Waifs and Strays: Twelve Stories

by O. Henry

The Red Roses of Tonia Round The Circle The Rubber Plant's Story Out of Nazareth Confessions of a Humorist The Sparrows in Madison Square Hearts and Hands The Cactus The Detective Detector The Dog and the Playlet A Little Talk About Mobs The Snow Man

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, American, Collections, Classics

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1917

About the author

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 to establish a small humorous weekly and afterward worked in poorly-run bank. When its accounts balanced not, people blamed and fired him.

In Houston, he worked for a few years until, ordered to stand trial for embezzlement, he fled to New Orleans and thence Honduras.

Two years later, he returned on account of illness of his wife. Apprehended, Porter served a few months more than three years in a penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio. During his incarceration, he composed ten short stories, including A Blackjack Bargainer , The Enchanted Kiss , and The Duplicity of Hargraves .

In 1899, McClure's published Whistling Dick's Christmas Story and Georgia's Ruling .

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he sent manuscripts to New York editors. In the spring of 1902, Ainslee's Magazine offered him a regular income if he moved to New York.

In less than eight years, he became a bestselling author of collections of short stories. Cabbages and Kings came first in 1904 The Four Million, and The Trimmed Lamp and Heart of the West followed in 1907, and The Voice of the City in 1908, Roads of Destiny and Options in 1909, Strictly Business and Whirligigs in 1910 followed.

Posthumously published collections include The Gentle Grafter about the swindler, Jeff Peters; Rolling Stones , Waifs and Strays , and in 1936, unsigned stories, followed.

People rewarded other persons financially more. A Retrieved Reformation about the safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine got $250; six years later, $500 for dramatic rights, which gave over $100,000 royalties for playwright Paul Armstrong. Many stories have been made into films.

Reviews

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 2 out of 5]

ENGLISH: 12 short stories by O.Henry. This is the first time I've read them. I liked this collection less than other collections I've read. Those I liked best are the following: Hearts and hands and Confessions of a humorist.

ESPAÑOL: 12 relatos cortos de O. Henry. Esta es la primera vez que los he leído. Esta colección me ha gustado menos que otras que he leído. Los que más me han gustado son los siguientes: Corazones y manos y Confesiones de un humorista.

[Jefferson Fortner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waifs and Strays is one of the collections of O. Henry’s short stories put together after his death. It actually includes the last story he was working on when he died, entitled “The Snow Man,” appropriately placed as the final story in the collection. From the introduction, we find out that O. Henry had always written in pencil and had never dictated or typed his stories, but half way through “The Snow Man” it was clear that he could not finish it, so he described the rest of the story to a friend (a fellow short story writer) and then dictated as much of it as he could. His friend wound up finishing it.

This collection still demonstrates the occasional ironic twist that O. Henry was famous for, but is a little less pronounced in the gentle humorous word play in the speech of his characters that displays the local-color flavor of many of his stories, such as the malapropisms of his New York City hoboes, or the drawled out comical observations of his Western characters. Perhaps it shows an author in a bit of decline, but if so, only a bit of decline. Overall, these are still fun stories.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and most of the stories have a surprise twist at the end that adds that something extra. Some of the tales are written a little old-fashioned but most will appeal to the modern reader.

[Scott Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find that O. Henry is a reliable read for humourous social commentary, with observations that make you laugh at human nature and at the society that forms around it. This collection of twelve stories lies fully within that tradition. While some of the pieces are better than others, there is lots here to enjoy and to reflect on. I personally enjoyed Round the Circle.