In this volume titled O. Henry, Eugene Current-Garcia observes: "O. Henry's image quickly overshadowed all others in the field of the short story. By 1919, when the annual volume of selections called the O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories was inaugurated, his name was the inevitable choice with which to symbolize pre-eminence in this art form because his work stood--for the time being--as the highest standard of what the short story was meant to be."
