O. Henry

Author profile

born

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

died

June 05, 1910

gender

male

genre

Short Stories, Humor, Mystery & Thrillers

About this author

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William Sydney Porter lends name "O. Henry" to surprise endings signed officially as Sydney Porter. His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. Their voices and his language was a product of his era.

Born 1862 Greensboro, N Carolina; mother died at 3 of TB. left school at 15, worked five years in uncle's drugstore, then for two years at Texas sheep ranch. After two years (in 1884) went to Austin for real estate office, church choir, and four years as draftsman in General Land Office. His wife and firstborn died, but daughter Margaret survived him.

After he failed to establish small humourous weekly, he worked in poorly-run bank, was blamed and fired when numbers did not balance. In Houston, he worked for a few years, u...more William Sydney Porter lends name "O. Henry" to surprise endings signed officially as Sydney Porter. His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. Their voices and his language was a product of his era.

Born 1862 Greensboro, N Carolina; mother died at 3 of TB. left school at 15, worked five years in uncle's drugstore, then for two years at Texas sheep ranch. After two years (in 1884) went to Austin for real estate office, church choir, and four years as draftsman in General Land Office. His wife and firstborn died, but daughter Margaret survived him.

After he failed to establish small humourous weekly, he worked in poorly-run bank, was blamed and fired when numbers did not balance. In Houston, he worked for a few years, until, ordered to stand trial, left via New Orleans for Honduras. Two years later, he returned for his wife's illness, and served a few months over three years in the Columbus Ohio Penitentiary, writing ten stories, including "A Blackjack Bargainer", "The Enchanted Kiss", and "The Duplicity of Hargraves". In 1899, McClure's puplished "Whistling Dick's Christmas Story" , and "Georgia's Ruling", 1900, the Outlook.

For three months in Pittspurgh he sent manuscripts to Neew York editors, until spring 1902, Ainslee's Magazine guaranteed a regular income if he moved to the city. In less than eight years, he became a best seller. "Cabbages and Kings" came first 1904, "The Four Million about New York, "The Trimmed Lamp 1907, "Heart of the West" 1907, "The Voice of the City" 1908, Roads of Destiny" 1909, "Options" 1909, "Strictly Business" 1910, "Whirligigs" 1910. Posthumous were "The Gentle Grafter" (sic) about swindler Jeff Peters, ""Rolling Stones", "Waifs and Strays"; unsigned stories in 1936.

Others were rewarded financially more. "A Retrieved Reformation" about safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine got $250, six years later $500 for dramatic rights, which gave over $100,000 royalties for play writer Paul Armstrong. Many stories were made into films. (less)

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Books by O. Henry

Average rating: 4.05 · 24,734 ratings · 911 reviews · 228 distinct works

	The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, Lisbeth Zwerger (Illustrator) 4.01 avg rating — 15,484 ratings — published 1905 — 68 editions	My rating:
	Selected Stories by O. Henry, Victoria Blake (Editor) 4.09 avg rating — 3,151 ratings — published 1977 — 29 editions	My rating:
	The Best Short Stories of O. Henry by O. Henry, Bennett Cerf (Editor), Van H. Cartmell (Editor) 4.19 avg rating — 1,387 ratings — published 1945 — 8 editions	My rating:
	The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories by O. Henry, Dover Thrift Editions 4.08 avg rating — 1,054 ratings — published 1967 — 16 editions	My rating:
	The Ransom of Red Chief 4.05 avg rating — 975 ratings — published 1910 — 19 editions	My rating:
	The Last Leaf by O. Henry, Raymond Harris (Editor), Walter Pauk (Editor) 4.36 avg rating — 370 ratings — published 1979 — 8 editions	My rating:
	The Complete Works of O. Henry by O. Henry, Harry Hansen (Foreword by) 4.38 avg rating — 272 ratings — published 1899 — 28 editions	My rating:
	41 Stories (Signet Classics by O. Henry, Burton Raffel (Introduction) 4.09 avg rating — 239 ratings — published 1984 — 9 editions	My rating:
	The Best of O. Henry 4.28 avg rating — 211 ratings — published 1929 — 17 editions	My rating:
	Cabbages and Kings 4.06 avg rating — 181 ratings — published 1904 — 59 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by O. Henry

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

tags: friendship

551 people liked it

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

tags: human-condition

31 people liked it

“We can't buy one minute of time with cash; if we could, rich people would live longer.”
― O. Henry, Selected Stories

24 people liked it

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O. Henry

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