Ambrose Bierce 
Son of the Gods and Horseman in the Sky 

Brilliant and magnetic as are these two studies by Ambrose Bierce, and especially significant as coming from one who was a boy soldier in the Civil War, they merely reflect one side of his original and many-faceted genius. Poet, critic, satirist, fun-maker, incomparable writer of fables and masterly prose sketches, a seer of startling insight, a reasoner mercilessly logical, with the delicate wit and keenness of an Irving or an Addison, the dramatic quality of a Hugo, -all of these, and still in the prime of his powers; yet so restricted has been his output and so little exploited that only the judicious few have been impressed.