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Public domain epub books

Sometimes old and free ebooks in the public domain are just plain unreadable. Not because the author couldn't do any better, but because so little effort has been put into digitizing their works. One of the worst offenders is Google, who despite their huge inventory, often do so sloppy work that the whole program might just be a disservice to literature. With pages missing and text scrambled, reading is a challenge, and once in a while I end up by having to painstakingly reconstruct a book I want to read.

How bad can it be? Check out Google's finger

The Fiend's Delight

Free ebook by Ambrose Bierce

The Fiend's Delight is a collection of writings and poems by Ambrose Bierce, published under the pen name of Dod Grile. It as a dark book, in many ways a precursor of his later The Devil's Dictionary.

From Wikipedia:

Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – circa 1914 was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and Civil War veteran. His book The Devil's Dictionary was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. His story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" has been described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature"; and his book "Tales of Soldiers and Civilians" (also published as "In the Midst of Life") was named by the Grolier Club as one of the 100 most influential American books printed before 1900.

A prolific and versatile writer, Bierce was regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United States, and as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. For his horror writing, Michael Dirda ranked him alongside Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. His war stories influenced Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and he was considered an influential and feared literary critic. In recent decades Bierce has gained wider respect as a fabulist and for his poetry.

In December 1913, Bierce traveled to Chihuahua, Mexico, to gain first-hand experience of the Mexican Revolution. He disappeared, and was rumored to be traveling with rebel troops. He was never seen again.

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