1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: Hi, and Happy Saturday everyone. Since National Poetry Month is 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: coming to a close, we thought we would return to 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: our episode on Ambrose Beers today. He was a Civil 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: War veteran journalist, editor, satirist, and yes, poet, although in 5 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: this episode we spend more time talking about his other writing. 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: We got some emails after this episode first came out 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: about whether Beers might have had post traumatic stress disorder 8 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: or some other conditions stemming from his military service and 9 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: how that might have affected his writing and the uncertainties 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: around the end of his life. And while that is 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: certainly possible, we don't typically speculate on historical figures mental 12 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: health unless people who have a lot more experience in 13 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: medicine or mental health have already written on that subject. 14 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: There's a little more writing around this idea now, but 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: not so much in when we recorded the episode, and 16 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: since it is National Poetry Month, here is a very 17 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: quick poem by Ambrose Beers titled an Inscription for a 18 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: Statue of Napoleon. A conqueror as provident as brave, He 19 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: robbed the cradle to supply the grave. His rain laid 20 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: quantities of human dust. He fell upon the just and 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: the unjust, Welcome to Stuff you missed in history class 22 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to 23 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,959 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: and uh, Tracy, are you watching or did you watch 25 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: True Detective? I did not, which you still can. But 26 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: thanks to its popularity, as you may have heard, it 27 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: actually crashed HBO go on its finale night. I did 28 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: hear that because so many people were trying to watch it. Uh. 29 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: Many people have found a renewed, or perhaps a new 30 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: interest in the writing of Robert W. Chambers because of 31 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: a book of short stories that he wrote in the 32 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds, which is called The King and Yellow 33 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: in this book is referenced throughout the season one story 34 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: arc of True Detective with references to the Yellow King 35 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: and the wearing of masks in the City of Carcosa, 36 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: and in turn, Chambers influenced, UH a whole subgenre of 37 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: writers of so called weird fiction, including people like HP Lovecraft. 38 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: Definitely weird. Well, it's actually called weird fiction. It's not 39 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: just me going that's weird. I'm just saying, and I 40 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: love weird fiction. So, but influencing Chambers. So going back 41 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: before the work of Chambers was actually a man who 42 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: has been on my list for a long time. Uh. 43 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: So now seems like the perfect point to focus on him, 44 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: since True Detective pointed at all of this work so 45 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: much recently, and all of those mentions of Carcosa and 46 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: True Detective that come up. Uh, that name actually shows 47 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: up in chambers work, but it was borrowed from the 48 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: man we're going to talk about today, who is Amber's Beers, 49 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: who first mentioned it in a short story which was 50 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: called an Inhabitant of Carcosa and that was first published 51 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: in and Amber's Beers is a really fascinating character. He 52 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: was a soldier, he was a journalist, he was an editor, 53 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: He was something of a philosopher, he was a cynic. Uh. 54 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: He was a very complicated man with an unwavering moral code. 55 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: And his life experiences he touched so many things that 56 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: are historically significant in his time. Uh. And much of 57 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: it was fantastic, much of it was horrific, and it 58 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: all sort of informed his writing. Ambrose was born Ambrose 59 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: Gwinnette Beers on June forty two in Ohio. It was 60 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: in a settlement called Horse Cave. His parents, Marcus Aurelius 61 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: and Laura Sherwood. Beers had thirteen children, and Ambrose was 62 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: the tenth. And here's a fun fact that you can 63 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: pull out at a cocktail party if you have a 64 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: conversation law. Marcus and Laura only named their children names 65 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: that started with the letter A, So in addition to Ambrose, 66 00:03:54,280 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: they were Andrew, Aurelius, Arthur, Abigail, Augustus and Aurelia Us 67 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: of the female version of Aurelius Addison, Albert, Amelia, Adelia, 68 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: and al Maida. I feel like at the end they 69 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: were just swapping around some consonants to try to make 70 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: new names. It seems that way, but thirteen kids in 71 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: creativity might fall away. There's no There's no Amanda. Did 72 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: we have that name yet? When Ambrose was still a 73 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: young child, the family moved to Indiana and eventually settled 74 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: in Elkhart, and Marcus had a really pretty impressive library, 75 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: which served as a major source of education and inspiration 76 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: to Ambrose in his early years. He enrolled in the 77 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,840 Speaker 1: Kentucky Military Institute at seventeen, and while he excelled, he 78 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: wound up leaving the school early to take odd jobs. 79 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: Uh so this is right, on the cusp of the 80 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: Civil War, and Beers ended up having a really impressive 81 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: military record during the course of the American Civil War. 82 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: At the start of the war, Beers's uncle, General Lucius 83 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: Varius Beers, established two companies of Union marines. This was 84 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,599 Speaker 1: in April of eighteen sixty one. His nephew Ambrose was 85 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: among the men, and it was mere days after Lincoln's 86 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: call for volunteers when the younger Beers enlisted. Lucius had 87 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: instilled in Ambrose a strong opposition to the concept of slavery, 88 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,239 Speaker 1: so he had been really eager to join the war effort. Yeah, 89 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: just as many other figures we've talked about and some 90 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: even recently, uh, the Beers family was very much part 91 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: of the abolitionists mindset. When Major General George McClellan led 92 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,799 Speaker 1: an invasion on West Virginia, Ambrose was part of that campaign. 93 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: The following year, eighteen sixty two, he was at Shiloh 94 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: in Hardin County, Tennessee when it was attacked by the 95 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: Confederate army. That battle was devastating for the Union forces, 96 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: who were taken by surprise, but Beers was one of 97 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: the survivors who rallied under General Don Carlos Buell and 98 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: catalyzed a Confederate retreat, and the Shiloh Battle was one 99 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: of the bloodiest of the war, with more than twenty 100 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: three thousand casualties, and it's something that came up a 101 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 1: lot in his work. Two months later, the newly promoted 102 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: second Lieutenant Beers saved his commanding officer's life at the 103 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: Battle of Stones River in Murphysboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee, and 104 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: shortly thereafter, in February of eighteen sixty three, he was 105 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: promoted to first lieutenant and in his role as first Lieutenant, 106 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: Beer served with the ninth Indiana Regiment and he fought 107 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 1: at Chickamauga in September of eighteen sixty three. Beers was 108 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: also part of the Atlanta Campaign under General Sherman, and 109 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: this campaign was pretty rough for him personally. He lost 110 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: his closest friend during the fighting and he was also 111 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: struck in the head by a musket shot on June 112 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: twenty three, eighteen sixty four, during fighting at Kennesaw Mountain, 113 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: which is close to us. That kind of brings this 114 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: particular story very close to home. But yeah, the holes 115 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: were in Atlanta. We're in Atlanta right now. Uh Beers 116 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: was treated for his injury and he returned to the 117 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: front lines in September, so just a few months later, 118 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: and he served for several months before being discharged the 119 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: following January. Uh chronic dizziness and fainting spells that were 120 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: kind of brought on by this head injury had ended 121 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: his time in the war, but just a few months 122 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: before the conflict officially ended. It's not really surprising to 123 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: say that the Civil War changed him, because how could 124 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: it not. He was only eighteen when he enlisted, and 125 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: the horrors of battle affected him pretty deeply. The idealism 126 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: with which he had entered the service was replaced with 127 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: this cynicism that would become one of his most fundamental traits. 128 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: And his time in the war also, as I mentioned earlier, 129 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: informed a lot of his writing. There have been other 130 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: authors that wrote about the Civil War, and some of 131 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: them even served, like Mark Twain I think, had a 132 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: brief service. But Ambrose Beer served more than any of 133 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: those other writers. He was in the thick of it 134 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: for almost the entirety. I mean, he enlisted days after 135 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: things began and was only a couple of months before 136 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: it ended. When he was discharged. So those years he 137 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: was just constantly involved in the war and us sad 138 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: commentary on how deeply his time and the war had 139 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: changed him. Beers wrote later in his life, when I 140 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: asked myself what has become of Ambrose Beers, the youth 141 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: who fought at Chickamauga, I am bound to answer that 142 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: he is dead. Yeah. He was uh pretty open about 143 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: how much it had changed him and how sort of 144 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 1: bluntly it had ended his idealism. After leaving the war, 145 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: Ambrose worked in Alabama for a while as a treasury agent, 146 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: and then in eighteen sixty six he was employed by 147 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: General W. B. Hazen for an expedition into Indian territory. 148 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: And Beers had worked as a topographical engineer under Hazen 149 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: for a period during the war, and the general wanted 150 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: his map making skills again as his team made their 151 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: way west. Let's travel with Hazen took Beers all the 152 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: way to California. They arrived in San Francisco in eighteen 153 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: sixty seven, and Beers decided to stay on the West coast, 154 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: and he found employment with the s Mint. But he 155 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: had begun to work on writing in earnest at the 156 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: same time, and he started submitting essays and short satire 157 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: pieces to local papers. He was eventually published in the 158 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: San Francisco news Letter, and when the managing editor of 159 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: the newsletter resigned in eighteen sixty eight, Beer spilled the vacancy. Yeah, 160 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: even though he really didn't have any formal journalism training, 161 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: he kind of decided he was going to become a 162 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: journalist and studied on his own and came managing editor 163 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: of a paper. Uh. And as managing editor, he made 164 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: a name for himself by taking over the weekly column 165 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: called The Town Crier, and he really used this as 166 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 1: his soapbox to lampoon government officials. We mentioned earlier his 167 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: sort of uh rigid moral code and he basically if 168 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: he thought anybody was doing anything wrong, he would call 169 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: them out publicly in his column and right really derisive 170 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: things about them. Just pretty aggressive. Yeah. While he was 171 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: still working as a managing editor, he was also developing 172 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: another talent outside a journalism by working on short fiction 173 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: and so much in the same way as he started 174 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: his journalism career by submitting essays while working for the Mint, 175 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: he started submitting his short stories to literary journals. He 176 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: eventually published his first fictional story, The Haunted Valley, in 177 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: the Overland Monthly. And before we get to his life 178 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:21,719 Speaker 1: sort of blossoming in terms of becoming a family man, 179 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: is it cool if we pause for just a second 180 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: for a word from our sponsor? Is let's do it? 181 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: On December one, Beers married a woman named Mary Ellen Day, 182 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: and just a few months later, in March of eighteen 183 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: seventy two, he quit his job at the paper so 184 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: that the couple could take an extended honeymoon in London, 185 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: although they ended up moving to Bristol not long into 186 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: their stay abroad because the weather there was more hospitable 187 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: to Ambrose's asthma. While he was in England, he also works, 188 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,080 Speaker 1: submitting his writing to British journals. He eventually published to 189 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 1: work in the journal's Figaro London Sketchbook and Fun and 190 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: he ended up with a regular column and Figaro. Yeah, 191 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,719 Speaker 1: he was writing comedy. Even though I will talk a 192 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: lot in this about how sort of dark some of 193 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: his writing is. Uh, A lot of what he was 194 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: writing was really uh, you know, funny, little satirical sketches. 195 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: And this time while he was in England, was productive 196 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: for both his career and his family. The couple's first child, 197 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,679 Speaker 1: named Day, was born in eighteen seventy two, and their 198 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: second son, named Lee, was born in eighteen seventy four, 199 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: so they really were having an extended stay in England. 200 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: And in between these babies, Beers's first three books were born, 201 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: The Fiends Delight, Nuggets and Dust and Cobwebs from an 202 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: Empty Skull uh. And after baby number two, the Beers's 203 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: returned to California in eighteen seventy five, and not long 204 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: after they returned to California, they had a third child, 205 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: who was a daughter named Helen. Meanwhile, Ambrose returned to 206 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: his writing career. Once they were stateside again, he got 207 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: a job as an editor of the journal Argonaut. In 208 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: another case of kind of repeating patterns in his life, 209 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: he wrote a weekly column that often called out public 210 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: officials for their moral failings. However, this column, which was 211 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: called Prattle, also had the leeway to give him an 212 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: outlook for publishing fiction on a regular basis. He wrote 213 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: Prattle as editor of Argonaut for three years before setting 214 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: out on a surprising enterprise, you know, surprising and short lived. 215 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: In eighty Ambrose took a position as a general manager 216 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: of a mining company in South Dakota, and while the 217 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: allure of the job was probably the promise of, you know, 218 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 1: significant income, the gold rush had really peaked several years earlier, 219 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,319 Speaker 1: and the corruption in the general depravity that he encountered 220 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: uh soured him on this position almost immediately. I mean, 221 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 1: we've mentioned how he liked to really call out people 222 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: that he thought were morally corrupt, So you can imagine 223 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: an entire business that he felt was just filled with 224 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: those people. Was really distasteful. And so by the end 225 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: of that year he was back in San Francisco. Beers 226 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,840 Speaker 1: was about to start writing Prattling in but not with 227 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,439 Speaker 1: Argonaut this time around. His column was featured in WASP. 228 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: In addition to using it as a soapbox to call 229 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: people out for their behavior and for using it for 230 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: short stories, he also used the column to share pieces 231 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: about the Civil War as well as short satirical blurbs 232 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: that would become the foundation of The Cynic's Word Book 233 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: and that would eventually be retitled The Devil's Dictionary. Is 234 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: the first thing I ever read by him, and that's 235 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: kind of how I fell in love with Ambrose Beers, 236 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: and we'll talk more about that in a bit. Uh. 237 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: And after leaving the WASP in eight six, and that's 238 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: one of those things where, uh, when you see it 239 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: written about, there's always there were lots of reasons he left. 240 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: Like he was, as you might imagine, not always the 241 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: easiest man to be around, because he did have this 242 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: sort of very strict code in his head about how 243 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: people should be and behave, and he was very opinionated 244 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: and very outspoken about it. So that there are many 245 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: factors to that exit from the WASP, and they're not 246 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: always clear. Uh. But having burned many bridges with his 247 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: critical column, he had a lot of difficulty finding work 248 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:18,079 Speaker 1: after that, So for about a year he went without 249 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: a job. However, a man with a huge reputation for 250 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: being difficult in his own right came into the picture 251 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: and changed everything. So Prattle was revived by none other 252 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: than William Randolph Hurst, who offered Beers a position at 253 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: the San Francisco Examiner. This was before Hurst was the 254 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: media giant that he would later become. The Examiner was 255 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: his first paper, and beerst took the job on the 256 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 1: condition that he could write whatever he wanted, uh, like 257 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: no editorial shut down of anything. And those were terms 258 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: that Hurst actually agreed to. You know, he had sought 259 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: out beer, so presumably he was willing to be pretty 260 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: generous with his deal. And so Prattle One again became 261 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: a combination of Ambrose Beers's fiction and his social commentary. 262 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: And this time he built on the work that he 263 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: did at the Wasp, and he published a much larger 264 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,160 Speaker 1: volume of his Civil War writings, including an occurrence at 265 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: owl Creek Bridge, which is probably his most famous work. 266 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: In this tale, which was published initially in serial form, 267 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: a southern gentleman contemplates his life and reminiscence about his 268 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: home and his family. Is He's about to be hung 269 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: by Yankee soldiers. And it's much more complicated than that. 270 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: Beers is sort of a master of sort of shifting 271 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: what you think is real and what is actually happening. Uh. 272 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: And the tone of the piece is cold, and in 273 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: it a steady diet of violence has kind of jaded 274 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: all of the players, uh, which is something that comes 275 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: up again and again in his work. This one's my 276 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: first exposure to Ambrose Bears. Did you like it when 277 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: you initially read it? It might have been in school 278 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: so that all color. It was in school, and uh, 279 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: I don't remember making or disliking it. It's also been 280 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: made into a film several times. Yes, I also remember 281 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: watching a film of it in school. So yeah, there's 282 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: it's it's interesting. I feel like having come in from 283 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: The Devil's Dictionary, which is much funnier and kind of 284 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: absurdist in some ways. Yeah, I have a much different 285 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: sort of relationship with him than people that were assigned 286 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: Civil war stories by him when they were kids. Well, 287 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: it's one of those things that I feel like I 288 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: read it at the same approximate time as reading Romeo 289 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: and Juliet, which there's It's one of those things where, 290 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: in hindsight, I kind of go, is that really the 291 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: best thing for middle schoolers to get there? You know, 292 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: first taste of this thing with Anyway, while Bears had 293 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: achieved a certain level of success as a writer at 294 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: this time, his home life was kind of unraveling. He 295 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: and Mary had grown apart, and he had started to 296 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: suspect that she was being unfaithful, although there was really 297 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: no evidence of infidelity. Yeah, it's one of those things that, 298 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: similar to when he left the Wasp, there's a lot 299 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,879 Speaker 1: of fuzzy nous around it. There's not a lot of 300 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: hard details. He thinks that she received two letters from 301 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: an admirer, and it kind of seems like his pride 302 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:17,359 Speaker 1: may have caused him to draw conclusions and be dug 303 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: in about something that really there was no substance to, uh, 304 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: which is a pity because then after almost seventeen years 305 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: of being married they separated in Then just a year later, 306 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: their oldest son, Day was killed in a gunfight over 307 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: Day's fiancee, who had run off with another man. Both 308 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: of the young men wound up dying as a result 309 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: of their wounds. And despite all of this turmoil that 310 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: was going on in his private life in the late 311 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties, UH the early eighteen nineties were some of 312 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:53,920 Speaker 1: Beers's most successful years as a writer. He published several books, 313 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:59,439 Speaker 1: all very quickly, tales of soldiers and civilians, aggregated his 314 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: civil our stories and got a lot of critical acclaim. 315 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter is written as a 316 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: diary of a man struggling with morality, and that was 317 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: promoted as a translation of a lost German text. Then 318 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: there's Can Such Things Be, which is a collection of 319 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: supernatural short stories, and that one includes an inhabitant of Carcosa. 320 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: And he also started at this time to mentor younger writers, 321 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: and that's something he would do for years, although apparently, 322 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: you know, he remained a rather critical human being, Like 323 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 1: he was very judgmental and critical of others, and he 324 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: would distance himself from his students and writers he was 325 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: supposed to be mentoring that he thought weren't very talented 326 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: or didn't have very original ideas, Like he wouldn't it 327 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: sounds like he wouldn't really address it and be like, 328 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: I don't really think you have what it takes. He 329 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: would just sort of quietly shut them out. He was 330 00:18:54,040 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: a complicated and difficult man. I think so right as 331 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: Beers's career was that, it's apex Hurst sent him to Washington, 332 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: d C. What Hurst wanted to do was kind of 333 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:18,439 Speaker 1: enlist Ambrose Bierce's vitriol and sense of justice uh into 334 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,960 Speaker 1: his fight with against the dealings of Collis Huntington's. So 335 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:27,679 Speaker 1: Huntington's had been accused of being politically corrupt before, and 336 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: he was trying to slide a bill through Congress which, 337 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: if it passed, was going to forgive all the outstanding 338 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: loans that the government held. Some of these had paid 339 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: for the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. And the reason 340 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: this is important to Huntington's is that he was basically 341 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,879 Speaker 1: the last man standing of the group that was responsible 342 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,120 Speaker 1: for building the project, so he was not super interested 343 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: in bearing the financial burden and paying back all these 344 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 1: loans that he now was responsible for. Hurst had gotten 345 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: wind of Huntington's scheme to shirk all these loans, and 346 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: he basically sent his journalist attack dog after him. Beers 347 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: was not a blind pawn in all of this. He 348 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 1: thought that the railroad was corrupt and that Congress shouldn't 349 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: be helping, and so his skilled rhetoric drew attention to 350 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: the bill, which was ultimately defeated. And that's the whole 351 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: episode that I mean. There have been books just about 352 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: that event, about the fight of the railroad and Congress 353 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: being involved in the legalities of the corruption, and uh, 354 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 1: if anybody wanted to explore that, just know it's out there. Uh. 355 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,719 Speaker 1: Beers returned to California after all of this for a while, 356 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 1: but soon he asked to be transferred to Washington, d C. 357 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: Permanently and he and Hurst, as you can imagine two 358 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: very opinionated, very outspoken men were known to butt heads 359 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 1: uh and argue over things like this. But the request 360 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 1: was approved and Beers moved to d C. And started 361 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,679 Speaker 1: writing his pieces for The Examiner as well as The 362 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: Cosmopolitan from his new home on the East Coast. And 363 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: that was in So the nineteen hundreds did not start 364 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,440 Speaker 1: off especially kindly for him. His remaining son, who had 365 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: followed in his father's footsteps as a journalist, died in 366 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: nineteen o one from pneumonia, which might have been complicated 367 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: by a drinking problem, and in nineteen o five, his wife, Mary, 368 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,640 Speaker 1: from whom he'd been separated since, died of a heart attack. 369 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: And she had actually only filed for divorce a few 370 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: months prior to her death, citing abandonment. And there is 371 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: a whole other um theory that she thought that Ambrose 372 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: wanted to get remarried, so she was sort of freeing 373 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,719 Speaker 1: him from their legal marriage, but he didn't. He didn't 374 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 1: ever marry again. From nineteen o nine to nineteen twelve, 375 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: Beers worked exclusively on a twelve volume collection of his 376 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: work that was published by Neil Publishing Company, and he 377 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: wasn't working for hers anymore. During this time he seemed 378 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: to be kind of done with new writing in general, 379 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,360 Speaker 1: and once the publication project of that twelve volume collection 380 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: was complete, Beers began a tour of Civil War battlefields 381 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: while he was en route to Mexico to witness ponto 382 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: Villa's Revolution, which, as you can imagine, was a rather 383 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: dangerous place for a foreigner to be wandering. Uh. He 384 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: also squared away all of his personal business in this time, 385 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 1: although whether that was just the cautionary preparedness of somebody 386 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: getting ready to travel to a foreign country that was 387 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,800 Speaker 1: potentially dangerous, or a man who pretty much recognizes that 388 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 1: he's at the end of his life tying up loose 389 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: ends is a little bit unclear. You know, it would 390 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: have played out pretty much the same way either way. 391 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: He wrote a letter to his niece just before he left, 392 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: and one of the things that said was if you 393 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 1: hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone 394 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: wall and shot to rags, please note that I think 395 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: that a pretty good way to depart this life. It 396 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 1: beats old age disease or falling down the cellar stairs 397 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: to be a gringo in Mexico. Ah, that is euthanasia. 398 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: He yeah, it's kind of jove but also a little ominous. Uh. 399 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:04,959 Speaker 1: Many people have wondered if he really was just going 400 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,400 Speaker 1: to Mexico sort of with the intent that he would 401 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: not ever come back. Uh. There continue to be rumors 402 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: and theories about that. Uh. And we don't know what 403 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: precisely happened to him on his travels while he was there. 404 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: His death date is generally listed as nineteen thirteen comma 405 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen question mark. Uh. Sometimes it's just listed as 406 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,640 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen question mark. We have no way of knowing 407 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,679 Speaker 1: how long he lived after his last correspondence, which was 408 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: a letter that he sent from Chihuahua in late December. 409 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: In that letter, he wrote as to me, I leave 410 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 1: here tomorrow for an unknown destination. And some people have 411 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: read into that that that was like a suicide note. Uh, 412 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: and others are like, no, he he was just wandering. 413 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 1: He didn't have a plan, and we don't know. But 414 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: after it became apparent that he had disappeared and no 415 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,199 Speaker 1: one had heard from him, his daughter Helen petition the 416 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: US government to investigate what had happened to him, and 417 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: they did, but nothing was ever found. He really kind 418 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: of did a thin air move. Yeah, And of course 419 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: there've been sightings and theories about what happened, but Ambrose 420 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 1: Beers disappeared pretty thoroughly. There was really not any kind 421 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: of trace to turn over or obsess about. You don't 422 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: know if he was killed by Federal two troops, rebels, 423 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: ponto Villa himself. Nobody really knows. Some scholars have pointed 424 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: to the siege of Ohinaga, Chihuahua in January nine, fourteen 425 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: as a likely place of his death, but there's really 426 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: no substantial evidence that's ever been found. Yeah, it's just, 427 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: you know, a big violent event that happened near where 428 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: he was last known to be. Uh. So, theoretically that 429 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 1: could have easily been a place where he could have 430 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 1: died and been lost kind of in the carnage of 431 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: the battle. Uh And when you read Beers's work, as 432 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: I've said, there's definitely this sense of darkness and futility 433 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: and reality juxtaposed with surreality, and his war stories in particular, 434 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: I find extremely affecting. Chickamauga, for example, tells the story 435 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: of this young deaf boy who is on a battlefield, 436 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: but he believes it's all a game, like he thinks 437 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: he's in either a dream situation or his imagination, and 438 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: he's so lost in this, this imaginary play, that he 439 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,400 Speaker 1: fails to recognize the horrible reality around him, even though 440 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: Beerst describes the carnage of war with extremely graphic detail. Uh. 441 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 1: And similarly, in Couda Gross, the story centers around a 442 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: man who kills a friend of his in a mercy killing. 443 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,360 Speaker 1: The man was wounded and really suffering, and as a consequence, 444 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,679 Speaker 1: the man that did the mercy killing is executed as 445 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 1: a killer himself. And this sort of darkness and cruelty 446 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,120 Speaker 1: of war is always present in his works, as well 447 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 1: as a certain detachment even in this you know, pretty 448 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: intense description of truly grizzly scenes. Well, and that's that's 449 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why uh spoiler alert, if you 450 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,200 Speaker 1: have never watched Jacob's Ladder. A lot of people look 451 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: at Jacob's Ladder as a like a reworking of occurrence 452 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: at Owl Creek Bridge for the Vietnam War. Yes, that 453 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:06,160 Speaker 1: comparison is often made, but his work is not without humor, 454 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: even though the tone of the humor is usually black. 455 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: The Devil's Dictionary, like I said, I find hilarious. It's 456 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 1: really snarky, and so to end on a humorous note, 457 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: I thought we could read a couple of definitions from 458 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: that work, because it has laid out like a dictionary, 459 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: with words and then their meanings. As written by Ambrose Beers. 460 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: Sarah with love nown a temporary insanity curable by marriage. 461 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: Quotation noun the act of repeating erroneously the words of another. 462 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 1: I love that one. I know the Internet needs to 463 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: see that one. There's prey verb to asked that the 464 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a 465 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: single petitioner, confessedly unworthy politeness nown the most acceptable hypocrisy. Well, 466 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: and this, this next one is funny to me because 467 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 1: my brother calls the lottery a stupidity tax, and sometimes 468 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: I call it a day dreaming license. Lottery Nown attacks 469 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 1: on people who are bad math. And finally, if I 470 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 1: just love this one, it's so absurd and wonderful. Hash. 471 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 1: It's categorized as X. It gets no part of speech assignment. 472 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,880 Speaker 1: There is no definition for this word. No one knows 473 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 1: what hash is. Corn Beef and deliciousness is the commentary 474 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: on sort of the mash together of things that hash 475 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: often is so yeah, that's Ambrose Beer. I highly encourage 476 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: people to read his work. It is easy to get 477 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,320 Speaker 1: a hold of because almost all of it is on 478 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: Project Gutenberg, uh and also many other places online. I mean, 479 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 1: you can do a quick search and find just about 480 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: the entirety of the body of his work. His letters 481 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: are a little bit harder to get a hold of. 482 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 483 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:51,680 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 484 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 485 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,920 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 486 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: be obsolete now so here is our current contact information. 487 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: We are at history Podcasts at how stuff works dot com, 488 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 1: and then we're at missed in the History. All over 489 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: social media, that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, 490 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,639 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. For more on this 491 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.