O. Henry

(1862-1910)

References • History and Anthology of American

Literature II• Rozakis, Laurie E.. Complete Idiot's

Guide to American Literature. Indianapolis, IN, USA: Alpha Books, 1999. p 119-127.

• Kearns, George. American Literature. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984. 892pp.

• Wikipedia • Encarta• 欧 ·亨利著《最后一片叶子》徐翰林译 2004

年 11 月第 1 版 超星数字图书馆• 欧 ·亨利著《麦琪的礼物及其它故事》王仲年译

1986 年 08 月第 1 版 超星数字图书馆• 欧 ·亨利著《欧 ·亨利短篇小说精粹》 2008.1

超星数字图书馆

One sentence summary• pseudonym of William

Sydney Porter • American writer of short

stories • best known for his

– ironic plot twists – surprise endings

content•Life •Features•Representative works

Life • born and raised in

Greensboro, North Carolina,

• attended school only until age 15, when he dropped out to work in his uncle’s drugstore.

• worked for more than ten years as a clerk and a bank teller during his 20s

A page of shame• In early 1898 Porter was

found guilty of embezzlement charges and sentenced to five years in an Ohio prison.

A page of shame in detail• Charged with embezzling funds from the

First National Bank of Austin, Texas, where he had worked from 1891 to 1894. – The amount of money was small and might

have been an accounting error;– however, he chose to flee to Honduras rather

than stand trial. – Learning that his wife was dying, he returned

to Texas in 1897

• After her death, Porter turned himself in to authorities. – He served three years of a five-year sentence

at the federal penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, where he first began to write short stories and use the pseudonym O. Henry.

A crow turned into a star• Released from prison, O. Henry moved

to New York City in 1901 and began writing full time.

• In his stories he made substantial use of his knowledge of Texas, Central America, and life in prison.

• He also became fascinated by New York street life, which provided a setting for many of his later stories.

• During the last ten years of his life, O. Henry became one of the most popular writers in America, publishing over 500 short stories in dozens of widely read periodicals.

Features • make simple yet effective use

of paradoxical coincidences to produce ironic endings. – For example, in “The Gift of the

Magi” a husband sells his watch to buy his wife a Christmas present of a pair of hair combs; having no idea of that, she cuts and sells her long hair to buy him a Christmas present of a new chain for his watch.

• His style of storytelling became a model not only for short fiction, but also for American motion pictures and television programs.

Representative Works

The Gift of the Magi -- 麦琪的礼物A Service Of Love-- 爱的奉献The Last Leaf -- 最后的常春藤叶The Cop and the Anthem -- 警察和赞美诗An Unfinished Story -- 没有完的故事After Twenty Years -- 二十年以后