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O. Henry

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O. Henry


Born
in Greensboro, North Carolina, The United States
September 11, 1862

Died
June 05, 1910

Genre


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
...more

Average rating: 4.07 · 180,722 ratings · 9,227 reviews · 2,710 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Gift of the Magi

4.11 avg rating — 99,909 ratings — published 1905 — 48 editions
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Selected Stories

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4.17 avg rating — 17,676 ratings — published 1922 — 97 editions
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The Last Leaf

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4.32 avg rating — 6,810 ratings — published 1907 — 29 editions
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The Ransom of Red Chief

4.15 avg rating — 6,657 ratings — published 1907 — 88 editions
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The Gift of the Magi and Ot...

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4.12 avg rating — 6,246 ratings — published 1904 — 150 editions
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The Best Short Stories of O...

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4.25 avg rating — 4,354 ratings — published 1945 — 2 editions
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The Complete Works of O. Henry

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4.33 avg rating — 1,976 ratings — published 1937 — 85 editions
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Cabbages and Kings

3.93 avg rating — 1,502 ratings — published 1904 — 622 editions
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After Twenty Years

3.94 avg rating — 1,117 ratings — published 1973 — 11 editions
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The Four Million

4.03 avg rating — 880 ratings — published 1906 — 94 editions
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More books by O. Henry…

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Quotes by O. Henry  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“Each of us, when our day's work is done, must seek our ideal, whether it be love or pinochle or lobster à la Newburg, or the sweet silence of the musty bookshelves.”
O. Henry

“No friendship is an accident. ”
O. Henry, Heart of the West

“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi

Polls

August 2017 Short Classic Poll

 
  53 votes, 17.0%

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, 1952, 109 pgs
 
  49 votes, 15.7%

 
  34 votes, 10.9%

 
  32 votes, 10.3%

 
  31 votes, 9.9%

 
  24 votes, 7.7%

 
  24 votes, 7.7%

 
  19 votes, 6.1%

 
  15 votes, 4.8%

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, 1905, 30 pgs
 
  12 votes, 3.8%

The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat, 1937, 108 pgs
 
  10 votes, 3.2%

A Worn Path by Eudora Welty, 1941, 32 pg
 
  9 votes, 2.9%

More...

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