The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories

The playful, optimistic stories of ordinary Americans that gave rise to the phrase "O Henry ending" Author of more than 600 short stories, O Henry has been called America's answer to Guy de Maupassant. Like Maupassant, he is a master of surprise endings, but his stories are warmer and more optimistic. Humorous, dramatic, occasionally tragic, they catch the whole flavor of America in the last years of the 19th and the first years of the 20th centuries. O Henry's picturesque career, including a spell in prison, gave him a special feeling for the seamy side of life and provided him with a glorious array of characters--burglars, conmen, struggling artists, bumptious journalists, star-crossed lovers, gamblers, drunks, and down-and-outs. Set in New York or small town America, his stories capture the pathos and heroism of ordinary lives and satirize the rich and famous. One hundred years after his death, this selection pays homage to one of our country's best-loved writers.