Rolling Stones

by O. Henry

Overview

In 1909, the most popular writer of American fiction was a well-dressed inebriate, New York man-about-town named William Sydney Porter. The name "O. Henry" had first seen print only a decade before, protecting the identity of a convicted embezzler in the Ohio Federal Penitentiary. As O. Henry, Will Porter wrote short stories of immense appeal, full of the humor of words and the funnier jokes that life plays on those who strive, contrive, or love. Before his death at the age of 47, Porter had published 381 short stories--stories which virtually defined that form for many years to come and which are still read in American schools and in translation throughout the world

Product Details

BN ID:	2940000765173
Publisher:	B&R Samizdat Express
Publication date:	02/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	642 KB

About the Author

O. Henry (1862-1910) was an American short story writer. Born and raised in North Carolina, O. Henry--whose real name was William Sydney Porter--moved to Texas in 1882 in search of work. He met and married Athol Estes in Austin, where he became well known as a musician and socialite. In 1888, Athol gave birth to a son who died soon after, and in 1889 a daughter named Margaret was born. Porter began working as a teller and bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Austin in 1890 and was fired four years later and accused of embezzlement. Afterward, he began publishing a satirical weekly called The Rolling Stone, but in 1895 he was arrested in Houston following an audit of his former employer. While waiting to stand trial, Henry fled to Honduras, where he lived for six months before returning to Texas to surrender himself upon hearing of Athol's declining health. She died in July of 1897 from tuberculosis, and Porter served three years at the Ohio Penitentiary before moving to Pittsburgh to care for his daughter. While in prison, he began publishing stories under the pseudonym "O. Henry," finding some success and launching a career that would blossom upon his release with such short stories as "The Gift of the Magi" (1905) and "The Ransom of Red Chief" (1907). He is recognized as one of America's leading writers of short fiction, and the annual O. Henry Award--which has been won by such writers as William Faulkner, John Updike, and Eudora Welty--remains one of America's most prestigious literary prizes.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	ix
	The Dream	3
	A Ruler of Men	8
	The Atavism of John Tom Little Bear	34
	Helping the Other Fellow	53
	The Marionettes	65
	The Marquis and Miss Sally	84
	A Fog in Santone	100
	The Friendly Call	112
	A Dinner At --*	127
	Sound and Fury	140
	Tictocq	146
	Tracked to Doom	157
	A Snapshot at the President	167
	An Unfinished Christmas Story	174
	The Unprofitable Servant	181
	Aristocracy Versus Hash	199
	The Prisoner of Zembla	202
	A Strange Story	205
	Fickle Fortune, or How Gladys Hustled	207
	An Apology	212
	Lord Oakhurst's Curse	213
	Bexar Script No. 2692	217
	Queries and Answers	231
	The Pewee	234
	Nothing to Say	236
	The Murderer	237
	Some Postscripts	240
	A Contribution	240
	The Old Farm	241
	Vanity	241
	The Lullaby Boy	242
	Chanson de Boheme	242
	Hard to Forget	243
	Drop a Tear in this Slot	245
	Tamales	246
	Some Letters	251