Selected Stories

Author O. Henry has become iconic, associated in people's minds with the idea of a trick ending in short stories, so much that he has had a preeminent award in short story writing named after him.

He also lived most of his short life in Texas.

For these reasons, I was curious enough about him to choose a book of his short stories for my Classics Club list.

I listened to an audio of much of the book. I also read many of the most well-known stories again, including “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi.”

My takeaway? O. Henry was a master of the short story, taking the reader instantly deep into the lives of characters in only a few pages. He, like no other, saw the sometimes humorous-often disconcerting-always true paradoxes of life and he peopled his stories with folks characterized by these paradoxes, and he related his tales brimming with these paradoxes.