Description
Book SynopsisEighty short stories by a master of the genre O. Henry's comic eye and unique, ironic approach to life's realities are unmatched. These stories—about con men and tricksters and innocent deceivers, about fate, luck, and coincidence—have delighted generations of readers. Set in New York and the West, in Central America and the South, they demonstrate O. Henry's mastery of speech and place, and highlight his appreciation of life's quirks.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Table of ContentsSelected StoriesIntroduction
Suggestions for Further Reading
From The Four Million (1906)
The Coming-Out of Maggie
A Service of Love
Between Rounds
An Unfinished Story
After Twenty Years
By Courier
From The Trimmed Lamp (1907)
The Pendulum
The Buyer from Cactus City
Brickdust Row
The Foreign Policy of Company 99
The Count and the Wedding Guest
The Country of Elusion
From Heart of the West (1907)
The Ransom of Mack
The Higher Abdication
A Call Loan
The Princess and the Puma
The Indian Summer of Dry Valley Johnson
The Reformation of Calliope
From The Voice of the City (1908)
The Complete Life of Johns Hopkins
Doughtery's Eye-Opener
While the Auto Waits
The Defeat of the City
The Plutonian Fire
Squaring the Circle
The Fool-Killer
Transients in Arcadia
Extradited from Bohemia
From Each According to His Ability
The Memento
From The Gentle Grafter (1908)
Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet
Modern Rural Sports
The Man Higher Up
Hostages to Momus
From Roads of Destiny (1909)
The Guardian of the Accolade
Phoebe
A Double-Dyed Deceiver
A Retrieved Reformation
Friends in San Rosario
The Emancipation of Billy
A Departmental Case
The Renaissance at Charleroi
Two Renegades
From Options (1909)
"The Rose of Dixie"
Schools and Schools
Thimble, Thimble
The Moment of Victory
No Story
From Strictly Business (1910)
The Gold That Glittered
The Day Resurgent
The Thing's the Play
A Municipal Report
Proof of the Pudding
The Venturers
From Whirligigs (1910)
The Theory and the Hound
The Ransom of Red Chief
The Whirligig of Life
The Roads We Take
A Blackjack Bargainer
One Dollar's Worth
Madame Bo-Peep, of the Ranches
From Sixes and Sevens (1911)
Witches' Loaves
The Duplicity of Hargraves
October and June
The Church with an Overshot-Wheel
From Rolling Stones (1912)
The Atavism of John Tom Little Bear
The Marquis and Miss Sally
From Waifs and Strays (1917)
Out of Nazareth
Hearts and Hands
