Brief Reviews

The Devil's Topographer: Ambrose Bierce and the American War Story by David M. Owens. Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2006. ix + 166 pp. Cloth $33.00. Based on Bierce's Civil War Fiction, Owens presents detailed observations of Bierce's own experiences as a soldier and how they contributed to his writing. Owens achieves this by categorizing Bierce's works, beginning with a biography of Bierce's "Military and Literary Worlds" in the first chapter, and following with four chronological chapters of Bierce's twenty-two war stories. Additionally, Owens offers a detailed map of the terrain Bierce traveled, a chronology of Bierce's Civil War stories, and Bierce's Civil War time line along with related stories in two brief but detailed appendices. Interesting and engaging, Owens offers a chilling look into the harrowing experiences Bierce later incorporated into his writing. (JN)

Teaching Nineteenth-Century American Poetry, ed. Paula Bernat Bennett, Karen L. Kilcup, and Phillip Schweighauser. New York: MLA, 2007. vii + 402 pp. Cloth, $40.00; paper, $22.00. Current and diverse, Teaching Nineteenth-Century American Poetry exposes readers to a wide variety of nineteenth-century poetry, including (but not limited to) Native American, sorrow songs, erotic, working-class, Civil War, postbellum realist, Jewish, satirical, and African American poetry. The editors of this volume expand the typical idea of what is often thought of as "nineteenth century poetry." This book will be exceptionally useful to all poetry instructors who wish to engage students in a much larger discussion of what the nineteenth century encompasses, with recommended strategies for teaching and resources. (JN)

John Ermine of the Yellowstone by Frederic Remington, ed. Gary Scharnhorst. Lincoln and London: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2008. v + 278 pp. Cloth, $42.95; paper, $14.95. Over a century since Remington's novel was first published, this elegant reprint of the 1902 edition is long anticipated. Scharnhorst offers a much needed scholarly edition with an introduction, notes, and reproductions of Remington's illustrations. The volume reflects both the literature and art at the turn of the century and will be useful and appealing to readers. (JN)