After nearly eight years of loyal service, this is my last entry of Fair Observer’s Devil’s Dictionary. The series ends appropriately with the consideration of an expression that reflects our approach to language: “code for.” When analyzing any form of public discourse, we need to realize that when something is revealed, something else, possibly more… Continue reading Our Devil Closes His Dictionary and Muses on Its Roots The post Our Devil Closes His Dictionary and Muses on Its Roo...| Fair Observer
Ambrose Bierce Whatever happened to Ambrose Bierce? is one of the questions of his life. On the literary side, he is best known for his short stories and as a pioneer in realist fiction. But he was…| The Classics Club
Swan River Press has just launched a major three-volume collected works of Fitz-James O’Brien. It’s the most complete presentation of O’Brien’s fantastic literature to date,…| John Kenny
What to do about growing illiteracy in America? It’s a problem behind a host of other social ills, including unemployment, crime, and mental illness. Frederick Hess, a former teacher, has a suggest…| M.C. Tuggle, Writer
The jaguar was the most feared – and revered – animal in ancient Mesoamerica. Members of pre-Columbian societies like the Maya and Aztec coexisted with jaguars in the jungles, bearing witness to their size, cunning, and aggression and incorporating them into their mythologies. Most of these cultures depicted the big cat in its natural form […]| The History Bandits
Ambrose Bierce, if we take him at his word, was unfazed by death. As a young Union soldier in the Civil War, he escaped it many times, seeing action at Shiloh, Chickamauga, and Kennesaw Mountain, where he received an almost fatal head wound. After the war, he built a career as a writer and journalist, […]| The History Bandits
Many decades ago, before I started reading science fiction regularly, my preferred reading when young was Alistair Maclean novels and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. I don’t read many thrillers or…| MarzAat