41 Stories (A Signet classic) [Paperback]

O. Henry (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Signet classic | Publication Date: December 4, 1984

The Master of Irony

Readers the world over recognize O. Henry as the best short story writer of the early twentieth century. Widely known as a master of irony, O. Henry also displays here dazzling wordplay and a wry combination of pathos and humor.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) published all of his work—a novel and some 300 short stories—under the pseudonym 0. Henry. His talent for vivid caricature, local tone, narrative agility, and compassion tempered by irony made him a vastly popular writer in the last decade of his life. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, to ordinary middle-class parents and worked in an uncle’s drugstore as a youth, becoming a certified pharmacist. Like many Southerners after the Civil War, he sought his fortune in the West, holding various jobs (newspaper work, clerking in a land office, a teller at an Austin bank). Charged with embezzlement in 1894, he fled to Honduras, returning in 1897 to be with his ill and dying wife. His conviction was caused more by his eluding trial than by the conflicting evidence of theft. In the Ohio State Penitentiary (1898-1901), he began to write the stories that made him famous. He moved to New York, remarried, and kept his identity a secret from all but a few friends. He is buried in Asheville, North Carolina. He is universally honored for his mastery of the short story and for his humane spirit.
Burton Raffel has taught English, Classics, and Comparative Literature at universities in the United States, Israel, and Canada. His books include translations of Beowulf, Horace: Odes, Epodes, Epistles, Satires, The Complete Poetry and Prose of Chairil Anwar, From the Vietnamese, Ten Centuries of Poetry, The Complete Poetry of Osip Emilevich, Mandelstram (with Alla Burago), and Poems From the Old English and The Annotated Milton; several critical studies, Introduction to Poetry, How to Read a Poem, The Development of Modern Indonesian Poetry, and The Forked Tounge: A Study of the Translation Process; and Mia Poems, a volume of his own poetry. Mr. Raffel practiced law on Wall Street and taught in the Ford Foundation’s English Language Teacher Training Project in Indonesia.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 413 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (December 4, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451518780
• ISBN-13: 978-0451518781
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,629,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expect the Best; You'll Get It, November 18, 2003

By 

Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 41 Stories (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

The thing I always find remarkable about reading O. Henry is that the "surprise" or "twist" at the end of so many of his stories arrive so naturally. You never feel manipulated. They are so simple and logical, like the narrator's tone. It's little wonder that so many consider O. Henry to be one of the founders of the modern short story. And that an annual short story award is given out in his name.

His stories, like Horatio Alger's, give us a unique first-hand account of what New York and other cities were like at the turn of the last century. And for that it is a valuable collection as well.

The great standards are in this collection, like "The Gift of the Magi" and "A Retrieved Reformation". But it's the lesser known, the hidden gems, that make this collection so remarkable. People make much of the fact that so many of these tales were written while O. Henry was in prison for various minor offences and that the stories provided him with bail money. The fact is that the man had a lucid view of human nature and the funny way life infringes upon it. He could have--and did--write so many of these tales outside of the jail cell.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exellent collection, September 18, 2002

By 

Vlad (russianwriter.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 41 Stories (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

What an exellent collection ! I fell in love with O'Henry writing about 25 years ago , when I was a kid . First , I read his work in russian . But now , when my english got better , I decided to give it a try , and I am glad , I did . His unique stile of writing is very unpredictable and funny . He is playing with words and frases as ring master . The twists in every story slaping you in your face from the right side , just a moment before you exspected it from the left . But beware : If you start reading this book , you better turn off your range and make shure , that iron is off ! You are going to forget about them after the first pages of this wonderfull book .
Mr. O'Henry ! You and Bulgakov are 2 writers , who inspire me and my writing for over 2 decades ! Thank you ...

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the most enjoyable short stories ever!, May 30, 2002

By 

Godly Gadfly - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: 41 Stories (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

A collection of 41 short stories by O. Henry? My mouth waters already! It's hard to imagine any literary treat that can be enjoyed in small doses more pleasurable than this. I have spent over a year savouring these stories, reading them one by one, tasting his delightful choice of words, digesting his fascinating story-lines, and the warm satisfying afterglow that comes after a typical twist at the end. O. Henry began writing short stories as a prison inmate, and he quickly fine tuned his skills behind the bars and developed into an excellent storyteller. Born William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), he produced 270 stories under the pseudonym O. Henry. His stories are superbly outstanding in at least four ways, each illustrated with five of my personal favorites.

Firstly, his brilliant use of language. These stories were written in the first half of the twentieth century, and O. Henry's use of language easily surpasses that of most contemporary writers. Not only does he have an extensive vocabulary, but his writing abounds with similes and metaphors that breathe sparkling life and depth into his stories, marred only by the occasional "Lordy". "Ulysses and the Dogman" is a fine example of his skills with a language, metaphorically portraying dog owners as victims of Circe, in a hopeless enchantment to their leashed pets. Also exemplary is "Madame Bo-Peep of the Ranches" where a ranch manager has a heart fenced by barbwire just like the ranch on which he lives, and yet the twist at the ending suggests that perhaps we were completely mistaken. "A Comedy in Rubber" uses wonderfully elevated language to farcically portray a class of people today known as ambulance chasers. And "Sisters of the Golden Circle" revolves around the profound bond that exists between two married women who are strangers but yet sisters "of the plain gold band." "An Unfinished Story" employs profound metaphors of angelic hosts to tell the tragic story of poor Dulcie's struggle for survival.

Secondly, his unique insight into the social conditions of his time. O. Henry has a great understanding of the trials of the lower class, and he frequently pictures the lives of ordinary people of early twentieth century America with warm and sympathetic colours. His characters are frequently the overlooked: the struggling shop girl, the unsuccessful artist, the impoverished. Admittedly, some of his images can be hard to comprehend for modern readers, and the distance that time has placed between us and O. Henry's beloved New York means that some of his verbal pictures will be harder to understand and identify with. But his genuine sympathy for the oppressed cannot be missed. "The Gift of the Magi" is the signature O. Henry story, probably his most famous tale which recounts a poor young couple who both give up a prized possession in order to purchase a gift for one another - but ironically a gift intended to complement the other's prized possession that they have just given up. Another story which display his ability to picture the social conditions of his time - but always with the trademark twist - is "The Pendulum", a wonderful portrait of the daily routines of an poor couple and the bursting anxiety of a married man, until the bubble bursts. "The Cop and the Anthem" was the first O. Henry story I ever read, and humorously recounts the unsuccessful attempts of a man to get into jail for the winter - it remains vivid in my mind as a memorable favorite. "The Furnished Room" is a tragic and shocking story of suicide, depicting the depths of despair and desperation of the impoverished.

Thirdly, his warm humour. O. Henry has an uncanny ability to portray the mundane and the ordinary in the most elevated language. Frequently he pits two characters together in a remarkable way so that one outshines and complements the other. And on other occasions he crafts the most ingenious and humorous schemes for outwitting others. One of his most popular stories is "The Handbook of Hymen", recounting the tale of two men in a winter cabin, one armed with the hilarious Herkimer's handbook of Indispensable Information. And then there is O. Henry's fictional character Jeff Peters, a man who comes with the most ingenious money-making schemes, two shining examples displayed in "Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet" and "The Exact Science of Matrimony". "Let Me Feel Your Pulse" pokes fun at doctors, while in "Next to Reading Matter" an overly eloquent character wins the heart of a senora with streams of articulate talk about the mundane.

Fourthly, his ironic twist. One of the distinctive characteristics of O. Henry's short stories is the ironic twist at the end, which never fails to surprise and entertain, sometimes reversing the entire story line in a concluding one-liner. O. Henry's suspense and trademark ironic twist ensures that readers who have a good literary taste in short stories will not be disappointed. Like the Jeff Peters stories, "The Love-philtre of Ikey Schoenstein" also feature a brilliant scheme - but a scheme of romance - and the way it backfires is unforgettable. Other delightful examples of ordinary stories with a glorious ironic twist include "Witches' Loaves" and "While the Auto Waits". The twist that comes at the end of "The Hypotheses of Failure" is so perplexing, that you'll have to re-read the entire story after reading the ending - but completely delighted at the way in which O. Henry has misled you. But perhaps one of O. Henry's best uses of the ironic twist comes in "The Last Leaf", a warm and tragic tale describing how a dying artist proves as resilient as the last leaf on the wall outside, and through the self-less sacrifice of another.

In a collection of 41 stories, it's unavoidable that a few popular favorites are missing. But the reality is that nearly all O. Henry's stories feature his trademark ironic twist, as they do his warm humour, his unique insight into the social conditions of the time, and his brilliant use of language, and that every story in this collection is a literary delight worthy of inclusion. The inaccessibility of some references for modern readers does not prevent these stories from being always entertaining and enduring! Don't pass up on these!