no means gushy. Although some might be distracted by his psychoanalytic queries, they are important questions in understanding literature and authors. This biography is a standout due to its form, content, and organization. The first thing I told friends when I started reading was how impressed I was with Morris's vocabulary and phrasing. His writing, however, is not superficial. His persuasiveness is due to his ability to convey factual content without boring the reader; and there are plenty of facts concerning Bierce, his family, friends, contempories, as well as the social and political atmospheres over his 7 decades. Finally, the books organization saves discussion of Bierce's mysterious disappearance for the last - where it should be. I highly recommend this book to Bierce fans, Civil War buffs, and hopeful young authors.