The Life and Stories of O. Henry

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I recently read an anthology of American short stories, and one author stood out from the crowd: O. Henry. His stories intrigued me, so I decided to read more. But where to start? In his short writing career, he wrote over 600 stories, 300 of them are still in print... I looked online for some clues, and started reading his biography. I found his life just as fascinating as his stories. Several things about him caught my attention:

HIS BIRTH DATE IS... INTERESTING
William Sidney Porter (later spelled Sydney) was born on September 11, 1862. Although it has nothing to do with the terrorist attack, it certainly caught my eye... He loved New York and many of his stories are set in the City.

HE LIVED IN THE SOUTH, IN THE MID-WEST, IN THE NORTH EAST, AND ABROAD
Born in Greensboro, NC, he then moved to a Texas ranch. After being accused of embezzlement by the bank he worked for, he absconded to New Orleans, LA, and then to Honduras. He came back to Austin, TX, to face trial and take care of his wife, Athol, who was terminally ill. He was sentenced to five years in jail at the federal penitentiary in Columbus, OH. Released after three years for good conduct, he joined his daughter Margaret and in-laws in Pittsburgh, PA. He was offered a contract with New York World newspaper, and moved to New York, NY. He lived a short time in Long Island, NY with his second wife, Sara Coleman.

HE STARTED HIS WRITING CAREER WHILE IN JAIL
In jail, Will Porter worked as a pharmacist. He also started writing under the pseudonym of O. Henry. He sent his stories to a friend in New Orleans, who sent them in turn to magazines in New York. Nobody knew these wonderful stories came from a prisoner! Although he went through a tough time - losing his wife to tuberculosis and being sent to jail shortly after - his stories are far from being dark and depressing. In fact, they are light, humorous, surprising, uplifting.

GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY?
Will was working as a teller at the First National Bank of Austin when an examiner came and found discrepancies in his books, although there has been much debate about his actual guilt. The bank was clearly mismanaged, and from what I read, my conclusion is that he just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Below is a quote from an article I found online, http://www.planetpeschel.com/index?/site/comments/o_henrys_twist_ending/ :

The patrons used to enter, go behind the counter, take out one hundred or two hundred dollars and say a week later, "Porter, I took out $200 last week. See if I left a memorandum of it. I meant to."

Was he guilty, or not? He was sent to jail not only for embezzlement, but also for absconding instead of facing trial. He had very little to say for his defense, still mourning the loss of his wife Athol, who died a few months before his trial.

HIS VOCABULARY AND LITERARY KNOWLEDGE COMPARE TO SHAKESPEARE!
Young Will Porter used to carry an unabridged dictionary and read it as a book. He would look up words he didn't know, and was fascinated by words. His vocabulary skills are sometimes compared to Shakespeare's. Yet, he never attended college and left school at fifteen years old to work for his uncle's drugstore...

His stories are filled with witty expressions, seldom used words, and allusions to other pieces of fiction, such as Shakespeare, greek mythology, Arabian Nights, contemporary "dime novels" (cheap paperback novels of the late 1800's), and Kipling, among others.

He uses dialects in such a way we can almost hear his characters talk. His choice of words and metaphors surprise and delight. In Texas, he learned French, German, and Spanish well enough to use some foreign vocabulary when a story calls for it.

HE POPULARIZED THE "TWIST ENDING"
O. Henry was sometimes called the "American De Maupassant." His stories end with a twist of fate, or a revelation of who his characters really are, or an unexpected turn that surprises and delights, draws tears or laughters - or both - from his readers. Yet, his stories are about ordinary people, in ordinary situations. He tells the story of a hobo, or a grafter, or even a shop girl, in their every day life.

HIS STORIES' THEMES ARE UNIVERSAL
His stories reflect universal values, such as unconditional love, self sacrifice, honor, and compassion. They often have a touch of spirituality, without being religious in nature. They are also nonjudgemental, often portraying characters that are usually ignored in our society, in a respectful way.

BOOKS (SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS)

• Heart of the West (stories set in Texas)
• Whirligigs
• The Voice of the City (stories set in New York City)
• The Four Million (stories set in New York City)
• Cabbages and Kings (attempt to construct a novel by linking separate short stories, and adding some)
• Roads of Destiny
• The Gentle Grafter
• Rolling Stones (appeared posthumously - also the name of his humorous weekly newspaper he ran for one year)
• Sixes and Sevens (appeared posthumously)
• Options
• Waifs and Strays (appeared posthumously)
• The Trimmed Lamp

STORIES I RECOMMEND READING

• The Pimienta Pancakes (my personal favorite, for his hilarious choice of words)
• Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking (one of his first stories published under the name of O. Henry)
• The Last Leaf (a moving story about a dying sister)
• The Green Door (talk about "twist of fate!")
• The Gift of the Magi (probably his most popular story - perfect for the Holidays)
• Let Me Feel Your Pulse (his last story, a reflection of his own situation)
• The Ransom of Red Chief (very funny and witty, one of his most popular stories)
• The Ransom of Mack (nothing to do with Red Chief)
• Shoes (story set in Central America - Ships is the continuity)
• Ships (read Shoes first!)
• Witches Loaves (touching, surprising, what else can I say?)
• A Retrieved Reformation (my second favorite)
• The Cop and the Anthem (a hobo tries to get put to jail for winter, to stay warm...)

BOOKS ABOUT O. HENRY

• O. Henry Biography, by C. Alphonso Smith (1916)
• Through the Shadows with O. Henry, by Al Jennings (1921) Al Jennings was a train robber who befriended O. Henry in Honduras. They were later reunited in jail, and saw each other again in New York.
• Winds of Destiny, by Sara Lindsay Coleman (1916) Sara was O. Henry's second wife. The story she wrote is fictive, although she weaved it around authentic letters she received from O. Henry while courting.

DVD

• O. Henry’s Full House Short movies based on some of his stories, one of them starring Marilyn Monroe.

WEBSITES TO VISIT

Biography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Henry
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/18661913/lit/porter.htm
http://www.ohioana-authors.org/o_henry/highlights.php
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/ahc/ohchronology.htm
http://www.archive.org/details/ohenrythestoryof017608mbp

Short Stories Online:
http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/
http://www.americanliterature.com/Henry/Henry.html
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Whistling_Dick%27s_Christmas_Stocking
http://www.enotes.com/guides/lit/Authors/H/henry.html

Museum Items:
http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Library/ohenry/default.htm
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/ohenry.htm
http://www.austinmuseums.org/o_henry.html

Articles:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A424325
http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/12/25ohenry.html
http://www.planetpeschel.com/index?/site/comments/o_henrys_twist_ending/

To hear his actual voice:
http://www.greensborohistory.org/archives/Highlights_Pages/O.Henry_Speaks/ohenry...

Pictures:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/William_Sydney_Porter.jpg
http://img.tfd.com/authors/ohenry.jpg

Quotations:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/quotations/O._Henry

Letters to, from, and about O. Henry:
http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/Departments/Library/ohenry/Historical+Museum/