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Alias O. Henry
"[A]n exuberant biographical novel . . . Riffing cleverly on O. Henry’s most cherished stories, Yagoda presents a vivid, witty, and delectable tale of crime and creativity."
—Booklist
O. Henry, who may be best remembered for his short story “The Gift of the Magi,” was a mysterious figure, as inventive with the details of his own life as he was in his fiction. In Alias O. Henry, Ben Yagoda vividly imagines O. Henry’s life, as well as the events that could have inspired his most famous tales.O. Henry, born William Sidney Porter, arrived in New York City fresh from the Ohio Penitentiary, where he had served three and a half years for embezzlement. It was the dawn of the twentieth century, a time of remarkable change when the city’s physical presence was being altered by new skyscrapers and subways, and its character by waves of immigrants. The American magazine had just reached its pinnacle as an enterprise, and the short story was the most popular medium in entertainment. Porter was in the city to write. From his cell, he had already sold a number of stories to big magazines, and within five years of arriving in Manhattan, he would become the most successful fiction writer in the country. But he never—never—said anything about his prison experience, or, indeed, anything about his past life. Anything true, that is. In life as well as on the page, Porter was a yarn-spinner of the highest order.
In this twisting tale, Ben Yagoda uses the novelist’s art to get at the truth that lay behind Porter’s reticence, and doing so, he presents an iridescent portrait of New York at the time. As Porter makes the city his home, he becomes embroiled in a blackmail scheme, and as he attempts to extricate himself, we meet newspapermen and grifters, street urchins, train robbers, detectives, shopgirls, and prostitutes. Yagoda cleverly hints at the origins of some of Porter’s best-known stories and allows other legends of the time, such as law man Bat Masterson, Mark Twain, Irving Berlin, George Bellows, and Thomas Edison, to flit, often unremarked, across the pages of this deeply researched work of historical fiction.
—Booklist
O. Henry, who may be best remembered for his short story “The Gift of the Magi,” was a mysterious figure, as inventive with the details of his own life as he was in his fiction. In Alias O. Henry, Ben Yagoda vividly imagines O. Henry’s life, as well as the events that could have inspired his most famous tales.O. Henry, born William Sidney Porter, arrived in New York City fresh from the Ohio Penitentiary, where he had served three and a half years for embezzlement. It was the dawn of the twentieth century, a time of remarkable change when the city’s physical presence was being altered by new skyscrapers and subways, and its character by waves of immigrants. The American magazine had just reached its pinnacle as an enterprise, and the short story was the most popular medium in entertainment. Porter was in the city to write. From his cell, he had already sold a number of stories to big magazines, and within five years of arriving in Manhattan, he would become the most successful fiction writer in the country. But he never—never—said anything about his prison experience, or, indeed, anything about his past life. Anything true, that is. In life as well as on the page, Porter was a yarn-spinner of the highest order.
In this twisting tale, Ben Yagoda uses the novelist’s art to get at the truth that lay behind Porter’s reticence, and doing so, he presents an iridescent portrait of New York at the time. As Porter makes the city his home, he becomes embroiled in a blackmail scheme, and as he attempts to extricate himself, we meet newspapermen and grifters, street urchins, train robbers, detectives, shopgirls, and prostitutes. Yagoda cleverly hints at the origins of some of Porter’s best-known stories and allows other legends of the time, such as law man Bat Masterson, Mark Twain, Irving Berlin, George Bellows, and Thomas Edison, to flit, often unremarked, across the pages of this deeply researched work of historical fiction.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
279 pages, Paperback
Published September 16, 2025
9 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Ben Yagoda
22 books31 followersBen Yagoda is a retired professor of journalism and English. He's published a number of books and was a freelance journalist for publications such as The New Leader, The New York Times, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone. Yagoda currently lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania with his wife and two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 8, 2025
This is one of my favorite books of the year. It did not get much attention when it came out. I suspect this is because it was released by a small press, Paul Dry Books in Philadelphia. The large publishers in New York tend to get the reviews and attention for their books. Yagoda is an accomplished nonfiction writer. I particularly enjoyed his book on the New Yorker magazine. This is his first novel.
This is a historical novel set in the New York City of 1903-04. When the book opens, O. Henry is a very popular short story writer. He lives in a nondescript apartment building. He is being blackmailed. He gets involved with Anna, a younger woman who lives the building. Anna is failing to support herself as an artist. She is trying to support herself without falling into some of the disreputable traps for poor single woman in New York.
Yagoda fills us in on O. Henry's complicated background. He was born in a small town in North Carolina. He moved to Texas. He had a variety of jobs, but he eventually became a bank teller. He was accused of embezzlement. He fled to Honduras and became a fugitive. He had several years of adventures and then returned to America. He was arrested, convicted and sent to Federal prison.
He began to get short stories published while he was in prison using the pseudonym "O. Henry". When he got out, he moved to New York because that was where the magazines where. He wrote and published over 300 stories. No one in New York knew about his criminal background, except his blackmailer.
There is an exciting plot. O. Henry sets out to discover who is blackmailing him. Anna tries to make her way in the City. The plot gives Yagoda the chance to give a brilliant picture of New York City. The book is filled with descriptions of the restaurants, bars and clubs of the time. Yagoda explains how the big department stores took advantage of their clerks. He shows how the barroom bunco games worked. O. Henry knows all of the cons and scams in the city. He shows Anna how the Coney Island games are rigged. He bests the professional card cheats.
Thomas Edison's studio produced the first hit movie, "The Great Train Robbery" in 1903. One of O. Henry's friends acts in the movie and Yagoda has a great section on movie making in the first days. Mark Twain, the cowboy legend Bat Masterton, and a young Will Rogers all have cameos. There is a great scene with the original chess playing robot.
Yagoda's O. Henry is fascinating. Yagoda has what I think is the correct theory about why O. Henry, who was blackmailed in real life, didn't just admit his background, which would have made him more interesting as an author. Yagoda shows his passion for secrecy. One of the running gags is that every time someone asks him where he got the name "O. Henry", he gives a different answer.
This is an exciting story. It is full of interesting stuff about the times. It is great fun.
This is a historical novel set in the New York City of 1903-04. When the book opens, O. Henry is a very popular short story writer. He lives in a nondescript apartment building. He is being blackmailed. He gets involved with Anna, a younger woman who lives the building. Anna is failing to support herself as an artist. She is trying to support herself without falling into some of the disreputable traps for poor single woman in New York.
Yagoda fills us in on O. Henry's complicated background. He was born in a small town in North Carolina. He moved to Texas. He had a variety of jobs, but he eventually became a bank teller. He was accused of embezzlement. He fled to Honduras and became a fugitive. He had several years of adventures and then returned to America. He was arrested, convicted and sent to Federal prison.
He began to get short stories published while he was in prison using the pseudonym "O. Henry". When he got out, he moved to New York because that was where the magazines where. He wrote and published over 300 stories. No one in New York knew about his criminal background, except his blackmailer.
There is an exciting plot. O. Henry sets out to discover who is blackmailing him. Anna tries to make her way in the City. The plot gives Yagoda the chance to give a brilliant picture of New York City. The book is filled with descriptions of the restaurants, bars and clubs of the time. Yagoda explains how the big department stores took advantage of their clerks. He shows how the barroom bunco games worked. O. Henry knows all of the cons and scams in the city. He shows Anna how the Coney Island games are rigged. He bests the professional card cheats.
Thomas Edison's studio produced the first hit movie, "The Great Train Robbery" in 1903. One of O. Henry's friends acts in the movie and Yagoda has a great section on movie making in the first days. Mark Twain, the cowboy legend Bat Masterton, and a young Will Rogers all have cameos. There is a great scene with the original chess playing robot.
Yagoda's O. Henry is fascinating. Yagoda has what I think is the correct theory about why O. Henry, who was blackmailed in real life, didn't just admit his background, which would have made him more interesting as an author. Yagoda shows his passion for secrecy. One of the running gags is that every time someone asks him where he got the name "O. Henry", he gives a different answer.
This is an exciting story. It is full of interesting stuff about the times. It is great fun.
October 19, 2025
When life gives you lemons, as the saying goes, make lemonade.
Ben Yagoda’s lemon was that he wanted to write a biography about O. Henry. Upon learning that a great one had been done already, his lemonade was converting his project into historical fiction.
Yagoda, who has published several books on language and journalism, does a commendable job in his first novel. The research and attention to detail as he describes New York City in the very early 1900s are top-notch. As someone who is enamored with the beauty of words, he freely uses the vernacular of the day (some of which might require the use of a dictionary).
This is a yarn of secrets. Everyone has at least one. For journalist and short story writer William Sydney Porter --- alias O. Henry --- it’s more than one (even when it comes to telling the curious story of how he chose that pen name). ALIAS O. HENRY demands a lot from the reader, who has to keep the multiple narrative threads and fabrications straight. Among others with secrets are a potential love interest, Porter’s bosses, his enemies, and various people he enlists as his eyes and ears. Porter may have some skeletons in the closet, but at heart he is a decent man, interested in helping those less fortunate and relishing in taking down those in power.
Yagoda takes great pains to describe life in New York. It’s a mostly dark picture, with abject poverty, dirty streets and tenements, but with glimpses of entitlements for the upper class that include fine dining and entertainment. Through it all, Porter struggles to meet his writing deadlines, living hand to mouth with his earnings while still trying to help the underdog.
Yagoda, who among his many books served as editor of O. HENRY: 100 Stories, incorporates his previous works in building his wide-ranging tale. He includes bits and pieces that easily could have been inspired by WILL ROGERS: A Biography, as well as THE SOUND ON THE PAGE: Style and Voice in Writing. And why not? Just because these are works of nonfiction doesn’t mean the topics can’t be repurposed.
Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
Ben Yagoda’s lemon was that he wanted to write a biography about O. Henry. Upon learning that a great one had been done already, his lemonade was converting his project into historical fiction.
Yagoda, who has published several books on language and journalism, does a commendable job in his first novel. The research and attention to detail as he describes New York City in the very early 1900s are top-notch. As someone who is enamored with the beauty of words, he freely uses the vernacular of the day (some of which might require the use of a dictionary).
This is a yarn of secrets. Everyone has at least one. For journalist and short story writer William Sydney Porter --- alias O. Henry --- it’s more than one (even when it comes to telling the curious story of how he chose that pen name). ALIAS O. HENRY demands a lot from the reader, who has to keep the multiple narrative threads and fabrications straight. Among others with secrets are a potential love interest, Porter’s bosses, his enemies, and various people he enlists as his eyes and ears. Porter may have some skeletons in the closet, but at heart he is a decent man, interested in helping those less fortunate and relishing in taking down those in power.
Yagoda takes great pains to describe life in New York. It’s a mostly dark picture, with abject poverty, dirty streets and tenements, but with glimpses of entitlements for the upper class that include fine dining and entertainment. Through it all, Porter struggles to meet his writing deadlines, living hand to mouth with his earnings while still trying to help the underdog.
Yagoda, who among his many books served as editor of O. HENRY: 100 Stories, incorporates his previous works in building his wide-ranging tale. He includes bits and pieces that easily could have been inspired by WILL ROGERS: A Biography, as well as THE SOUND ON THE PAGE: Style and Voice in Writing. And why not? Just because these are works of nonfiction doesn’t mean the topics can’t be repurposed.
Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
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