An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Other Tales: Classic Tales Edition

Written by Ambrose Bierce

Narrated by B. J. Harrison

There is a bridge at Owl Creek that is surrounded by dry and cracking driftwood. Burning the bridge would be the perfect way for a civilian Southerner to strike a blow against the Union Army.

But Peyton Farkuar doesn’t make it that far. And instead, finds a rope around his neck.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B.J. Harrison
• Release date: Jul 16, 2010
• ISBN: 9781950524457

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) was an American novelist and short story writer. Born in Meigs County, Ohio, Bierce was raised Indiana in a poor family who treasured literature and extolled the value of education. Despite this, he left school at 15 to work as a printer’s apprentice, otherwise known as a “devil”, for the Northern Indianan, an abolitionist newspaper. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he enlisted in the Union infantry and was present at some of the conflict’s most harrowing events, including the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. During the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in 1864, Bierce—by then a lieutenant—suffered a serious brain injury and was discharged the following year. After a brief re-enlistment, he resigned from the Army and settled in San Francisco, where he worked for years as a newspaper editor and crime reporter. In addition to his career in journalism, Bierce wrote a series of realist stories including “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” and “Chickamauga,” which depict the brutalities of warfare while emphasizing the psychological implications of violence. In 1906, he published The Devil’s Dictionary, a satirical dictionary compiled from numerous installments written over several decades for newspapers and magazines. In 1913, he accompanied Pancho Villa’s army as an observer of the Mexican Revolution and disappeared without a trace at the age of 71.