Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Storiesby William Sydney Porter
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) BookConcierge | Jan 20, 2016 |  O. Henry (aka William Sidney Porter) is known for endings with a twist, and these did not disappoint.  Many are funny, but a few are serious.  Most of the stories are set in New York City, where the author spent the last eight years (1902-1910) of his too-short life.  My favorite stories are the ones set in Texas, where he lived from 1882 (when he was 20) to 1897, starting at a sheep ranch in South Texas, and eventually moving to Austin (where he worked as a pharmacist, then as a draftsman for the state's General Land Office, and finally as a bank teller for the First National Bank) and then Houston (where he wrote for the Houston Post newspaper). The only Texas-set story in this books is "The Pimienta Pancakes," which mentions the Frio and Nueces rivers and San Miguel Creek, all of which join up around Choke Canyon Reservoir near Three Rivers in South Texas. This edition provided the name and date of the collection the story was first published in, which at least gave me a relative idea of when each story was written. © Amanda Pape - 2015 [I already owned and plan to keep this book.] (  )1  riofriotex | Aug 30, 2015 | ) tjsjohanna | Nov 4, 2009 | O. Henry’s stories are full of irony. His stories focus on the base aspects of human nature: poverty, crime, dying, focusing on self-improvement and the “love your neighbor” aspects of human nature. The characters in O. Henry’s stories were loving, and the endings were poignant and “tender." O. Henry's writing is nothing spectacular, but it doesn't need to be with his simple stories. I found the Dover Thrift edition, with just a 16 short stories, to be a very quick (and fun) evening read. More detailed review on my blog rebeccareid | Nov 19, 2008 | no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher Series
Classic Literature.
Fiction.
HTML:Here are sixteen of the best stories by one of America's most popular storytellers. For nearly a century, the work of O. Henry has delighted readers with its humor, irony and colorful, real-life settings. The writer's own life had more than a touch of color and irony. Born William Sidney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1862, he worked on a Texas ranch, then as a bank teller in Austin, then as a reporter for the Houston "Post." Adversity struck, however, when he was indicted for embezzlement of bank funds. Porter fled to New Orleans, then to Honduras before he was tried, convicted and imprisoned for the crime in 1898. In prison he began writing stories of Central America and the American Southwest that soon became popular with magazine readers. After his release Porter moved to New York City, where he continued writing stories under the pen name O. HenryThough his work earned him an avid readership, O. Henry died in poverty and oblivion scarcely eight years after his arrival in New York. But in the treasury of stories he left behind are such classics of the genre 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" â?? all included in this choice selection. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiati No library descriptions found. 
|
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.96)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English
2