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1. ‘ The Gift of the Magi ’. This is surely O. Henry’s best-known story of all. Published in 1906, it’s about a husband and wife, Jim and Della, buying Christmas presents for each other, without much money to spend on them.
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“The Gift of the Magi” | 2,080 words
A poor, married couple try to figure out how to get each other a nice Christmas present. (Themes) This is the first story in the preview of The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories.
“The Coming-Out of Maggie” | 2,500 words
Maggie, a wallflower, is escorted to a dance by a man who attracts a lot of attention. This story can be read in the preview of Complete Stories. (In the table of contents, select The Four Million, then “The Coming-Out of Maggie”)
“The Skylight Room” | 2,300 words
A young woman stays in the cheapest room at a boarding house. She’s very popular with her fellow guests. This story can be read in the above preview of Complete Stories. (In the table of contents, select “The Four Million, then the “The Skylight Room)
“The Last Leaf” | 2,375 words
A few tenants in an apartment building are painters/artists. One of the tenants gets pneumonia, and she can see a vine from her deathbed window. She says she’s going to die when the vine loses its last leaf. This is the fourth story in the preview of 50 Greatest Short Stories.
“Brickdust Row” | 2,900 words
Blinker is a wealthy landowner and landlord. He decides to go to Coney Island. On the ferry ride, he meets Florence, a young working-class woman. Read “Brickdust Row”
“The Count and the Wedding Guest” | 2,370 words
Mr. Donovan comforts a fellow boarder, Miss Conway, who is mourning the death of her fiancé. Read “The Count and the Wedding Guest”
“The Princess and the Puma” | 2,325 words
Josefa, princess of a large ranch, and Ripley, a ranch foreman, have an encounter with a Mexican lion. (Summary) This is the second story in the preview of The Selected Stories of O. Henry.
“The Caballero’s Way” | 4,650 words
A ranger, Lieutenant Sandridge, searches for the Cisco Kid, a murderer with a quick temper and quick draw. Read “The Caballero’s Way”
“Telemachus, Friend” | 2,900 words
Telemachus Hicks tells the story of his mutilated left ear, which he claims is a relic of true friendship. He spent all his time with his best friend Paisley Fish. When they meet the Widow Jessup they are both attracted to her. The make a pact that they will court her fairly and equally, and that it won’t interfere with their friendship. Read “Telemachus, Friend”
“The Plutonian Fire” | 2,350 words
A short story writer who had some fiction published in the South struggles to get an editor’s approval in New York. This is the first story in the preview of The Selected Stories of O. Henry.
“While the Auto Waits” | 1,930 words
A young man strikes up a conversation with a young woman on a park bench. She complains about her life of wealth and luxury. (Summary) Read here
“The Defeat of the City” | 2,330 words
Robert Walmsley, a former country boy, is a successful Manhattan lawyer and respected city gentleman. He married a high-status, inaccessible woman, Alicia Van Der Pool. One day she finds a letter from Robert’s mother, inviting them to visit the farm. Read “The Defeat of the City”
“Conscience in Art”
Jeff and Andy go to Pittsburgh to find a millionaire to scam. Jeff’s conscience moves his to always give something in return for what he takes, while Andy doesn’t care. Andy gets to know Scudder, who has a rare and valuable painting.
“Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet”
Jeff Peters relates a scheme he was involved in while posing as a medicine man. After being shut down by the constable, he meets Andy, a man with a similar trade. They want to go in on something together. Jeff gets an emergency summons from the mayor; he is sick and the local doctor is out of town.
“A Retrieved Reformation” | 2,800 words
Jimmy Valentine, an expert safe-cracker, is released from jail after serving nearly ten months. The warden urges him to go straight. He goes to see Mike Dolan at his café; Jimmy’s room is upstairs. Starting a week after Jimmy’s release, there’s a string of burglaries. When Jimmy starts going straight he’s faced with a dilemma. This story can be read in the preview of The Gift of the Magi and Other New York Stories. (14% in)
“The Third Ingredient”
Hetty returns to her third-floor room after being fired from her department store job. She starts to prepare her dinner but finds she has no potato or onion to go with her beef. When she takes her stew-pan to get some water, she finds another woman there peeling potatoes, which is all she has to eat. Hetty suggests they combine their ingredients.
“The Higher Pragmatism” | 2,700 words
Jack is in love with Mildred, a woman above him socially and financially. He explains his situation to a vagrant. The vagrant, an ex-boxer, tells Jack the story of his career, which he believes serves as a parallel to Jack’s situation—he couldn’t stand up to the professionals. Read “The Higher Pragmatism”
“The Hiding of Black Bill” | 4,460 words
A traveler is hired to herd sheep on a ranch. He and the owner talk about a robber, Black Bill, who’s being tracked in the area. Read “The Hiding of Black Bill”
“A Newspaper Story” | 1,300 words
The movement of a daily newspaper is tracked, along with the uses it’s put to. (Summary) Read “A Newspaper Story”
“Calloway’s Code” | 2,600 words
Calloway is on assignment as a war correspondent for the New York Enterprise. He manages to inform his paper of the details of the decisive battle on the day it occurs, even though outgoing communication is censored. The paper received a cablegram of perplexing nonsense from Calloway. His coworkers searched without success for some meaning, until it was shown to Vesey, a young reporter. Read “Calloway’s Code”
“The Ransom of Red Chief” | 4,160 words
The narrator and Bill have a scheme that requires a little more capital. They decide on a kidnapping, choosing the son of Ebenezer Dorset as their target. They find the young boy outside his house throwing rocks. He puts up a tremendous fight, but they manage to get him back to their hideout. Carrying out the plan is more difficult than they imagined. Read “The Ransom of Red Chief”
“The Girl and the Habit” | 2,000 words
Miss Merriam is a cashier at a downtown restaurant. She sits at a desk behind woven wire fencing. It’s very busy. She’s capable and lovely. On top of her official duties, she has to fend off the invitations, offers and advances of the male patrons.
“The Duel” | 1,880 words
When someone goes to live in New York, whether rich or poor and for whatever reason, they have to fight. The battle is between becoming a New Yorker and friend of the city, or remaining an outsider and enemy. William, a business man, and Jack, an artist arrive in New York at the same time. Four years later they meet for lunch. Read “The Duel”
“A Municipal Report” | 6,150 words
The narrator goes to Tennessee for a meeting with Azalea Adair. He represents a literary magazine that is interested in publishing Adair’s work. During his stay he meets Major Caswell, a widely disliked man considered a nuisance and loafer. The narrator remarks that if he had been able to avoid associating with Caswell a murder wouldn’t have occurred. Read “A Municipal Report”
“The Sleuths”
Meeks comes to New York to find his sister, Mary, a fifty-two year old widow living in a tenement house. He’s informed she moved out over a month ago without leaving any contact information. He seeks help from the police without any success. He decides to go to the famous detective Shamrock Jolnes. (Summary) Read “The Sleuths”
“Makes the Whole World Kin” | 1,500 words
A burglar enters a residence through a window. He lights a cigarette, looks around, and takes his time. There’s a dim light coming from the back room. He hopes to find something valuable there, like money or a watch. Read “Makes the Whole World Kin”
“The Duplicity of Hargraves” | 4,760 words
Major Pendleton Talbot and his daughter, Miss Lydia, move into a boarding house. They’ve come down in the world. The Major is finishing up his memoirs. Another boarder, Hargraves, is a comedian at a vaudeville theater. He takes a liking to the Major and listens to his stories. Read “The Duplicity of Hargraves”
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Books. 100 Selected Stories. O. Henry. Wordsworth Editions, 1995 - Fiction - 735 pages. With a new Introduction by Professor Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D. This selection of a hundred of O. Henry's...
O. Henry (1862 - 1910) was an American short story author whose real name was William Sydney Porter. Henry's rich canon of work reflected his wide-range of experiences and is distinctive for its witticism, clever wordplay, and unexpected twist endings.
Oct 19, 2023 · Included among O. Henry's best stories are" The Gift of the Magi," "The Ransom of Red Chief," "Cabbages and Kings," "After Twenty Years," and "Whirligigs." Cast your votes for the best O. Henry stories below and see where he ranks among the best short story writers of all time. 1.
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter, an American short story writer who is known for his tales about the life of ordinary people, especially in New York. His stories generally expressed the effect of coincidence on character through humour, grim or irony. Above anything else, he is known for his surprise endings.
May 14, 2024 · American writer O. Henry is famous for his short stories. His tales romanticized the commonplace—in particular, the life of ordinary people in New York City. His stories often had surprise endings, a device that became identified with his name and cost him critical favour when its vogue had passed.
