Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company

by Roy Morris Jr.

Book Overview

A lively and compelling portrait of one of the most acerbic and distinctive voices in American literature, this book is a clear-eyed but sympathetic account of a complex individual at odds with his country, his family, his times, and himself.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517596466
• ISBN13: 9780517596463
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Worth reading for the speculation alone -- maybe Bierce didn't die in Mexico

Conventional wisdom and history books have it that Ambrose Bierce died in Mexico during the Revolution. But Morris, in this in-depth biography, offers a fairly plausible alternative. (Sorry, not giving the store away as part of the review; you're going to have to get your hands on this book.) Much of the rest of the speculation in which Morris engages is psychological. He first analyses Bierce's childhood and parents, then takes note of his Civil War head wound, and wonders just how much the two of these things combined to contribute to the Ambrose Bierce we know today. That said, while not denying either childhood or adult causes of personality development -- or personality change -- I give more credence to genetic causes, i.e., the ideas of evolutionary psychology, properly applied. I find it likely that Bierce was pretty much born with tendencies toward the character he later exhibited. His upbringing and his war wound may have intensified it, but I think he came by much of his cynicism naturally. Life events probably added the dollop of churlishness to it. I teeter on a rating and end up at 4 stars. If I were to fine tune, it would probably be about 3 2/3 stars. The psycho-speculation is interesting, but in addition to being incomplete, if not somewhat wrong, too much of a focus on it means less focus on historical biography or on literary analysis.

Definative Bio of Bierce

This book gives insight into one of the American literary greats. There are times that the book drags, but I think this is due as much to the author as to the fact that some moments in Bierce's life are so interesting that when you read about the "average" moments in his life, you are left, well , bored. This is a good book for a Bierce fan or someone that would like to learn about an American writer who, deservedly, lived in the shadow of Twain.

A momentum-gaining insight into a man for all eras

While early on the book lagged, it built momentum to the point where I had a hard time putting it down. Examining the circumstances that produced this complicated individual proved fascinating and heartbreaking. Outside events and Bierce himself conspired to find misery and disappointment at every turn. The book is sympathetic to Bierce, but not fawning- he's not praised as a great writer, but he is acknowledged to be the best writer among Civil War veterans. His newspaper columns are also praised, and the erosion of his patriotism after what he saw in the war (not just at Shiloh) is something that can be best understood by post Vietnam-era readers. Many of the cited quotes (particularly the bitingly critical ones) contain a sharp wit that can't be missed. I enjoyed the book and it encouraged me to read more about the era. Bierce was in many ways a forerunner of Walter Winchell (read Neal Gabler's great bio) and you can also see traces of modern observational humorists such as George Carlin. Piece of advice, though- don't tell anyone that they remind you of Bierce!

"As for me, I sell abuse......"

One of the many juicy nuggets of cynicism and biting wit from the glorious mind of Ambrose Bierce. Morris captures not only the man, but more importantly, the writer and the critic. Merciless and outrageous, the Bierce presented here should stand as a shining example of what writers should be but are not in our sentimental, oversensitive culture: brutally honest and always upholding the highest standards, both literary and personal. Bierce was an unapologetic misanthrope, but one cannot help but be charmed by his acidic commentary on the world he saw. Because Bierce spared no one, he avoids the labels of racist or sexist, even though many contemporary readers would like nothing more than to place Bierce in a convenient, unfair box. Bierce saw through artiface and sham, and he always believed, largely due to his horrific experiences in the Civil War (especially Shiloh) that mankind was eternally doomed to elevate the ridiculous at the expense of reason and intellect. This is a fantastic book well-written, with an eye for accuracy and detail. Even better, the author provides plenty of Bierce's own words; words that cut and wound, never apologizing for having done so.

A well-written, dense, and erudite argument

Roy Morris does an honorable job in putting forth whom he believes Bierce was and consequently why he wrote. Morris is certainly sympathetic but by no means gushy. Although some might be distracted by his psychoanalytic queries, they are important questions in understanding literature and authors. This biography is a standout due to its form, content, and organization. The first thing I told friends when I started reading was how impressed I was with Morris's vocabulary and phrasing. His writing, however, is not superficial. His persuasiveness is due to his ability to convey factual content without boring the reader; and there are plenty of facts concerning Bierce, his family, friends, contempories, as well as the social and political atmospheres over his 7 decades. Finally, the books organization saves discussion of Bierce's mysterious disappearance for the last - where it should be. I highly recommend this book to Bierce fans, Civil War buffs, and hopeful young authors.