“Silly of me to blame it on dates, but so it happened to be.  Dammit, it was the Twenties, and we had to be smarty.” – Dorothy Parker

The Algonquin Round Table, or “The Vicious Circle” as it was commonly known, came about much like so many social gatherings. A few [...]]]>

Stories from the Algonquin Round Table

“Silly of me to blame it on dates, but so it happened to be.  Dammit, it was the Twenties, and we had to be smarty.” – Dorothy Parker

The Algonquin Round Table, or “The Vicious Circle” as it was commonly known, came about much like so many social gatherings. A few friends get together, have a good time, and decide it would be fun to do it on a regular basis.

Now give them all literary or theatrical pedigrees and larger than life personalities. Then put them in a time and place that encourages artistic creativity and some rather outrageous behavior.

Lastly, give them national exposure.  What emerges is a group that not only sets the standard for contemporary literary style and wit, but helps change forever the face of American culture.

This collection contains early poems, stories and anecdotes from seven of the Algonquin Round Table writers: Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Franklin Pierce Adams, Heywood Broun, Edna Ferber, Ruth Hale, and Donald Ogden Stewart.

ELPN Press and Special Edition Books are pleased to announce the publication of The Devil’s Dictionary of Ambrose Bierce – Complete and Unabridged – Special Edition, available for pre-order on Amazon.

Herein are contained the sardonic definitions published by Ambrose Bierce as The Cynic’s Word Book in 1906; augmented, edited and republished [...]]]>

The Devil's Dictionary, ISBN: 1934255297

ELPN Press and Special Edition Books are pleased to announce the publication of The Devil’s Dictionary of Ambrose Bierce – Complete and Unabridged – Special Edition, available for pre-order on Amazon.

Herein are contained the sardonic definitions published by Ambrose Bierce as The Cynic’s Word Book in 1906; augmented, edited and republished by the illustrious author in 1911 as The Devil’s Dictionary. Unlike other editions which modify, tone down and make moronic additions to Bierce’s original Devil’s Dictionary, presented here are the complete contents of the 1911 edition without deletions, modifications or embellishments, of any kind, which might diminish the impact of the original politically incorrect collection; hence, the redundant descriptive addition to the title as “Complete and Unabridged” which would surely have caused the author to go ballistic if he were still alive.

Ambrose Bierce was an extraordinary individual: a veteran of the American Civil War, renowned writer, political pundit, social commentator and, in many ways, a philosopher who was ahead of his time. His mysterious disappearance, in 1914 during the Mexican Revolution, was the subject of the movie: Old Gringo. Shortly before he vanished, he wrote to a friend: “Good-bye – if you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico – ah, that is euthanasia”.

His own definition of a cynic suited him well: “CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic’s eyes to improve his vision.”

What had started as a newspaper serialization was first reproduced in book form in 1906 under the title Cynic’s Word Book. A further 500 words were published in 1911 in Volume 7 of The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, this time under the name of The Devil’s Dictionary. This was a name much [...]]]>

The Devils Dictionary

What had started as a newspaper serialization was first reproduced in book form in 1906 under the title Cynic’s Word Book. A further 500 words were published in 1911 in Volume 7 of The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, this time under the name of The Devil’s Dictionary. This was a name much preferred by Bierce and he claimed the earlier ‘more reverent’ title had been forced upon him by the religious scruples of his previous employer.

In 1967, an expanded version of The Devil’s Dictionary was published, following extensive research by Ernest J Hopkins. This updated version adds 851 definitions to the 1,000 which appeared in versions published in Bierce’s lifetime; in particular, it includes the words preceding “Abasement” which were originally defined in the Demon’s Dictionary.

The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce  2005  ISBN: 1934255025