The Cynic's Dictionary

A curmudgeon after Ambrose Bierce's heart, Rick Bayan has composed his own witty response to the car phone generation, with more than 900 entries from Abnormal to Zzzzzz. He defines a merger as "When 1 + 1 = 1, with the remainder going on unemployment," neighbors are "the strangers who live next door," and a zoo is "A pleasant and instructive wildlife park, lately denounced for depriving animals of their right to starve or be eaten alive in their natural habitats." Trenchant, mordant, and often funny, Bayan cuts the '90s no slack.