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An Imperfect Conflagration

Ambrose Bierce

First published 1927
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

"A father/son team have committed a burglary and are dividing the spoils when the father holds back a fancy music box and denies he has it. ... An insurance policy is taken out on the house to enrich the son when he burns it down."

First published as by "B" as "The Imperfect Conflagration" in the Wasp (San Francisco), March 27, 1886.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1927 My Favorite Murder and Other Stories Haldeman-Julius Collection |3
1944 Cover Pause to Wonder Julian Messner Anthology 177
September 1965 Cover Der Gnadenstoß: Geschichten des Grauens Rowohlt Collection 108
1966 Cover Les chefs-d'œuvre du crime Marabout Anthology 396
1970 Cover The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce Doubleday Collection 405
November 1971 Cover The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce, Volume II: The World of War and the World of Tall Tales Ballantine Books Collection 183
1973 Cover Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce: The Irreverent Humor of the Great Satirist CMS Collection |3
June 1974 Cover Racconti neri Garzanti Collection 135
1976 Cover Tales for a Winter's Night Pelican Records Anthology |1
1984 Cover The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce University of Nebraska Press Collection 405
1984 The Best of Ambrose Bierce Castle / Book Sales Omnibus 477
1988 Cover The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce Picador / Pan Books Omnibus 803
October 1999 Cover 100 Hilarious Little Howlers Barnes & Noble Books Anthology 220
July 2012 Cover Ambrose Bierce: Masters of the Weird Tale Centipede Press Collection