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O. Henry

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O. Henry


Born
in Greensboro, North Carolina, The United States
September 11, 1862

Died
June 05, 1910

Genre


Such volumes as Cabbages and Kings (1904) and The Four Million (1906) collect short stories, noted for their often surprising endings, of American writer William Sydney Porter, who used the pen name O. Henry.

His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. His era produced their voices and his language.

Mother of three-year-old Porter died from tuberculosis. He left school at fifteen years of age and worked for five years in drugstore of his uncle and then for two years at a Texas sheep ranch.

In 1884, he went to Austin, where he worked in a real estate office and a church choir and spent four years as a draftsman in the general land office. His wife and firstborn died, but daughter Margaret survived him.

He failed
...more

Average rating: 4.07 · 185,319 ratings · 9,886 reviews · 2,917 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Gift of the Magi

4.11 avg rating — 101,702 ratings — published 1905 — 595 editions
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Selected Stories

by
4.17 avg rating — 17,707 ratings — published 1922 — 13 editions
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The Last Leaf

by
4.31 avg rating — 7,029 ratings — published 1907 — 92 editions
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The Ransom of Red Chief

4.15 avg rating — 6,773 ratings — published 1907 — 14 editions
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The Gift of the Magi and Ot...

by
4.12 avg rating — 6,305 ratings — published 1904 — 137 editions
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The Best Short Stories of O...

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4.25 avg rating — 4,401 ratings — published 1945 — 28 editions
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The Complete Works of O. Henry

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4.33 avg rating — 1,980 ratings — published 1937 — 46 editions
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Cabbages and Kings

3.93 avg rating — 1,529 ratings — published 1904 — 623 editions
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After Twenty Years

3.95 avg rating — 1,162 ratings — published 1973 — 11 editions
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The Four Million

4.03 avg rating — 903 ratings — published 1906 — 539 editions
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More books by O. Henry…

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Quotes by O. Henry  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Each of us, when our day's work is done, must seek our ideal, whether it be love or pinochle or lobster à la Newburg, or the sweet silence of the musty bookshelves.”
O. Henry

“No friendship is an accident. ”
O. Henry, Heart of the West

“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi

Polls

December 2017 Short Story Poll

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, 32 pages or less, 1905
 
  58 votes, 17.7%

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, 112 pages, 1929
 
  57 votes, 17.4%

A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O'Connor, 24 pages or less, 1955
 
  34 votes, 10.4%

 
  33 votes, 10.1%

 
  32 votes, 9.8%

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote, 48 pages or less, 1956
 
  27 votes, 8.2%

Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann, 120 pages, 1815
 
  25 votes, 7.6%

The Eyes by Edith Wharton, 48 pages, 1910
 
  17 votes, 5.2%

To Build a Fire by Jack London, 32 pages or less, 1903
 
  11 votes, 3.4%

The Lion in Winter by James Goldman, 60 pages, 1966
 
  11 votes, 3.4%

R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, 84 pages, 1920
 
  8 votes, 2.4%

 
  8 votes, 2.4%

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain, 115 pages,1936
 
  7 votes, 2.1%

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