An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge

"A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama ... A rope closely encircled his neck..." An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge opens with the story's hero, Peyton Farquhar, hanging bound from a bridge, awaiting hanging. Farquhar is a Confederate sympathizer in the American Civil War and has been brought to this end by a Union spy. The novel was unique in its time for its jumbled chronology and is also famous for its surprising conclusion. Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist. Today, he is best known for his short story, 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' (1890) and his satirical lexicon, 'The Devil's Dictionary' (1911).