O Henry

A husband and wife sacrifice treasured possessions in order to buy each other Christmas presents.

The Four Million (1906) is a collection of short stories by American writer O. Henry. Inspired by his experiences as a fugitive and in prison, these stories address themes of poverty, persecution, and hope. The Four Million refers to the population of New York City, where O. Henry was living at the time of its composition. Containing twenty-five works of short fiction, the collection includes several of the author's best-known stories. "The Gift of...

From America's favorite storyteller: A rich selection of twenty-five tales by the author of "The Gift of the Magi." Writing under the pseudonym O. Henry, William Sydney Porter was an incredibly prolific and popular master of the short story in the early twentieth century. His stories are known for being witty, playful, full of plot twists, and marked by surprise endings. The author had a special fondness for New York City and a deep interest and appreciation...

Heart of the West is a collection of 19 short stories highlighting the complicated relationship between men and women, law and order, honor and obligation. These compelling tales are filled with memorable characters and fascinating conflicts. In Heart of the West, O. Henry explores the illustrious region featuring cowboys, outlaws, rangers and sheepherders. It consists of 19 short stories celebrating the unique culture and happenings in the Old West....

The Trimmed Lamp (1907) is a collection of twenty-five short stories by American writer O. Henry. Inspired by his experiences as a fugitive and prisoner, these stories address themes of poverty and city life with humor and abundant empathy. Its focus on the regular, working class people of New York City makes The Trimmed Lamp a sequel of sorts to Henry's The Four Million (1906), perhaps his most important collection. In "The Trimmed Lamp," two friends...

Originally published in 1917, Waifs and Strays is a premier selection of short stories released seven years after the author's untimely, death at age 47. The book contains 12 memorable tales including "Confessions of a Humorist," "The Detective Detector," and "The Sparrows in Madison Square." In Waifs and Strays, O. Henry brings humor to unconventional stories with unforgettable characters. With "The Detective Detector" he spoof's the world's most...

O. Henry, the pseudonym of the American writer William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), is best known for writing stories full of wit, wordplay, and warm characterizations, and particularly for their clever twist endings. This volume contains twenty of O. Henry's best and best-loved stories. They are marked by coincidence and surprise endings as well as the compassion and high humor that have made O. Henry's stories popular for the last century. The stories...

Sixteen captivating stories by one of America's most popular storytellers. Included are such classics as "The Gift of the Magi," "The Last Leaf," "The Ransom of Red Chief," "The Voice of the City," and "The Cop and the Anthem." Publisher's Note. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

Selected Stories of O. Henry, by O. Henry, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: • New introductions commissioned from todays top writers and scholars • Biographies of the authors • Chronologies...

Originally published in 1908, this collection of twenty-six of O. Henry's "New York Stories" follows his two previous collections. As usual, his characters feature a wide range of classes and types of New Yorkers (many of the artistic and literary professions), going about their large and small businesses. The title story, considered one of Henry's best, is narrated by an imaginative man who wonders what the big city will say, but finally learns it...