The Voice of the City

by O. Henry

Overview

O. Henry is best noted for his wit, characterization and twist endings. O Henry wrote primarily about his own time the early 20th century. Most stories were set in New York and the characters were ordinary people. His brilliant writing style and his optimistic and often playful tone make O Henry's stories a delight to read. Stories in this work include Voice of the City -- The Complete Life of John Hopkins -- A Lickpenny Lover -- Dougherty's Eye-opener -- "Little Speck in Garnered Fruit" -- The Harbinger -- While the Auto Waits -- A Comedy in Rubber -- One Thousand Dollars -- The Defeat of the City -- The Shocks of Doom -- The Plutonian Fire -- Nemesis and the Candy Man -- Squaring the Circle -- Roses, Ruses, and Romance -- The City of Dreadful Night -- The Easter of the Soul -- The Fool-Killer -- Transients in Arcadia -- The Rathskeller and the Rose -- The Clarion Call -- Extradited from Bohemia -- A Philistine in Bohemia -- From Each According to His Ability -- The Memento

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438536699
Publisher:	Book Jungle
Publication date:	02/04/2010
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.33(d)

About the Author

O. Henry (1862-1910) was an American short story writer. Born and raised in North Carolina, O. Henry—whose real name was William Sydney Porter—moved to Texas in 1882 in search of work. He met and married Athol Estes in Austin, where he became well known as a musician and socialite. In 1888, Athol gave birth to a son who died soon after, and in 1889 a daughter named Margaret was born. Porter began working as a teller and bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Austin in 1890 and was fired four years later and accused of embezzlement. Afterward, he began publishing a satirical weekly called The Rolling Stone, but in 1895 he was arrested in Houston following an audit of his former employer. While waiting to stand trial, Henry fled to Honduras, where he lived for six months before returning to Texas to surrender himself upon hearing of Athol’s declining health. She died in July of 1897 from tuberculosis, and Porter served three years at the Ohio Penitentiary before moving to Pittsburgh to care for his daughter. While in prison, he began publishing stories under the pseudonym “O. Henry,” finding some success and launching a career that would blossom upon his release with such short stories as “The Gift of the Magi” (1905) and “The Ransom of Red Chief” (1907). He is recognized as one of America’s leading writers of short fiction, and the annual O. Henry Award—which has been won by such writers as William Faulkner, John Updike, and Eudora Welty—remains one of America’s most prestigious literary prizes.