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THE RED PENCIL

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From: The Washington Post
Date: 19990111
Author:Redgate

Q: I enjoy Mark Twain. Who's your favorite humorist?

A: There's no one funnier, or more satirically witty, than Mark Twain. But few people know about one of my favorites, Ambrose Bierce. "The Cynic's Word Book" (1906) by Bierce was republished in 1911 and 1999 as "The Devil's Dictionary." Some sample words and their definitions: "Bore, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. . . . Hearse, n. Death's baby- carriage. . . . Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles."

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