Selected Stories

A collection of 100 of author's finest stories; it describes life south of the Rio Grande and chronicles the activities and concerns of 'the four million' ordinary citizens who inhabited turn-of-the-century New York. With a new Introduction by Professor Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D. This selection of a hundred of O. Henry’s succinct tales displays the range, humour and humanity of a perennially popular short-story writer. Here Henry gives a richly colourful and exuberantly entertaining panorama of social life, ranging from thieves to tycoons, from the streets of New York to the prairies of Texas. These stories are famed for their 'trick endings' or 'twists in the tail': repeatedly the plot twirls adroitly, compounding ironies. Indeed, O. Henry's cunning plots surpass those of the ingenious rogues he creates. His style is genial, lively and witty, displaying a virtuoso’s command of language and allusion. This great collection offers delights for the mind, imagination and emotions.