Author: O Henry
Translator: Wook-dong Kim
Publisher: Ireh
543 pages
| Important! Please read before you order! |
| >>>This book is written in Korean only. |
About This Book
This book features 30 selected stories from over 600 stories written by O.
Henry, including 'The Skylight Room,' 'The Last Leaf' and 'Two Thanksgiving Day
Gentlemen.'
About The Author
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 ? June 5,
1910), whose clever use of twist endings in his stories popularized the term "O.
Henry Ending."
O. Henry was released from prison in Columbus, Ohio on July 24, 1901 after
serving three years for embezzlement from a bank. On release he settled in New
York City and began his writing career.
It is believed that Porter found his pen name while in jail, where one of the
guards was named Orrin Henry. Other sources say that the name was derived from
his calling "Oh Henry!" after the family cat, Henry.
His stories are famous for their surprise endings and ironic coincidences, but
do not lose their interest after the surprise is known. His best are full of
genial warmth and wistful sadness. The great ones, such as "The Gift of the
Magi", "The Last Leaf", "The Skylight Room", "Springtime a la Carte", "The Third
Ingredient", and "The Green Door" seem to get better with repeated rereadings.
Most of his stories are set in his contemporary present, the early years of the
20th century. Many take place in New York, notably those in The Four Million (a
reference to the population of New York at that time). O. Henry had an obvious
affection for the city, which he called "Bagdad-on-the-Subway." But others are
set in small towns and in other cities. His famous story A Municipal Report
opens by quoting Frank Harris: "Fancy a novel about Chicago or Buffalo, let us
say, or Nashville, Tennessee! There are just three big cities in the United
States that are 'story cities'?New York, of course, New Orleans, and, best of
the lot, San Francisco." Thumbing his nose at Harris, O. Henry sets the story in
Nashville.
His stories deal for the most part with ordinary people: clerks, policemen,
waitresses. He opens The Four Million with a reference to Ward McAllister's
"assertion that there were only 'Four Hundred' people in New York City who were
really worth noticing. But a wiser man has arisen?the census taker?and his
larger estimate of human interest has been preferred in marking out the field of
these little stories of the 'Four Million.'"
Availability: This book is currently out of print
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