Selected Stories

Tales of laughter and tears, love and loss...
Tales of old and young, rich and poor, the best and the worst...
Tales of lies and truth, selfishness and sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal...
O'Henry's stories are set in mansions and slums, teeming cities and desolate frontiers. Stories
of grand adventure, thrilling romance, gripping suspense, hilarious comedy. Stories about turns
of fate, twists of destiny, accidents of chance...and always. always, endless surprises!
The tales of O'Henry--stories as surprising..as life itself.
This selection 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.