Forty Liars: And Other Lies (1883)

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Bill Nye was "considered 'Wyoming’s most celebrated citizen' and remains one of the state’s most famous historical figures." -WyoHistory.org
"All men may be liars; but all men cannot lie as well or as entertainingly as Mr. Bill Nye … the wildest of the funny men of the West." - Puck, 1881
"The humor is rich and deep, and eminently original. Bill Nye is constantly striking new leads, and never jumps another man's claim." -Unity, 1883

Bill Nye's 1883 book "Forty Liars: And Other Lies," is a collection of humorous short essays about life in the early West, and is described by the author as "the initial step in the world's great march toward universal frankness."

Bill Nye went to Wyoming Territory in 1876, where he was admitted to the bar and practiced law for several years in Laramie City, was later elected to the office of Justice of the Peace. Having much time at his disposal and possessing a " considerable assortment of long words, which he had thought out at leisure moments," he began writing Sunday letters for the Cheyenne "Sun " at a dollar a column. Thus began his career as a humorous writer.

"My revenue from those letters," he said, "which aggregated as much as sixty dollars a year, so completely dwarfed the returns from my law practice that I abandoned the latter." He soon accepted a position on the Laramie City "Sentinel." Of the editor of that paper he wrote later: -" He was warm-hearted and generous to a fault. He was more generous to a fault than to anything else—more especially his own faults. He gave me twelve dollars a week to edit the paper — local, telegraph, selections, religious, sporting, political, fashions, and obituary."

Nye left the "Sentinel" to found a paper which he named the "Boomerang," after his favorite mule, which he called Boomerang, because he never knew where it would strike. The office was over a livery stable in which the mule was kept, and on the door Nye put this sign: "Persons wishing to see the editor will please twist the tail of the white mule and take the elevator.'' From that time Bill Nye's fame dates. The "Boomerang" was quoted all over the country and abroad, but it was not a financial success.

The popularity of Nye's writings grew rapidly and his services were accordingly much sought after. The New York "World" secured them in 1886, and he wrote a weekly article for that paper which was syndicated also and published in several hundreds of newspapers throughout the United States. The returns from the sales of these articles, from his books, and from his annual lecture tours made him a wealthy man.

Other books by Nye include:
• Nye and Riley's railway guide
• Nye and Riley's wit and humor
• Bill Nye and Boomerang : or, The tale of a meek-eyed mule ; and some other literary gems
• Fun, wit and humor
• Second suds sayings : a collection of stories, sketches and articles regarding the laundry
• Remarks
• Comic History of the United States
• Bill Nye's history of England from the druids to the reign of Henry VIII;
• Bill Nye's comic history of England
• Bill Nye's red book
• Bill Nye's sparks
• A guest at the Ludlow, and other stories
• Bill Nye's cordwood
• Bill Nye's western humor
• Baled hay : a drier book than Walt Whitman's "Leaves o' grass"
• Bill Nye's Chestnuts old and new : Latest gathering
• A guest at the Ludlow, and other stories