Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) has been a widely read, often
controversial, author for more than a hundred years, but until now
there has been no exhaustive collection of his short fiction. This
new edition, both comprehensive and chronological, reveals the
broad range of fiction that Bierce mastered. Readers who expect to
find only a writer of grim and shocking stories of war and other
horrors will discover that he excelled at other types of
tales--humorous, mystical, Gothic, satirical, sentimental, mystery,
science fiction, and even love stories. This collection gives
readers the opportunity to observe the growth of characteristic
themes and techniques in Bierce's short fiction. A number of the
early sketches evidence both the thoughtful moral focus and the
technical brilliance of his best work, and here they also can be
seen as training exercises for the young writer on his way to the
better-known stories of his artistic peak. Although several
previous books purport to provide accurate collections of Bierce's
work, none does more than uncritically re-assemble the tales in the
heretofore standard Collected Works (1909-1912). This edition will
be the new standard. It is the first to include all his known and
rediscovered short fiction. Of the 249 items collected in this
edition, 1 story ("Alasper") is unpublished, 58 have not been
previously reprinted from the newspapers and magazines in which
they originally appeared, and 74 have not been reprinted since
their appearance in Bierce's early volumes. It is also the only
edition to be based upon consultation of manuscripts and early
printed sources. As a result, textual corrections have been made to
some of Bierce's stories, including two of his best known. Volume
II covers the years 1887 to 1893 and collects nearly 60 pieces,
including "A Horseman in the Sky," "Chickamauga," "A Son of the
Gods," and "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." A model of careful
scholarship, this edition includes selected textual variants, a
bibliography of all appearances of the story in Bierce's lifetime,
introductory comments and extensive annotations that provide
biographical and other background information, and citations to
important works of criticism.
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