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New Yorkers

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A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Retold for Learners of English by Diane Mowat


A housewife, a tramp, a lawyer, a waitress, an actress - ordinary people living ordinary lives in New York at the beginning of the twentieth century. The city has changed greatly since that time, but its people are much the same. Some are rich, some are poor, some are happy, some are sad, some have found love, some are looking for love.


O. Henry's famous short stories - sensitive, funny, sympathetic - give us vivid pictures of the everyday lives of these New Yorkers.

61 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1901

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Diane Mowat

47 books20 followers

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5 stars
86 (20%)
4 stars
118 (28%)
3 stars
144 (34%)
2 stars
50 (12%)
1 star
17 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
Profile Image for kian.
198 reviews60 followers
August 16, 2017
When he (o.Henry) died, he had only twenty-three cents in his pocket, and his last words were:
"Turn up the lights! I don t want to go home in the dark."
Profile Image for Janete on hiatus due health issues.
832 reviews441 followers
January 31, 2019
3.5 stars. This book was very easy to understanding as I'm learning English by myself since middle 2016 and the stories were retold and adapted. But I liked the stories and I'll search for more O. Henry's short stories at Project Gutenberg and LibriVox (public domain audiobooks).
Profile Image for Abrar Alarjan.
495 reviews466 followers
December 31, 2017
خمسة قصص ،الرابط الوحيد فيما بينها المدينة الأمريكية الشهيرة نيويورك التي يجتمع في أرضها الفقير والمتشرد والنبيل وكل أصناف الناس .

لا أعرف الكثير عن كاتب القصص( أو هنري ) لكن سأود بأن أعرفه عنه أكثر .

أكثر قصة أعجبتني قصة الذكرى وهي تريد أن تخبرنا بأن الرجال يبحثون عن شهوتهم حتى ولو وجودوا طريق الحلال .
Profile Image for Hirdesh.
401 reviews95 followers
July 3, 2020
Extravagant short stories by Great Author !
One would read then....amuse...... enjoy..... learn !

Publisher has taken these 5 short stories from ocean of O. Henry, Though I had read many other stories as well from the same author, these five are wonderful and marvelous.

1. The Christmas Presents
2. Soapy's Choice
3. A Walk in Amnesia
4. Tildy's Moment
5. The Memento



What kind of people lived in New York at the
beginning of the twentieth century? Are New Yorkers
different now from a hundred years ago? Cities grow
bigger with the years, new buildings are put up and old
buildings are pulled down, horses are replaced by cars
and buses, fashions change. But people do not change.
The New Yorkers in these stories are very different
from each other, but the hopes of a tramp are as
important as the hopes of a lawyer; the love of a
waitress is as exciting as the love of an actress. And we
see that people's hopes and fears and dreams do not
change with the years
Profile Image for Aljaz Motion Cut.
26 reviews1 follower
July 16, 2018
Would i say an inspiring book? No.
Positive? No.
Learning something from it? No.
At least plot-twists are full of surprises
Profile Image for ريمي.
69 reviews15 followers
August 11, 2020
the best one of Oxford bookworms library until this moment
Profile Image for mia elizabeth.
82 reviews367 followers
December 20, 2021
kind of cheating to hit my yearly goal but this was a fantastic collection of stories. the author nails the invisible string that ties new yorkers together and i could write a whole essay on the stories here and how they sum up humanity so beautifully. very accessible pieces, too. really loved <3
Profile Image for lovelyq_.
80 reviews6 followers
May 26, 2022
*3.5

i liked this book and how it showed a little bit of people’s lives even though not only new yorkers live like that but it was still good
Profile Image for katherinareads.
223 reviews9 followers
July 13, 2018
I love O. Henri's short stories, but in this book, the last one wasn't as good as the others, therefore 4 stars.
Profile Image for Brenn ❋.
127 reviews47 followers
June 30, 2020
Historias cortas, perfectas para alguien que empieza a leer en inglés. Me gustaron mucho. Sus tramas no eran muy complicadas, entonces me dejaba que me concentre bien en leer, entender y aprender alguna palabra nueva en inglés.
Me agradaron las historias, alguna que otra graciosa. Hay una sola que no me agradó, la segunda si no me falla la memoria.
Lo leí para mis clases de inglés y lo he disfrutado.
Profile Image for Blixen .
211 reviews76 followers
June 30, 2012
Che bella sorpresa, questi racconti! Mi hanno ricordato quelle storie che leggevo da bambina sul sussidiario: semplici, pulite, a volte malinconiche e con un finale ad effetto. "A walk in amnesia", ha lo stesso tema di fondo del Mattia Pascal di Pirandello, ma è meno doloroso: "if you want to be happy, you must be free".
Profile Image for hima saki.
100 reviews51 followers
May 8, 2008
this book consists of five stories that I like the second one.
Profile Image for lia.
35 reviews5 followers
January 22, 2020
I really liked the plot twists in the stories — except on the fourth one, made complete no sense to me — and the way that they were written. The first story is the most cute thing I’ve seen. 🤍
Profile Image for Felipe CZ.
514 reviews31 followers
October 5, 2019
Very interesting short stories from William Sydney Porter. The lives of ordinary people, like a poor housewife wanting to give a present for her husband, a tramp trying to go to jail to stop living in the cold streets, a lawyer trying to run away from his normal life. They all have particular endings, from a great author.
Profile Image for Maryan.
11 reviews
September 18, 2022
I already knew the first two stories. They weren't beneficial in any way but I loved the plot twists especially the last one, which was the only one that made me laugh. It was very simple and easy to understand but then again there are better short stories for sure if you ask me.

P.s. It was very predictable.
Profile Image for lola Franco.
1,099 reviews14 followers
August 28, 2019
It’s just a few of his stories. But some that I really enjoy. Literally found this version seems like it’s for middle or high schooler.

40 reviews
December 25, 2019
This is the first time i have known about O.Henry's biography. Poor him. But his stories are really nice.
Profile Image for Emre.
13 reviews12 followers
April 16, 2021
I was reading this book for improve my English but even i don't think i'll like this book.

Actually i wasn't wrote review or rate this shortened books but this time i enjoyed with this book, so i'm here. I rated the book and I'm writing a review for this.

Also the language of the book is very simple and understandable.
Profile Image for Bridget.
50 reviews3 followers
February 3, 2022
Easy to understand. I liked reading these short stories.
47 reviews
June 6, 2022
No se porque ponen cosas tan aburridas en los insultos
Profile Image for جون المقدوني.
69 reviews
October 15, 2022
كتاب الهدف من قرائته تطوير الانجليزية لكن بنفس الوقت استمتعت فيه.. الكتاب يحوي مجموعة قصص عددها 5 والرسومات تعطي جو وبس خلاص انقلع

كتاب ورقي استعارة من مطوع الفصل ب��ر فائز باجميل
Profile Image for SEEN.
51 reviews3 followers
January 9, 2023
Easy to understand, short read. It is good for the beginners to read in English. I didn’t like it much, but I read it to improve my language.

Hope you like it :)
5 reviews
July 14, 2023
Nice different short stories
Profile Image for Zihan.
11 reviews
March 27, 2024
Very easy-to-read but provoke thinking stories
Profile Image for Miguel.
610 reviews4 followers
January 26, 2022
Very interesting short stories regarding New Yoorkers a hundred years ago.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews

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