O. Henryana: Seven Odds and Ends, Poetry and Short Stories

By O. Henry

"O. Henryana: Seven Odds and Ends, Poetry and Short Stories" by O. Henry is a collection of short texts from one of America's most masterful short story writers. This book may not be among his most popular, as some of the stories are mere fragments and it is, in fact, a compilation of written works that didn't quite fit elsewhere, but it's still a fascinating and charming read that has just as much character as his other work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Nov 5, 2021
• ISBN: 4066338075130

O. Henry

O. Henry (1862-1910) was an American short story writer. Born and raised in North Carolina, O. Henry—whose real name was William Sydney Porter—moved to Texas in 1882 in search of work. He met and married Athol Estes in Austin, where he became well known as a musician and socialite. In 1888, Athol gave birth to a son who died soon after, and in 1889 a daughter named Margaret was born. Porter began working as a teller and bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Austin in 1890 and was fired four years later and accused of embezzlement. Afterward, he began publishing a satirical weekly called The Rolling Stone, but in 1895 he was arrested in Houston following an audit of his former employer. While waiting to stand trial, Henry fled to Honduras, where he lived for six months before returning to Texas to surrender himself upon hearing of Athol’s declining health. She died in July of 1897 from tuberculosis, and Porter served three years at the Ohio Penitentiary before moving to Pittsburgh to care for his daughter. While in prison, he began publishing stories under the pseudonym “O. Henry,” finding some success and launching a career that would blossom upon his release with such short stories as “The Gift of the Magi” (1905) and “The Ransom of Red Chief” (1907). He is recognized as one of America’s leading writers of short fiction, and the annual O. Henry Award—which has been won by such writers as William Faulkner, John Updike, and Eudora Welty—remains one of America’s most prestigious literary prizes.

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O. Henry

O. Henryana: Seven Odds and Ends, Poetry and Short Stories

Published by Good Press, 2022

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EAN 4066338075130

Table of Contents

The Crucible

A Lunar Episode

Three Paragraphs

Bulger’s Friend

A Professional Secret

The Elusive Tenderloin

The Struggle of the Outliers

The Crucible

Table of Contents

Hard ye may be in the tumult,

Red to your battle hilts,

Blow give for blow in the foray,

Cunningly ride in the tilts;

But when the roaring is ended

Tenderly, unbeguiled,

Turn to a woman a woman’s

Heart, and a child’s to a child.

Test of the man, if his worth be

In accord with the ultimate plan,

That he be not, to his marring,

Always and utterly man;

That he bring out of the tumult,

Fitter and undefiled,

To a woman the heart of a woman,

To children the heart of a child.

Good when the bugles are ranting

It is to be iron and fire;

Good to be oak in the foray,

Ice to a guilty desire.

But when the battle is over

(Marvel and wonder the while)

Give to a woman a woman’s

Heart, and a child’s to a child.

A Lunar Episode

Table of Contents

The scene was one of supernatural weirdness. Tall, fantastic mountains reared their seamed peaks over a dreary waste of igneous rock and burned-out lava beds. Deep lakes of black water stood motionless as glass under frowning, honeycombed crags, from which ever and anon dropped crumbled masses with a sullen plunge. Vegetation there was none. Bitter cold reigned and ridges of black and shapeless rocks cut the horizon on all sides. An extinct volcano loomed against a purple sky, black as night and old as the world.

The firmament was studded with immense stars that shone with a wan and spectral light. Orion’s belt hung high above.

Aldebaran faintly shone millions of miles away, and the earth gleamed like a new-risen moon with a lurid, blood-like glow.

On a lofty mountain that hung toppling above an ink-black sea stood a dwelling built of stone. From its solitary window came a bright light that gleamed upon the misshapen rocks. The door opened and two men emerged locked in a deadly struggle.

They swayed and twisted upon the edge of the precipice, now one gaining the advantage, now the other.

Strong men they were, and stone rolled from their feet into the valley as each strove to overcome the other.

At length one prevailed. He seized his opponent, and raising him high above his head, hurled him into space.

The vanquished combatant shot through the air like a stone from a catapult in the direction of the luminous earth.

That’s three of ’em this week, said the Man in the Moon as he lit a cigarette and turned back into the house. Those New York interviewers are going to make me tired if they keep this thing up much longer.

Three Paragraphs

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Copy, yelled the small boy at the door. The sick woman lying on the bed