The Fiend's Delight

Ambrose Gwinnett BierceProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 215K words
Chapters: 22

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Fiend's Delight by Ambrose BierceAuthor: Bierce, Ambrose, 1842-1914?,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 1, 2003

Editor's review

Bierce is known for his terse, pointed satirical sketches and grotesque tales, and The Fiend's Delight continues in his cool, razor-sharp register, suited to readers who want a taste of nineteenth-century American journalistic satire. The pieces are short and verbally dense, often exposing the absurdity of human nature and society through irony and black humor; reading them is bracing, but one should keep in mind the diction and attitudes of their period. As a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to search and excerpt, and works especially well as a supplementary volume for understanding Bierce's range. Rather than reading it straight through, take it piece by piece to savor the rhetorical rhythm and satirical edge; read alongside Bierce's better-known short stories, it better reveals his consistent handling of fear, absurdity, and moral hypocrisy.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy nineteenth-century American satire and short sketches
Literature lovers who want to understand Bierce's style and expand their reading
Teachers and students who need public-domain English texts for classroom excerpts or translation practice
English learners who prefer short pieces for fragmented reading time

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a full-length novel or continuous narrative
Readers uncomfortable with black humor and an ironic register
Beginners who need modern annotations or a detailed background introduction

Reading tips

Read in batches by piece, pausing after each to review the target of satire and the rhetorical devices.
Keep brief notes on unfamiliar words and period context, then compare with other Bierce short stories.
Choose one piece for a close-reading translation exercise to work through rendering its ironic tone into Chinese.
For classroom use, prioritize short pieces with clear satirical targets for discussion.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a short-story collection?

From the available information, it is a work by Bierce, a public-domain ebook in the American literature category. Bierce is known for short satires and sketches, so this book is better approached as a collection of short pieces or sketches rather than a continuous novel.

Can I read it without a nineteenth-century American background?

Yes, but it takes some patience. Bierce often uses irony and period allusions; start with shorter pieces whose themes are clear, and look up unfamiliar journalistic phrasing or social context as you go. Don't feel you must understand everything at once.

What is a good way to read this ebook?

It is a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, easy to search and excerpt. Read it piece by piece, with notes or annotations; on a phone, enlarge the font and keep sessions short to avoid fatigue from the dense language.

Comments

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About the author

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce Author · American · 1842–1914

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914), an American writer, journalist, and satirical novelist, was born in Meigs County, Ohio. A veteran of the American Civil War, he drew heavily on that experience in his fiction. His short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is known for its startling ending and austere style, while the satirical dictionary "The Devil's Dictionary" is famous for its biting definitions. He excelled in horror and war fiction, writing in a grim, restrained, and ironic style that earned him the nickname "Bitter Bierce." He disappeared in Mexico in 1913, and the exact year of his death is unknown, though some sources give 1914. His work has deeply influenced American short fiction and satirical literature.