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Christmas with O. Henry
This paperback will feature two Christmas-themed the much-loved classic, “The Gift of the Magi,” and “Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking.”
64 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2021
2 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
O. Henry
2,913 books1,871 followersSuch 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 17, 2025
What a little gem of a book. Two short stories. Have never read anything by this author. Didn’t know that his style is to always have a big twist near the end. I enjoyed both stories! It is fun to read new Christmas stories♥️
November 21, 2022
The Gift of the Magi is wonderful. The other short story was terrible. 🤣
December 10, 2022
The edition includes two short stories by O. Henry: “The Gift of the Magi” and “Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking.” I’d love to give this one five stars for including “The Gift…” But I have to take away a star for combining it with “Whistling Dick’s Christmas …” I found the two stories together to be an odd combination. I didn’t dislike the (to me) lesser known story of Whistling Dick, but I wasn’t completely in love with it either. Still, if you love “Magi,” and collect this edition, get it.
December 26, 2022
This is hard to rate because I love the short story The Gift of the Magi. But Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking was a little meandering and difficult to understand at times. Not really a Christmas story, just a story that takes place at Christmas. The Gift of the Magi I would give 5 stars, but Whistling Dick I would probably give 2.
December 24, 2025
Two festive classic stories. The Gift of Magi was a reread, and the second was so familiar, I think I read it too.
December 6, 2024
This little book has 2 little short stories by O. Henry. The first one is "The Gift of the Magi" which I think we have all heard. A young newlywed couple find themselves one Christmas with no money to spend on Christmas gifts. Each of them individually make a decision that will affect the other. The wife had beautiful long hair. She decided to have her hair cut and sell it to buy her husband a gift. A beautiful gold chain for his watch his father had given him. The husband made the decision to sell his watch in order to buy his wife 2 beautiful combs for her long hair. When the husband came home after buying his gift, he and his wife ended up opening the gifts they had each bought each other. They were so surprised at what the other had given up to give as a gift to the other. It was a wonderful Christmas for both of them.
The 2nd story was "Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking." I, at first, had a hard time understanding this story because of the writing style of the author. But the more I read, the more I was understanding it. To make it short, It was about a hobo, named Whistling Dick, who ended up with some other homeless or hobo men. One named Boston Harry was the ring leader of these homeless men. He devised a plan to steal from this one rich family. Whistling Dick did not want to be a part of it, but Boston Harry forced him to. While things were put in place and these men were ready to carry out the plan, Whistling Dick had his own plan. He found a long black lady's stocking and put a note on a rock and then put the rock in the stocking. He threw the stocking right through the glass window where the rich people were having guests over for dinner, shattering everything. When they discovered the note attached to the rock, they found out they were going to be robbed. The robbers were caught. And Whistling Dick was praised for warning the family what was going to happen. They brought him into their home, gave him food to eat and a place to sleep. The next morning, Whistling Dick was looking out on the land of the owner and realized that he didn't want to be there. He let himself down to the ground from the window and left the owner's property. He wanted to be free. There's more details to the story if you wanted to read it.
The 2nd story was "Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking." I, at first, had a hard time understanding this story because of the writing style of the author. But the more I read, the more I was understanding it. To make it short, It was about a hobo, named Whistling Dick, who ended up with some other homeless or hobo men. One named Boston Harry was the ring leader of these homeless men. He devised a plan to steal from this one rich family. Whistling Dick did not want to be a part of it, but Boston Harry forced him to. While things were put in place and these men were ready to carry out the plan, Whistling Dick had his own plan. He found a long black lady's stocking and put a note on a rock and then put the rock in the stocking. He threw the stocking right through the glass window where the rich people were having guests over for dinner, shattering everything. When they discovered the note attached to the rock, they found out they were going to be robbed. The robbers were caught. And Whistling Dick was praised for warning the family what was going to happen. They brought him into their home, gave him food to eat and a place to sleep. The next morning, Whistling Dick was looking out on the land of the owner and realized that he didn't want to be there. He let himself down to the ground from the window and left the owner's property. He wanted to be free. There's more details to the story if you wanted to read it.
February 27, 2024
Gift of the Magi is basically perfect. Beautiful and Profound in its simplicity. I had never heard the story of Whistling Dick and I found it to be a heartwarming read told in a comically verbose style. I think it's easy to write-off as just a silly little story, but there's a lot of merit to the themes of freedom, art, and contentment that are explored here.
December 5, 2022
Only two stories in these 50 pages, and I honestly only found “The Gift of the Magi” to be enjoyable. I still give four stars for the classic-ness of this little volume from O. Henry because why snub the first story simply because I didn’t love the second one?
December 18, 2023
I have read Gift if the Magi many times but this was a first read for Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking.
I like O. Henry. The second story was interesting especially if you are familiar with the world of the hobo.
I like O. Henry. The second story was interesting especially if you are familiar with the world of the hobo.
December 18, 2024
A fun, meaningful little book. The Gift of the Magi is on any classic short story fan's must-read list, and Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking is a hidden gem - if you can decipher the dialogue (O. Henry writes strong accents EXACTLY how they sound, no regard for spelling/punctuation/grammar).
December 27, 2022
I love the Gift of the Magi! The other story was hard to get through!!
December 12, 2023
4 stars for gift of the magi <3
2 stars for the other one lol
2 stars for the other one lol
December 16, 2023
Cute freebie book from my purchase at B&N. Sweet (and sad…) short stories for the holiday season!
December 31, 2023
Very cute stories. One was an oldie that I had heard many times before but the second was a new one. Very cute.
December 31, 2023
Well, it was free, so I can't complain too much
December 31, 2023
there is a reason that no one know’s about “whistling dick’s christmas stocking” and that’s all i’m going to say
February 12, 2024
El primer cuento está cute pero el segundo no le entendí ni verga
Parece q lo escribieron con el orto
Parece q lo escribieron con el orto
March 6, 2024
It was okay nothing to special
I just wanted something easy
I just wanted something easy
December 29, 2024
I love the Gift of the Magi a lot; it’s one of my favorite stories. Whistling Dick’s Christmas stocking was a new one for me, but I thought that it had a nice storyline.
July 3, 2025
O. Henry is always a joy to read 😊
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews