The Devil's Dictionary

[Abdiel]

Has anyone except me noticed the remarkable similarity between the humor of Bierce and Mark Twain? They were contemporary writers about the same age. I'm not saying they stole from each other -- maybe borrowed from or inspired are more amiable descriptions.

Bierce was a little edgier, but Twain could be just as cynical about the same things (i.e. organized religion, social hypocrisy, politics, etc.) And both were hilariously funny. Brothers under the skin, at the very least.

They were friends and rivals, so they knew each other.

[no-one]

I really want to buy this book, but I am torn between the enlarged version and the unabridged version. Can anyone tell me which is better? I think the enlarged version has about 1850 definitions, while the unabridged has roughly 1600 (200 were removed because they were wrongly attributed to him). However, the unabridged version seems new and authoritative. Thank you.

[kelby_lake]

Unabridged, I'd say