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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.
O. Henry. William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862– June 5, 1910), known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. His stories are known for their surprise endings. #AmericanWriters.
- Overview
- Early career
- Personal life
- Influences
- Writing
- Film
O. Henry (1862 - 1910) was an American short story author named William Sydney Porter, raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. Henry's rich canon of work reflected his wide-range of experiences and is distinctive for its witticism, clever wordplay, and unexpected twist endings.
Like many other writers, O. Henry's early career aspirations were unfocused and he wandered across different activities and professions before he finally found his calling as a short story writer. He started working in his uncle's drugstore in 1879 and became a licensed pharmacist by the age of 19. His first creative expressions came while working ...
O. Henry moved to Texas in March of 1882 hoping to get rid of a persistent cough that he had developed. While there, he took up residence on a sheep ranch, learned shepherding, cooking, babysitting, and bits of Spanish and German from the many migrant farmhands. He had an active social life in Austin and was a fine musician, skilled with the guitar...
O. Henry was always a lover of classic literature, and while pursuing his many ventures, O. Henry had begun writing as a hobby. When he lost his banking position he moved to Houston in 1895 and started writing for the The Post, earning $25 per month (an average salary at this time in American history was probably about $300 a year). O. Henry collec...
O. Henry's prolific writing period began in 1902 in New York City, where he wrote 381 short stories. He wrote one story a week for The New York World Sunday Magazine for over a year. Some of his best and least known work is contained in Cabbages and Kings, whose title was inspired by Lewis Carroll's poem, The Walrus and the Carpenter. The stories w...
In 1952, Marilyn Monroe and Charles Laughton starred in O. Henry's Full House, a film featuring five of O. Henry's short stories. The film included The Cop and the Anthem, The Clarion Call, The Last Leaf, The Ransom of Red Chief (starring Fred Allen and Oscar Levant), and The Gift of the Magi.
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William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Magi", "The Duplicity of Hargraves", and "The Ransom of Red Chief", as well as the novel Cabbages and Kings.
O. Henry wrote about a city of four million people but always managed to focus on only one or two usually contrasting characters. He opens "The Last Leaf" by giving an impression of the size, age, and complexity of New York, then tells a simple little story about two girls sharing a small apartment while they try to survive as artists.
I thought you were going to speak to me, and I’m glad you didn’t.’. ”Then we had more talk; and at last a kind of proud, serious look came on her face, and she turned and pointed a finger at the big house. “'The Allyns,' says she, ‘have lived in Elmcroft for a hundred years. We are a proud family.
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.
