О. Генрі — визнаний у всьому світі майстер малого жанру, завдяки якому жанр розповіді пережив свій світанок... Герої його оповідань найрізноманітніші: робочі, художники, мільйонери, клерки, інженери, а сюжети дивують своїм різноманіттям і життєвістю, але є у них і дещо спільне — несподіваний фінал, що змушує читача замислитися. Оповідання «Останній листок» і «Дари волхвів», які відкривають цей збірник – одні з найбільш пронизливих ліричних творів О. Генрі, в яких людяність і самопожертва долають життєві складнощі і навіть трагічні обставини. Переклад українською Юлії Шматько, Віталія Лук’яненка та Лукаса. Зміст: Останній листок Дари волхвів Вождь червоношкірих &
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 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.
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.
Оповідання про добро, емпатію, тут свіжий гумор, прийняття, гуманізм. Такі твори роблять світ і людей у ньому кращими. Твори наївні дитинно, але не примітивні